Future

[occy437]

I cant really see much future stars on our list jared moore exictes me and Luke Vogels but i cant really see to much i think we need to rebuild because im sick to death of being a middle of the road team. We have the list to damage in 3-4 years time if we can get some youth and flair in to our squad speeeeeeeed and can we please draft people who can kick the ball with prescion eg lindsay gilbee

 

[CharlieG]

We have a list to challenge now. It's the way that list is used that is the problem.

 

[occy437]

Personally i dont see the list. On the swans website Longmire said they needed Adam Schineider as the small foward yet they never give him a chance I think we need to invest in a ATTACKING coach because sometimes i find myself not even wanting to see the swans because like most supporters i find they are so inconsistent. We can play the best brand of footy for one quarter then go to sleep for the next three

 

[Schneiderman]

We can play the best brand of footy for one quarter then go to sleep for the next three

Of course you could argue that Freo, Melbourne, St Kilda and possibly even Hawthorn have more talent on the park. Yet look at their games on the weekend. No application = no victory. Regardless of talent.

Yet the Roos and Adelaide are supposedly lower on talent but are having fine years. A la 2003 Swans.

 

[CharlieG]

Hall, Davis, McVeigh, Mathews, O'Keefe, Bolton, Williams, Jolly, Kennelly, O'Loughlin, Ablett, Barry, Bolton, Schauble, Ball, Crouch, Kirk and Goodes are a very good first 18 players.

Fosdike, Schneider, Saddington, Nicks, Dempster, Roberts-Thomson, Buchanan, Vogels and Bevan round out the core of the squad fairly well. There's a problem with depth - Malceski and Moore may well alleviate that somewhat next year, and hopefully at least two or three of Willoughby, Schmidt, Davis and Erickson will come through.

Admittedly Spriggs, Fixter, Maxfield, James, Powell, Sundqvist and possibly Doyle are unlikely to give us any more than they already have. But most of these blokes could still do their bit if called upon. On the whole, there's not much wrong with the list.

 

[DST]

I cant really see much future stars on our list jared moore exictes me and Luke Vogels but i cant really see to much i think we need to rebuild because im sick to death of being a middle of the road team. We have the list to damage in 3-4 years time if we can get some youth and flair in to our squad speeeeeeeed and can we please draft people who can kick the ball with prescion eg lindsay gilbee

How can we have no future stars, but also have a list that can "damage" in 3-4 years time?

Who says that the young talent we have now in McVeigh, Willoughby, Schmidt, Moore, Malceski, Dempster and M Davis don't have a combination of speed and skillful disposal that we are looking for, once they are settled and playing consistent football?

In my opinion, our recent drafting records has been very good with the players we have traded for in most cases all providing something to the team and squad. And from our draft picks all look to be capable enough of playing at least 100 games for us in the future.

Where things can be improved is how the club can get our young players prepared to to a senior standard earlier. This is not so much the clubs fault but a problem we have in that we are playing our reserves in a lower standard of league than the WA. SA & Vic clubs. IMHO the club needs to sit down now and work out if the extra $1 million or so that it costs to enter a stand alone team in the VFL is worth it and I beleive we would be in a better position to develop the talent we have and will have in the future by playing our reserves in the VFL as a stand alone team.

It may mean $5 million over the next 5 years but if it can deliver us a premiership then I beleive it is money well spent.

The only other is big picture issue left then is to have the SCG lengthened to allow us to develop a game plan that can suit all venues.

DST

 

[Schneiderman]

The only other is big picture issue left then is to have the SCG lengthened to allow us to develop a game plan that can suit all venues.

DST

... and hence remove a potential advantage we clearly demonstrate over some teams??

I think training regularly at a larger venue may be a better solution. Whilst I think lengthening the SCG would shut critics up, it would not necessarily mean a better win/loss ratios at the end of the year.

 

[DST]

... and hence remove a potential advantage we clearly demonstrate over some teams??

I think training regularly at a larger venue may be a better solution. Whilst I think lengthening the SCG would shut critics up, it would not necessarily mean a better win/loss ratios at the end of the year.

No doubt it would be detrimental to our win/loss record at home, but it will go along way to having a team structure and game plan that can win us big final's games at the MCG.

And to me that is 100 times more important that maybe 1 or 2 extra home ground victories a year. And besides that should also translate to 1 or 2 more victories on the road to cover it.

DST

 

[occy437]

So DST where do you think our future star is sure Malkeski, Moore will be good but i cannot see someone that can be an out and out star like Delidio and the higher draft picks personally if we dont drop down the ladder we will always be a middle of the road team with a few very good players and alot of good ordaninary players ala ben matthews matthew nicks etc. its dissapointing the draft is like this because to rebuild your list you have to drop to the dewlar cellars

 

[RW]

There are a couple of different issues in this thread - on the lengthening of the SCG, I can't see it happening now that the cricket will be staying there and not moving to Homebush. If the Swans were their only tenant, maybe that might give them bargaining power with the SCG trust to push for for the ground to be lengthened - but I'm not sure how it could be done without wrecking the Noble stand.

On the future, if the reserves results this year ARE a genuine indicator of the talent of our rookies and not just a result of the weak standard in the ACTAFL, then maybe a few stars might emerge from that group. All of the players who've made senior debuts this year - Dempster, Vogels, Moore, Malceski - look like they've got a future, and if Willoughby/Schmidt can impress, there should be enough midfield talent for the next few years when you consider that there's still a lot of development to go in McVeigh and Ablett.

The disappointing thing is, we do seem to have a pretty talented list right now as Charlie mentioned, but they might have squandered the chance to mount a decent challenge this year with the loss to Richmond, and the tough draw ahead.

 

[occy437]

GET SOME AGRO INTO THE SQUAD we play such a soft brand of football keepings off i want to see some exictment in our game some big bumps baz oozing authority

 

[DST]

So DST where do you think our future star is sure Malkeski, Moore will be good but i cannot see someone that can be an out and out star like Delidio and the higher draft picks personally if we dont drop down the ladder we will always be a middle of the road team with a few very good players and alot of good ordaninary players ala ben matthews matthew nicks etc. its dissapointing the draft is like this because to rebuild your list you have to drop to the dewlar cellars

I for one don't think we need to prostitute ourselves by dropping down the ladder ala St Kilda, Richmond & to an extent Melbourne did to get top draft picks that may win us a mythical premiership in 5 years time.

From comments on Bigfooty.com, people are always going to question a St Kilda premiership if they ever get one with this current crop of players (and remember they still are along way off) becuase they took the easy route to get the early picks. There seems to be this illegimate tag hanging over their heads even if they do win the thing soon.

Considering the baggage we have been lugged with by the Melbourne press and public over the years over funding, draft concessions, salary cap extensions etc I could not handle having to justify to people any success we do have if we finish bottom 3 for 3 years and get the pick of the crop that take us to a premiership.

Yes a premiership would great, a dream come true.

Earning the respect of the football world and getting a premiership would bring more statisfaction to me and I am sure the club.

DST

 

[Dudley]

GET SOME AGRO INTO THE SQUAD we play such a soft brand of football keepings off i want to see some exictment in our game some big bumps baz oozing authority

Surely you are joking, for all our faults we are one of the toughest, hard at it teams in the comp. I doubt you would find any critic describing us as "soft"
Dont confuse a bad style of play with not being tough or not as you put it "agro"

 

[swans_supporter]

We dont really need more agro, just more of a presence from our big men. With the likes of Goodes, Jolly, Ball, Hall and to an extent Saddington, all on the field at any one time, we really dont play like a team with many talls. Blokes like Jolly and Goodes need to make their presence on the ground felt a bit more. I dont mean in a biffo and overly aggressive manner, but just in contests around the ground, we have to start hurting teams with our available height.

 

[Bloods Rule!]

As I was saying after R3, we may well view this as the year that got away. Almost dead even comp with one better than the rest and maybe three teams off the pace. But, unless we show we can beat the Weagles at the SCG in two weeks, what's the point? We have already come 3rd and 5th in the past two years. Would anyone here be happy with second this year?

By the way, a two game home game advantage may be the difference this year between top four and out of the eight.

 

[nico]

Personally i dont see the list. On the swans website Longmire said they needed Adam Schineider as the small foward yet they never give him a chance I think we need to invest in a ATTACKING coach because sometimes i find myself not even wanting to see the swans because like most supporters i find they are so inconsistent. We can play the best brand of footy for one quarter then go to sleep for the next three

No Adam Schneider!

That's cause he is too soft and prefers to be on the end of the footy rather than go and get it. Wouldn't get a crumbing job in a bakery.

 

[liz]

Half the battle is the club stopping telling itself that the list is not as talented as other lists. I have no idea whether any of them really believe it, or if it is just a line they are fond of trotting out, but the defensive approach to at least parts of games suggests its an idea that has lodged itself in their psyche.

Look down the Crows list and it doesn't appear to ooze star quality. Geelong has a very hard working and even midfield. Even on the Eagles list are plenty of players who would previously have been described as "plodders".

The current Swans list includes one recent Brownlow medallist and five players who have made the AA team in the past three years. None of these is now "past it" agewise. It includes a mixture of hardworkers and mercurial, if slightly inconsistent, players. It has a good mix of match-hardened and experienced veterans, mid-age players and younger blood.

Who defines the "most talented list"? What does that even mean? surely a player is as talented as his performances dictate.

And even if there are more "more talented lists", at least a third of the current players are highly unlikely to play AFL footy as part of a substantially more talented group so they might as well just start believing they really can be PDG and playing like it for four quarters.

 

[Capper admirer]

Good points Liz. Well written.

 

[smasher]

It is far too early to be comparing first year players.Last years B&F in the Under 18s championships was Jared Moore so he can perform under pressure.He probably won the final game off his own boot.Most of these so called promising first year players were in those championships.Difference is they are getting a chance to develop in senior sides where as Swannies seem to play safe and stick with what they have got.We don't know how good these youngsters are going to be as they don't get the chance to experience regular senior footy and it concerns me that they are playing in a low grade competition as they may get a false sense of where they are in terms of other recruits.I do actually know the family of one youngster on the Swans list and she told me her son is not getting a game cause"the senior list is too good at the moment"said Roosy.
I certainly would not call a player like McVeigh as being too good.
I think the moral of the Swans is "Safety First" and this needs a good review.

 

[stellation]

No Adam Schneider!

That's cause he is too soft and prefers to be on the end of the footy rather than go and get it. Wouldn't get a crumbing job in a bakery.

How did he kick 30 goals in 2003?

 

[occy437]

First Of all Schnieder is not soft he is very talented and has quite good skills we are lacking a genuine crumbing foward atm so ive got no idea why he isnt in the team. And the aggresiveness i was talking about was some hard bumps or some really cruching tackles rip them to the ground. Whens the last time yourve seen a Swan make a fair dinkum hip and shoulder

 

[Lenny]

Got to start making the movement of ball to goal our main objective and move heaven and earth (ploughing through packs) to make it happen.

We had some obvious passengers in the first half there last week. Goodesy was woweful and here we were suggesting he was finding Brownlow form. He was literally a spectator from 2 meters, letting Tigers run past him.

The point is, when we do field our stongest team (bar Maxi we are), we have to start playing accountable footy because the guys that run out ARE the best on the list. This is the best list we've had in a long time.

If as they say, we DON'T have the best list in the game, then why do we play the most DIFFICULT brand of possession footy there is? Shouldn't we be keeping it a bit simpler, ie 2003 game plan?

 

[small_couch]

Ryan O'Keefe and Alan Didak = 2 best half fowards in the game

 

[Ed_Gein]

I was thinking of starting a thread on the future of the Swans until i seen this thread. But i was wondering now that Maxfield and Williams are both on the wrong side of 30 and it would seem Maxfield's career is winding down, but in 2-3 years time when players like Maxfield, Williams, Ball and possibly Nicks are gone. How do we think their likely replacements in McVeigh, Bucanan, Ablett and the likes will respond to the challenge of being able to step up and form a vital cog of our midfield along with Bolton, Kirk etc... Will we still be a strong a team as we are now?

But on that note i think we do have some younger talent even if they arent as young as the Deledio's and what-not that are exploding onto the scene. The likes of Paul Bevan, Adam Schneider and so on have proved themselves they can cement a spot in the team. While there have been players like Dempster, Vogels, Moore and Malceski that have shown what they can do in short bursts of action off the bench. (I think Dempster is going to be a genuine star, IMO.)

Should someone like an Erikson be given a bit of gametime? With Ball's career coming to a close shouldn't he be given a run? Or is he too raw and need more developing? I hvent seen him play to be honest.

But what of the 'middle-of-the-road' players? Fosdike, Saddington (IMO), Nicks and possibly a few others who's careers seem to be stalling. Trade bait? I think the 3 players i mentioned should be offered around to see what we can get to be honest.

I'm not sure where this is going and i havent re-read what i wrote, but i'm sure most of you will get the point i am trying to make.

 

[Drummond]

How is Heath Grundy coming along? Previously played for my SANFL club Norwood. He was an All Australian in the U/18 Championships last year. Who does he play for?