Sydney Board

[rizzo]

Basically all you do here is post injury statuses, whats happening around the club and anything you can think of!!

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Training 22/1

All the players are training very hard and its looking great for season 04. New players are being developed well into their new positions so look out for the swans in 04. As for Injuries there is none to speak of a few niggles here and there but with the best Medical team in the league its easy to push push push. New Players are Loving the change and Sydneys atmosphere.

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Focus on Stoppages

Sydney’s new assistant coach Ross Lyon has identified stoppages as an area that will need urgent attention if the Swans are to take the next step in 2004.

Lyon, formerly an assistant at Carlton and appointed to replace Steve Malaxos, has a special brief to work with the Sydney midfield.

“When you analyse last season, they had some real areas of strength. Their accountability, reducing the opposition’s uncontested ball, their zones, and their kick-ins were solid.

“But in their stoppage work, particularly centre-square bounces compared to the top four teams in the competition – which they were last year - they were a little off the mark.

“We will be analysing the top two teams over the last few years (at stoppages) – Adelaide and Collingwood. Why are they good?

“Particularly Collingwood. They had dominant ruckmen not dissimilar to us, so we will introduce a system that will move us up in that area. That is my brief a little bit.”

Lyon’s job will not be made any easier following the retirement of veteran Daryn Cresswell, one year after the departure of Wayne Schwass and Paul Kelly.

Lyon still likes what he sees, however with all of the new faces at the club. "Mitchell Wren did a great job in his first year as recruiting manager we got a good influx of some great talent into the team which is great.

“Paul Licuria had a good year with the Magpies so we are looking for him to back it up at the swans. Warren Treadrea had a super year and so did Dean Brogan.

“They need to reproduce that. You have the experience of Andrew McLeod, but it will be more the improvement underneath.

“Jarrad Schofield can keep on improving. A lot of our improvement will come from within. Nathan Lonie has played alot down back but might move into the midfield, and (Matthew) Scarlett had a great year and he will reproduce at the swans.

”But then you have (Heath) Scotland, (Steve) Johnson, (Aaron) Fiora, (Tim) Notting, (Ryan) O’Keefe, (Chris) Barlow, those types looking to go through the midfield."

Lyon said he was excited by the drafting last year of Ryan Murphy, and Brent Hartigan who are not ready yet, but who will be guns in the Sydney outfit down the track.

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Announce New Captain

With an aggresive approach to this years trading period which saw only 7 players from the swans Player list in 2003 left. "We are most generally happy with our trading we got some gun players a few All australians and a mix of experience and youth into the side basically, We're building towards the future", Recruiting Manager Mitchell Wren said.

In another note Andrew McLeod Has been announced Captain of the Sydneys swans for 2004, with (Warren)Treadrea to Vice-Captain.

"Im just rapt at the moment actually mate, I never thought of being at a new club in 2004 but thats footy. With me and Tredders leading the side and an influx of talent and new players we are sure to be succesfull on the field and off the field". McLeod Reported.

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Final List Heading Into 2004.

Full list

Senior List
Chris Barlow
Matthew Bishop
Craig Bolton
Dean Brogan
Blake Caracella
David Clarke
James Clement
Brenden Fevola
Aaron Fiora
Ray Hall
Brent Hartigan
Daniel Hunter
Heath James
Chris Johnson
Steve Johnson
Steven Lawrence
Paul Licuria
Nathan Lonie
Matthew McCarthy
Steve McKee
Andrew McLeod (C)
Mark McVeigh
Jarrad McVeigh
James Meiklejohn
Shane Morrison
Digby Morrel
Ryan Murphy
Tim Notting
Ryan O'Keefe
Lance Picione
Matthew Scarlett
Heath Scotland
Jarrad Schofield
Rhyce Shaw
Peter Street
Jarrad Sundqvist
Josh Thewlis
Warren Treadrea (VC)

List Size=38

Rookie List
Tim Hazell $30000
Matthew Pardew $30000
Hen Hall $30000
Mike Rix $30000

Total Player Payments: $5,950,000
Salary Cap: $6,340,000

Coach – Paul Roos
Assistant Coach #1- Mitchell Wren
Assistant Coach #2- Peter Jonas
Assistant Coach#3- Ross Lyon
Assistant Coach #4- John Longmire
Assistant Coach #5- Matthew Knights
Captain- Andrew McLeod
Vice Captain- Warren Treadrea
Deputy Vice Captain- James Clement
Deputy Vice captain – Paul Licuria
Deputy’s Deputy – Blake Caracella
Player Representative- Matthew Scarlett & Nathan Lonie
Recruiting Manager- Mitchell Wren
Operations Manager- Ron Barassi
Ceo – Mitchell Wren
Leadership Coordinator- Mitchell Wren
Chairman - Richard Colless

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Define Pre-Season

It’s not overstating things to say that Sydney surprised the football world (Sydney aside) by making a preliminary final in 2003 after being widely fancied to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

Now, the benefits of a successful year and some aggressive Recruiting are having an impact on the team’s approach to pre-season training.


“We’d like to think that the players have got some confidence in themselves from last year and they’re confident in how we play football,” Swans assistant coach John Longmire told afl.com.au.

“And therefore the pre-season is about refining our game plan and how we go about it,”

The Swans were widely praised for their team spirit during the finals and Longmire, who spent his career at the Kangaroos who are renowned for their unity, said the solidarity at Sydney was only growing.

“From what I see here, our new experiences recruits are really helping out our younger players and younger Recruits and getting them to come along reasonably quickly in their development. I think that’s been a real positive and I hope that it continues.”

The Swans are combining three skills sessions per week with speed conditioning work, weights, running and swimming sessions.

The team will travel to Newcastle for their four day AFL Community Camp in early February.

 

[Wrenny]

Lyon a good fit for Swans

Perhaps it was his connections or perhaps his experience that got new Sydney Swans assistant coach Ross Lyon his job. Most likely, it was a combination of the two.

Now that he’s on board, however, Lyon’s task is to get the best out of Sydney’s new midfield.

The former Carlton assistant coach played 127 games for Fitzroy where he formed a close friendship with Sydney senior coach Paul Roos.

Now the pair have been reunited, and Lyon regards his move north to the harbour city as a big step both for himself and the club.

“I had been an assistant coach at Carlton and had an offer on the table from them which I was thinking of taking up as I liked working with Denis Pagan and Tony Elshaug and Barry Mitchell and the coaching panel,” Lyon told afl.com.au.

“I had been at Carlton for four years and they had been wonderful to me. In the four years the first two were relatively successful, we were a pretty good team, and then the last two have obviously been very tough.

“I was considering the option and another club had spoken to me and interviewed me with a two year term on the table.

“Then Paul rang and said – Steve Malaxos was moving on... are you interested?

"Obviously there is a connection because we played at Fitzroy but fundamentally I have been an assistant coach for eight years, and I am 37-years-old which is relatively young.”

Lyon, who coached the Blues VFL side to finals series in 2000 and 2001 - feels he can help Sydney win their first premiership.

“Most of us have played under pretty good coaches, but I have worked intimately with Robert Walls, Jeff Gieschen, you learn something from all of them, David Parkin, Wayne Brittain and Denis Pagan.

"You are working under their instruction but you have to show initiative.

"Basically you are seeing their systems, what they believe in, what they believe brings success and you pick and choose out of that what you want and then you come into the Sydney system."

 

[Wrenny]

Swans celebrate Australia Day at Royal Randwick

Royal Randwick racecourse is the place to be for Sydney Swans fans on January 26 when our red and whites join with the gold and blue of Network Ten for the inaugural Sydney Swans - Network Ten Australia Day race meeting.

Swans players will be in attendance alongside a host of Network Ten personalities and also some of the stars of the hit ‘Australian Idol’, Ian (Dicko) Dickson, Shannon Noll and Robert (Millsy) Mills.
It's a great chance to celebrate an early start to the 2004 season with the Swans and Network Ten and better still for Swans members entry is FREE!

All Swans members need do is present their 2003 membership card for entry to the meeting however if their cards have been discarded, members just need to contact the Swans membership department for a replacement for the day.

As well as a free day out Swans supporters will get the chance to grab an autograph from not only the Swans players but also Network Ten personalities.

Just turn up on the day and help celebrate Australia Day at Royal Randwick with the Swans and Network Ten.

And by being there you will also get the opportunity to cheer on Former Hawks now Swans players Kris Barlow and Nathan Lonie when they go up against Network Ten rivals in a special ‘Celebrity Pony Challenge’.

Nathan Lonie and Kris Barlow were out at Randwick earlier in the week getting a feel of the track prior to Monday’s celebrity race.

 

[Cuneyt]

NICK DAVIS????
he plays for richmond now

 

[Wrenny]

Sorry my bad

I would like to appoligise About the statement i just made and will edit it.

 

[Wrenny]

Swans Preseason Training Update

Sydney
Coach Paul Roos believes for his team to follow on from last year's success, more improvement must come from the younger group of players and the many star Recruits - many of whom had their best seasons last year at their previous club. Roos said he is expecting players such as Brent Hartigan, Jarrad McVeigh, Ryan Murphy and Hen Rix to perform well in pre-season practice games.

 

[Wrenny]

Practise Match

The sydney swans came up short against the Pies in Darwin But there were a few positives that came out of the game.
Our Forwards kicked goals and so did our Ruckman. We experimented with a few Positional Changes just to see wats gonna happen with the season.. I will prob be having 2 more Practise games so clubs let me know and we can Organise sumthing

 

[Wrenny]

Swans must not stand still: Bolton

Sydney defender, Craig Bolton believes the Swans must improve on the form that took the club all the way to last year’s preliminary final just to be competitive in 2004.

Despite picking up alot of experienced and young players through the draft and trade periods, Bolton feels the Swans will continue to surprise.

“We will take a similar approach to last season in that people will probably have different expectations this year to what we have on ourselves,” Bolton told afl.com.au.

“We lost a few quality experienced leaders but we have a big group of middle guys who are all around a similar age group and they are showing a lot of leadership and experience.

“Last year was a reasonably good year, but things are only going to get harder and teams are going to be chasing us a lot harder, so obviously we have to improve a lot more.”

Tipped by the experts to finish with the wooden spoon prior to last season, Sydney now find themselves one of the benchmarks for other teams hoping to defy the odds.

“Every team is obviously going to study the successful ones more than the other ones, but as Brisbane have showed in their consistent success, we have to at least improve if we want to stay where we are.”

For the 23-year-old, who met up with Matthew Scarlett and Warren Treadrea in Buenos Aires before continuing his off-season holiday in Bolivia and Peru - this also means improving as a player and leader.

“I often get the role on the main forward but it will be good that Scarlo is there to add support and I think it is always important I continue to have a role in the backline of helping to sort out how we set up and how we do everything. So in a way it is just keeping everything organised down there.

“Last year the backline worked pretty well together, so apart from obviously my own job what is important is to keep the guys at the back rotating and working well as a group.”

“(McLeods captaincy) is fabulous. I think what is really good is we have quite a reasonably sized leadership group and he heads it up and runs everything well. The other guys like working around.

Bolton enjoys the responsibilities of being part of the leadership group and thinks the group ‘allowed the young guys to step up a lot faster’ last year.

“The load gets spread a lot more, there is a lot more avenues for player involvement from all the players. I mean, by the time you have around ten in it then it makes up a big part of the list.

“Every player on the list will have a pretty strong relationship with at least a couple within that group, so therefore it filters through, whereas if you have one captain and maybe a vice-captain it may not work as not everyone gets along.”

 

[Wrenny]

Report From Newcastle

Camp Day One

There was certainly no place for the faint-hearted yesterday on the first day of our AFL community camp, which started early and finished late.


As a team we assembled at the Sydney Cricket Ground from 7am onwards, with all of the players committed to their regular Tuesday morning weights session.

The two groups were finished just in time for a quick bite of breakfast and a freshen-up before we boarded the coach for Newcastle, heading off just after 10am.

Prior to the coach leaving though, the leadership group got together and spelt out our own rules for the camp and our expectations of ourselves and our teammates.

In the past, club camps may have been construed as a team bonding session with a fair-bit of hi-gynx intermingled with the occasional training session and team bonding exercises.

These days however, our camp is very much about training hard and getting out into the community to spread the AFL gospel.

And so, we left the SCG with the understanding that we had a job to do over the next four days and there would be little time to relax.

The two and a half hour trip to Newcastle was pretty much uneventful and pretty soon after our arrival, coach Paul Roos and myself headed off to a media conference at City Hall.

We were asked about a variety of things, not the least of which was how we expected the Club would perform this year after last year’s great season.

We both explained that we realise there would be no easy assignments in 2004 but at the same time, pointed out that we are very much a young side and there is still much improvement to be had.

We also talked about our role in developing the code in the Newcastle area from an area that is close enough to Sydney for commuters to still frequent our games.

After the media conference, Newcastle Mayor Counsellor John Tate formally welcomed the team to Newcastle and it was pleasing that he was so enthusiastic about his AFL.

After the Civic Reception it was then off to the No. 1 Oval for a Super Clinic with the local kids and it was great to see a few hundred in attendance and they also stayed for our post-Clinic training session with the Newcastle Knights.

Certainly from the player’s point-of view, we were all keen to get out there and have a run with the local Rugby League heroes and it is always interesting being able to glean just a little bit from other sportsmen.

After the training session, we only had a short break before it was time for some of the players, coaches and the administration to talk with the local AFL clubs as we sought to assist them with some advice from our own experiences.

 

[Wrenny]

Report From Newcastle: Day Two

In some ways it was nice to see a bit of rain overnight, which was obviously going to have some type of impact at the No. 1 Oval for our training session yesterday.


That is not to say that the ground wasn’t in pristine condition in the first place.

We had a reasonable look at it during the clinics and light training session with the Newcastle Knights however it was always going to be a different ball game when we got out there under full training conditions yesterday morning.

It’s always going to be an onerous task for a curator trying to get a ground up in a short period of time, from a full-on cricketing surface to that which would be ideal for us in AFL.

However ten out of ten to the guys who work on Newcastle’s No. 1 Oval, the surface yesterday morning could not have been better given there was a cricket game played there only last week.

There is going to be a game played at the ground during the Wizard Cup Challenge rounds and with even more time to prepare the surface, I have no doubt it will be nothing short of sensational.

It is interesting training on the surface now considering we played a practice match at the ground a few years back and I would have to say that it is a far superior surface now.

Yesterday’s training session was a pretty full-on affair and it really gave us the opportunity to blowout the cobwebs with a view to Saturday week’s practice match against Essendon at North Sydney Oval. We made full use of the ground with some end-to-end drills and also some work on set plays and strategies.

The session itself lasted for just over two hours and then we had a break before heading down to Belmont Golf Course where all the boys had the opportunity to enjoy what everybody agrees is an exceptionally good golf course.

No doubting the star of the show was Nick Davis who is never short of enthusiasm but rarely backs it up when he stands over the pill.

Coach Roos was in spectacular form, we think he has been getting in some extra practice in preparation for yesterday’s tournament.

Today though it is back to serious business with weight sessions in the morning at the University of Newcastle followed by visits to 42 schools along with Newcastle and Gosford Hospitals.

We will get the opportunity to reach around 20,000 youngsters in spreading the word on AFL and it is a day that we are very much looking forward to.

 

[Wrenny]

Swans to display 'SMFC'

On the back of the QBE Sydney Swans guernsey in season 2004 and beyond, it will display the initials ‘SMFC’, linking the Sydney-based club back to its origins, the South Melbourne Football Club.

The initials were used on the Team of the Century jumper in the 2003 game against Collingwood at Telstra Dome, receiving a positive response from many associated with the Club, especially those in Melbourne.


“The selection of our Team of the Century was a catalyst for bringing Melbourne and Sydney together as one,” Swans CEO Myles Baron-Hay said.

“We respect our tradition and are committed to growing our supporter base in Melbourne. The recent appointment of Tony Morwood as General Manager and the addition of SMFC to the jumper reflects (in part) that commitment.”

Tony Morwood made comment, “As a Melbourne representative of the Swans, I believe the SMFC is significant and clearly demonstrates our link to South Melbourne.”

“Last year’s Team of the Century showed that you can have your team located in another city but still feel part of the Club you are so passionate about.”

“We’ve got a full calendar and ambitious plans to grow our membership base. We’re building the Red and White Army in Melbourne,” Morwood added.

The Club is following in the footsteps of the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions, in signifying their respective history.

The Swans are proud to be Sydney-based whilst acknowledging and respecting it’s past. The front of the jumper will remain the same.

 

[Wrenny]

Newcastle: Day 3

Day Three

When you talk about satisfaction it doesn’t get much more satisfying than yesterday from a personal and Club point of view.

Yesterday was the most important day of our four day Community Camp when we got out to all of the youngsters who hopefully will take something from the day and hopefully a little bit of passion for the Swans.

We were out to the University for weights in the morning and after that the players split up into 13 different groups and went out to 42 schools and two hospitals.

The group I was with included Craig Bolton, Warren Treadrea and Andrew McLeod and our job for the day was an extended visit at John Hunter Hospital where we got to see all of the children in the kid’s ward.

As a parent myself it makes you realise how lucky you are when you get to see some of the sick kids and appreciate what many of them have to endure.

We went into the ‘Captain Starlight’ room where the four of us where able to communicate with all of the wards via a video link and we also took some questions via the internal phone system.

But while the four of us were on hospital duty, many of my team-mates had much more expansive tasks getting to schools as far north as Port Stephens and then down south to Gosford where we also had a Super Clinic for over 200 of the local enthusiasts.

Jarred Schofield and Gosford local Jarrad McVeigh were part of the eight-man contingent which covered the Central Coast region and the two of them also visited Gosford Hospital and a couple of the local radio stations.

Schoey and Matthew Scarlett also got a nice gig last night heading up to the Hunter Valley where they stayed at the Cyprus Lakes Resort in preparation for some early morning TV interviews with The Today Show. It was a tough job but the two of them were happy to put their hand up.

For the rest of us, it was dinner at the Newcastle Panthers Club with more than 400 from the local community who were keen to show their support of not only the Swans but also AFL in general.

Today is our last day in Newcastle and we will be up bright and early for a training session at the No. 1 Oval before packing up the roadshow and hitting the freeway, bound for Sydney.

 

[Wrenny]

Final Day In Newcastle

Day Four
Friday brought to a close our 2004 AFL Community Camp in Newcastle and all concerned with the Club agreed the overall exercise was extremely pleasing.

And for that we must thank the people of the Hunter and the Central Coast for their hospitality and diligence in making certain that everything went well.


On Thursday night we had a ‘Dinner with the Swans’ at Panthers and the mood in the room was very enthusiastic and reinforced to all concerned that there is indeed a great depth of support for the Club in the area.

It was a great opportunity for the locals to chat with the players and hear a few words from a couple of my team members and also the Coach.

Certainly the four-day camp was a frenetic affair reaching out to so many people but the benefits for AFL in the region should hopefully be forthcoming in the next few years.

There is a game to be played in a month’s time at the No. 1 Oval Newcastle, and there is a strong possibility that we could be one of the teams competing on that occasion.

On Friday we finished off the training side of things with a solid hit-out at the No. 1 Oval and it was definitely hard work in the steamy conditions.

Following that, we only had a short window to freshen up before climbing on the bus for the last time and heading down the freeway to Sydney.

The drive to Sydney certainly isn’t a long one these days and that being the case, we will be doing everything we can to encourage Novocastrian's to come down and support the Swans this year.

Already, our membership department have been out there pulling together a special deal with the local Sid Fogg’s Coach Company, which shapes as tremendous value.

For just $99 adults can come down for our three Telstra Stadium games against Melbourne, Essendon and Collingwood with the price covering all travel and ticket price for the games.

However those games are still a few weeks off and our first up assignment will be this Saturday at North Sydney Oval when we take on Essendon Bomber’s in our annual exhibition match which starts at 3.30pm.

 

[Wrenny]

Wizard Cup Results against Carlton

It was a graet game against carlton as the swans ran home winners 15 8 98 to the Blues 13 7 85.

Coach Paul Roos loved the game as he tried out all his new recruits and youngsters in differnet positions: "Yeh well it was just a tryout for us and we didnt really mind if we lost we just took it as it came and yeh its good to come out with a win tonight. The Swans now advance to the next stage

 

[Wrenny]

Swans tackle childhood health issues

The Sydney Swans have announced a major initiative to combat childhood health issues - such as obesity and smoking - by signing a three-year partnership with Pfizer Australia.

Australia’s leading provider of prescription medicines and consumer healthcare products joins the Swans community program TeamSWANS, which has raised awareness of the AFL code and promoted healthy living since 1996.


“I think the main thing (with the partnership) is just the knowledge, structure and the education of our players,” Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos said at the media conference on Thursday.

“Craig Holden runs TeamSWANS and (Jarred) Schofield, but it is very difficult for them without any formal structure so we really see it as is an opportunity to streamline our TeamSWANS division.

“(The Pfizer people) will give the players an enormous amount of knowledge and help them talk to people and give them lifestyle skills as I think we all agree it is so important with so much on kids obesity and kids sitting in front of computers.”

Schoey, TeamSWANS coordinator, admitted financial assistant was necessary due to financial restraints but believes the joint venture with Pfizer is very significant in providing them with more than just money.

“The original concept was to increase the knowledge with Aussie Rules run clinics as New South Wales being mainly a rugby league and rugby union state.

“But in terms of player development as well as the development of the children we wanted to get away from the clinics because that is a NSWFL job and provide the kids with an opportunity to develop as people and talking about the ‘Smoking, Don’t be a Sucker’ program and a healthy lifestyle in general.”

“The half an hour I spend with kids is great and a lot of the time is spent talking about football and some kids see it as a half an hour off school but as Pfizer will provide us with better training we will be able to talk in greater details about the healthy lifestyle.

“We will also have the resources that will enable us to see kids more than once and we will hopefully have a greater impact on those kids and we might change half a dozen of the hundred kids but that is having a greater impact.”

The health education provided by Pfizer Australia will empower the players in their own lifestyles as well as provide enough information to answer the ‘curly’ questions asked by the children.

“We have been dealing with smoking and to be able to answer them a bit better like the greater affect it does actually have on your life other than it does kill you.

“(Now we will have) the intricate knowledge on how it actually does hurt you without just the broad stuff like shortness of breath and that may make a greater impact on a kid so if they are ever offered a cigarette they just throw it away.”

Pfizer Australia’s Regional Direction, Alan Taylor, is excited by the joint-venture and assisting the players in reducing health issues within the community.

“I don’t think we should be looking at this as a funding exercise. This is an exercise to improve healthcare in Australia and between us I am sure we can do that,” Taylor said.

 

[Wrenny]

The Sydney Swans President Rex Hunt has hit at out caraline wilson at the pethetic attempts to put the brilliant recruited new sydney team down.
'Hey Caraline maybe you should look at ur own list instead of making out that other peoples teams are worse than yours.'

Also Andrew McLeod and Coach Paul Roos have hit out at tagger bret krik and how it ruins the game how he always puts the heavy tag on them.

Roos: Clearly if you cant play midfield well then why play in it. Let mcleod and his brilliant skills entertain the crowd as we will win by 45 points at the gabba. He ruins the game. It wont matter really though because kirk isnt as good as a tagger as he thinks so it wont bother mcleod.

 

[Wrenny]

Cmon Sydney you no that you have no players worthy to be tagged

Mcleod plays a extremely fast brand of footy and that the way we like it. the fact is that micheal voss will line up on Mcleod this weekend.

Carloine would like to ask rex if his team has a defence? mathew scarlet cnat play in 6 positions and to base a defence around 1 gun player is useless.

we look forward to a reponse from the swans coach

Ummmm just wanna know caraline who is michael voss? Is he that new tagger you got from tasmania or what? Anyway our defence doesnt have to be good. Its a **** forawrd line for you anyway so they can have a tea party.

Im sure Lonie,Clement,Johnson,Scarlett,Bolton and Bishop can handle it mate.

Oi by the way how much is it to have an after party at some of the clubs up at brisbane. We nee done after the victory we will be having by 45 points

 

[Cuneyt]

Jarrad McVeigh
Brent Hartigan

when trade time comes...

 

[Wrenny]

Jarrad mite be available but u would have to work for hartigan i like him

 

[Presti_is_god]

Collingwood are interested in the following come the trade period:

Warren Treadrea (VC)
Heath Scotland