Spring chickens all of them, none of them will be still playing after 2017. Again problem lies with Swallow who arguably is a one trick pony (maybe he could be a back pocket player if he were to be taken out of the middle) He cant go forward, so its only in the backline for Spitta.
Sure Swallow has attributes way back when all of these young players come to the club worthy to be Captain. He consistantly found the pill whilst our young brigade learned their respective skills ........but now these younger players have 100 plus game experience. Lets be honest here there weren't many people at the club who could have taken over the role.....maybe in hindsight Boomer should have kept the Captaincy.
Swallow's skill set overall combined with his age is less than Bastinac's skill set and his age. I'm highlighting Bastinac age because he could easily play another 8 seasons for the club against Swallow's who say will play another 4 years and who will slowly and naturally give less up to the point of retirement , also Bastinac could play as you said the inside role. Remember Cunnington's output this year was lessened and a byproduct of Swallow coming back from his achillies injury. So as it stands Cunnington and Bastinac are affected by Swallow being in the team and the respective growth curves are being stifled.
Again I give you a sliding doors moment:
If we kept Boomer as Captain, would you have kept Swallow on the list , this isn't a slur on Swallow as a footballer he's solid, finds the pill , courageous and tough. But look at it from a list manager's point of view. Take emotion out of it. And its hard mainly the fact because Swallow is captain.
I'm not saying we should cull Swallow ( normal clubs don't do that ) as it sends the wrong message to the player group as well as the rest of the football industry.
I'm disapointed that we've invested 100 + games ( hindsight my be smart because the father/son) and we all know Basti can play.........and now he is in his best years now and I have no doubt that if he has the opprtunity to play his natural game he'll be an asset to the Brisbane FC.