2003 Sydney analysis

[Asgardian]

Due to a mindboggling number of requests, here’s the Swans

(okay okay, I’m lying, there might have been one request, sic.)

Luke Ablett - Only seen glimpses so far, some of them looked pretty good
Jason Ball - One good season does not a good player make, I’m not a fan of Jason’s
Leo Barry - This bloke has guts, I like that, he makes mistakes but his application is great
Craig Bolton - He looks like a good blue collar worker, not flash, but useful
Jude Bolton - Mr. Fancy Pants, an exasperating player, needs consistency and a disposal coach
Amon Buchanan - Looked great in that junior final, so far looked ordinary in the league team
Daryn Cresswell - Always hard at it, fine consistent player who gets a surprising number of goals
Jared Crouch - Versatile midfielder, would like to see some flair, but I guess that aint him
Nick Davis - Don’t listen to the Magpies, this guy can play, and will be damn handy
Sean Dempster - New kid, yet to see him play
Stephen Doyle - Will become one of the league’s premier ruckmen
Ben Fixter - Plays like a fart in a bottle, good pace and courage, needs to learn “smarts”
Nic Fosdike - No longer a “promising player”, he’s now made it, good blend of attributes
Adam Goodes - Looks can be deceiving, 2002 was nowhere near his best, has to regain focus
Barry Hall - Lots of muscle and ability, but no brains or discipline, if he gets them, look out
Daniel Hunt - Old (he has been on the list already for a year) new kid, yet to see him play
Tadhg Kennelly - Still learning, not yet consistent, but he’ll get there
Brett Kirk - Not a great decision maker, can be caught between ideas, a spare part player
Nick Malceski - New kid, yet to see him play
Ben Mathews - Plays surprisingly tall for his size, no superstar here, aint close to a dud either
Stuart Maxfield - Ball magnet, doesn’t strike me as a leader though
Daniel McPherson - I think his use by date is coming up fast
Jarrad McVeigh - New kid, yet to see him play, thanks Swans for taking him
Matthew Nicks - Dependable natural leader, I like his game intensity
Ryan O’Keefe - Has nice touch over the ball, my tip to be the big improver for Swans
Michael O’Loughlin - Has sublime skills, but off-field issues interfere, in form one of the best
Mark Powell - Old new kid, yet to see him play
Lewis Roberts-Thomson - Old new kid, yet to see him play
Jason Saddington - Would love to see this guy at Port, has “smarts” & is a team thinker
Andrew Schauble - Good stopping defender who can surprise by kicking goals
Adam Schneider - Old new kid, yet to see him play
Brad Seymour - Could add some more mongrel to his game to be a better defender
Scott Stevens - Likely looking forward, experience will teach him not to lose touch of the play
Jarrad Sundqvist - Only a fleeting glimpse so far, need to see more, fine junior at Glenelg
Josh Thewlis - New kid, yet to see him play
Rowan Warfe - Can’t seem to stay on the field, serviceable defender
Paul Williams - Class act, always dangerous midfielder, does best work forward of centre

The Swans are in a transition stage, a number of promising juniors, a lot of recently retired champs.

Wont challenge for the flag in 2003, but should be difficult to beat, my guess at this stage is to scrape into the 8.

Final predictions when I have completed all clubs.

 

[Desredandwhite]

Thanks As - good, balanced analysis.

 

[judes_bens_girl]

i think the swans will go great this year

i think the swans will have a great year if they can stay away from injuries and adam goodes and others have good games

 

[Benevolent Ert]

Most assessments there pretty spot on.
Swans can definitely challenge for the lower reaches of the 8, given a good run with injuries, but remains to be seen whether Roos chooses to sacrifice a finals berth to give the young kids more of a run.
I don't think we are bottom 4 like some of the doomsayers predict - a 7th-12th finish is most probable

 

[Bloodstained]

The key is defence and how well the Swans backline can perform sans Andrew Dunkley methinks.

Kicking goals wpn't be a problem with Hall, and getting the ball down there won't be a problem either with the amount of hard running thru midfield we seem to be getting under Roos.

... but I worry about how Fullback, Back Pocket and CHB will go without Dunkley to provide a bit of muscle and mongrel (not to mention a great apir of hands).

Schauble, LRT, Saddo, Leo and Benny are all pretty good players but in the past its been Dunkleys marks that so often they have been able to feed off.

Who's going to able to outmark somebody like Buckley, Voss, Carey etc ?

Not Schauble, thats for sure

cheers

 

[Desredandwhite]

I think in the case of dunkley, it's a bit of "some you win, some you lose".

On one hand, you lose a great defensive player, strong and a brilliant mark.

On the other hand, now you gain an extra player rebounding from the backline as you don't need someone to run around behind AD for the handball

Against the big, strong full-forwards, we might struggle, but probably IMHO better off against sides playing with multiple fast scoring options.

 

[Bloodstained]

sure, a bit of extra run out of the backline never goes astray - but its sheer marking power is where we are going to get caught out I reckon.

Might have to send Goodes or Ball (if we ever see him fit enough that is) down there more than Roos would like to, just to try and stick a finger in the dyke if it gets really messy

cheers

 

[Asgardian]

Another case of preferring other teams more than yours, this doesn't mean the Swans are crap, just not quite as good, or lucky, as a few others will be.

I predict the Swans to finish 12th

 

[Desredandwhite]

I think we'll be relying on luck, moreso than many other teams - we just don't have the known reliable quality in our side at the moment. At our best, we can beat just about any other team, at our worst....

Toss of a coin really. I expect us to get close to the finals, but we WILL need luck to get in.