Will the Swans improve in 2019 and if so, how?

[ashep]

The easy answer is to say that if Reid, Mills, Melican and Buddy stay fit, we're a significantly better side next year. Like 4 goals a game better.

Mills is underrated here. A quiet achiever but became an elite defender almost immediately and I'm excited to see him go through the middle with Thurlow likely playing round 1.

Reid is a massive weapon and makes an enormous difference to our structure either up forward or as a swingman coming out of defence. Buddy was hobbled all year but his play over the last month of the season when there was a real chance of us missing finals was just spectacular. If Naismith allows Sinclair and/or Reid to spend more time resting forward, that will take some attention away from Bud, making him still a Coleman threat.

Not sure what to make of Blakey given his current level of physicality but if he can come in and do the same job McCartin did with the added benefit of a few more goals, he'll add another dimension.

I'm hopeful JPK can have a bit of a bounce back year, but if Mills and Jones and perhaps even Papley are rotating through the middle we'll be a lot stronger at the stoppages.

Florent, Ronke, Hayward and even Heeney are still getting better.

I'm excited and reckon we'll threaten for top 4.

 

[The King!]

Mills is underrated here

Not as much as Reid is overrated

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Mills is underrated here

Not as much as Reid is overrated

Overrated or not, him playing over McCartin is definitely an improvement. No crack at Tom, by the way. He's just still got a lot of development to go.

 

[The King!]

Overrated or not, him playing over McCartin is definitely an improvement. No crack at Tom, by the way. He's just still got a lot of development to go.

Dunno, Mccartin has a lot of upside though, hope we have both.

 

[Jase Cutler]

The easy answer is to say that if Reid, Mills, Melican and Buddy stay fit, we're a significantly better side next year. Like 4 goals a game better.

Mills is underrated here. A quiet achiever but became an elite defender almost immediately and I'm excited to see him go through the middle with Thurlow likely playing round 1.

Reid is a massive weapon and makes an enormous difference to our structure either up forward or as a swingman coming out of defence. Buddy was hobbled all year but his play over the last month of the season when there was a real chance of us missing finals was just spectacular. If Naismith allows Sinclair and/or Reid to spend more time resting forward, that will take some attention away from Bud, making him still a Coleman threat.

Not sure what to make of Blakey given his current level of physicality but if he can come in and do the same job McCartin did with the added benefit of a few more goals, he'll add another dimension.

I'm hopeful JPK can have a bit of a bounce back year, but if Mills and Jones and perhaps even Papley are rotating through the middle we'll be a lot stronger at the stoppages.

Florent, Ronke, Hayward and even Heeney are still getting better.

I'm excited and reckon we'll threaten for top 4.

I thought the coaches wont play Blakey this year yet..

 

[connolly]

I am really confident we will improve next year as a playing group, due to the natural maturity and match hardness of the young guns. . With a re-jigged attacking game plan, perhaps necessary with the rule changes, (please Horse FFS) we will improve even more. Just a question of degree.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Dunno, Mccartin has a lot of upside though, hope we have both.

Rather pump games into McCartin and use 2019 for what it is- development.

 

[TheMase]

Rather pump games into McCartin and use 2019 for what it is- development.

The club won’t be running out there playing for development. They’ll be trying to win games of footy and will select the best side they believe will achieve that.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

The club won’t be running out there playing for development. They’ll be trying to win games of footy and will select the best side they believe will achieve that.

That’s where I personally disagree and yes I know the club will do what you do. I’d rather play McCartin though.

 

[TheMase]

That’s where I personally disagree and yes I know the club will do what you do. I’d rather play McCartin though.

Happy to play McCartin, I am a big fan. I am just saying it is unlikely be at the expense of a fit Reid in the short-mid term.

People are welcome to their opinions, I just like to think about what scenarios are likely to happen or more realistic. It keeps me grounded...

If Reid got his body together, perhaps we’d like to play Reid as relieving ruck. He is 196cm so on the small size for a ruck, but he has 10cm more wingspan than his height (206cm). I think that is unlikely because of his body, but you never know. He would be big enough to stop the pure ruckman taking the ball out of the ruck (new interpretations) but more productive than most of our rucks up forward.

 

[connolly]

Happy to play McCartin, I am a big fan. I am just saying it is unlikely be at the expense of a fit Reid in the short-mid term.

People are welcome to their opinions, I just like to think about what scenarios are likely to happen or more realistic. It keeps me grounded...

If Reid got his body together, perhaps we’d like to play Reid as relieving ruck. He is 196cm so on the small size for a ruck, but he has 10cm more wingspan than his height (206cm). I think that is unlikely because of his body, but you never know. He would be big enough to stop the pure ruckman taking the ball out of the ruck (new interpretations) but more productive than most of our rucks up forward.

Do we need him to risk life and limb with the monsters? Hopefully Sinkers wil go forward and be the pinch hitter in the ruck. This shoud relieve Reid to do what he does best. Use his mobility as a linking tall marking target between the defense and our attack. He woud be really hard to match up on in the midfield /wing (as it used t be called) with Dawson on the other flank. Both good marks and long kicks.

 

[caesar88]

Nope. We still lack pace in our mid (don't believe Mills will fix it), and our game plan needs a massive change. Until I see that, there's no reason to believe we can play finals next season.

I think we have plenty of pace, our issue this year was a lack of inside grunt, players who could win 50/50 balls when Kennedy couldn't. Heeney and Parker couldn't consistently do that this year and it cost us. We couldn't get first hands to it, which basically rendered those quick players - Cunningham, Florent, Jones, Papley etc. - useless at times because they were too often trying to help out on the inside where they were inevitably going to struggle to make an impact.

If we can improve our engine room, get some beasts in there that can increase our chances of gaining possession, then those outside types will come into the game more and won't have to pretend to be hybrid inside out mids when they're not at all. Some, like Papley and Ronke, shouldn't be there at all and ideally wouldn't have to be!

 

[caesar88]

Do we need him to risk life and limb with the monsters? Hopefully Sinkers wil go forward and be the pinch hitter in the ruck. This shoud relieve Reid to do what he does best. Use his mobility as a linking tall marking target between the defense and our attack. He woud be really hard to match up on in the midfield /wing (as it used t be called) with Dawson on the other flank. Both good marks and long kicks.

How does Sinclair playing forward help Reid get injured and spend the year on the sidelines?

 

[Dubsforsam1]

In 2018 the Swans had the 2nd hardest draw of any team with only St Kilda having a harder draw. The teams next in line were Essendon, Geelong, Adelaide, Brisbane, Freemantle, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Giants, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, Melbourne & North Melbourne.

In 2019 we are likely to get an easier draw and teams like Richmond, Giants, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North are going to get harder draws which will help our cause.

In 2019 we will also have guys like Papley, Ronke, Florent, Hayward, Hewett, Mills, Heeney, Alir, McCartin, O'Riordain, etc after another pre-season will be fitter/stronger and more experienced.

We will also have Melican, Mills, Naismith, Reid back from injury and ideally Franklin and Kennedy fit.

 

[Blood red]

I think it’s better than that if fit. Reid is crucial, along with Melican but we do need to get more speed and aggression. Game plan definitely holds us to your prediction, I agree!

Agreed.
Need to up the agression in 1% and tackling pressure.

 

[bungee]

In 2018 the Swans had the 2nd hardest draw of any team with only St Kilda having a harder draw. The teams next in line were Essendon, Geelong, Adelaide, Brisbane, Freemantle, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Giants, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, Melbourne & North Melbourne.

In 2019 we are likely to get an easier draw and teams like Richmond, Giants, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North are going to get harder draws which will help our cause.

In 2019 we will also have guys like Papley, Ronke, Florent, Hayward, Hewett, Mills, Heeney, Alir, McCartin, O'Riordain, etc after another pre-season will be fitter/stronger and more experienced.

We will also have Melican, Mills, Naismith, Reid back from injury and ideally Franklin and Kennedy fit.

Defintely agree we were going against the current, what with injuries to crucial players as well, yet we still finished just a couple of goals outside the top 4. I'd be genuinely surprised if we don't finish top 4 in 2019.

 

[WillHayward]

How can you tell the difference between when we are trying to score and when we are not trying to score?

% dropped from 126 to 109. 2017-2018.

 

[bungee]

Even the CEO acknowledged we had problems with scoring this year due mainly to the role and types of our injured players. Ruck/Tall Forward injuries simply contributed to our i) not getting first hands on the ball and ii) not being effective when we did go inside 50. It's not rocket science. We're most of us on the same page on this one.

Imagine what a fit Reid, Buddy, Sinclair and Tippet/Naismith would have looked like as options up forward. Parker had to play more as a forward so JPK carried the midfield. Mills/Jones could have been used to prop up the midfield but Mills was out and the loss of Melican and Grundy's problems meant our defence was also stretched.

A reasonably fit 2019 should see more fire power up forward, more options in the midfield and flexibility in defence.

For those worried about the game plan our recent recruitment suggests to me that Horse will indeed make changes, when he has the right players on the park. This year we often just did what we could to pinch games or limit the damage. Most teams will fall back to a defensive style when they need to. When you don't have the means to pile on a big score it's not a bad idea to focus on limiting your opponent's score.

 

[bungee]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-11-10/making-a-mark-who-needs-to-step-up-for-your-club-in-2019

Ling, Stoddart and Dawson ranked as three players who could make an impact next year if they can lift. I thought Dawson looked a likely type in patches this year, as did Stoddart in his limited games. Hope Ling can have a good preseason and get one ot two senior games in 2019. We have some solid talent buried in the ranks. The pre-season comp will be very interesting.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Hopefully there will be room. KJ should get fewer games unless he plays at the right level. Species will open beyond Hanners, Rohan and Newman moving on.

 

[BruceFromBalnarring]

My information was that Blakey would have played last year (especially given injuries) so I think we can expect him on a wing or a flank this year.

I'm hoping a decent pre-season (injury free) would see Dawson in the midfield rotating with Kennedy and Parker. That might also give Kennedy and Parker more time to play that marking forward role that they used to play.

I'm looking for more gut running from Jones and Florent, and longer, more direct, kicks, and more creativity from Heeney and Mills.

With more first use from Naismith and more value for our forward entries with Reid/Sinclair I can see significant improvement. Including a fresher for longer midfield unit.

Where I worry a bit is depth. We have a heap of youngsters on the list. Last year's draftees and this year's. The Class of 2016 will really need to step up as senior footballers. Florent, Hayward, Fox, and Ronke will be benchmarked as senior footballers now, as opposed to kids.

 

[Nool Carpenna]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet.... 14 weeks and counting!
Can’t wait to see our transformed list do their stuff... softer draw... Melican and Mills back in... experts writing us off... may take a while to settle but pretty sure we’ll be as good as any toward the back end of the season

 

[Jewelsbon]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet.... 14 weeks and counting!
Can’t wait to see our transformed list do their stuff... softer draw... Melican and Mills back in... experts writing us off... may take a while to settle but pretty sure we’ll be as good as any toward the back end of the season

I share your enthusiasm Nool!

 

[connolly]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet.... 14 weeks and counting!
Can’t wait to see our transformed list do their stuff... softer draw... Melican and Mills back in... experts writing us off... may take a while to settle but pretty sure we’ll be as good as any toward the back end of the season

Any team that has Melican as a messiah is in trouble. He may not even get a game. But I share your optimism. We are a chance for a flag with a more attacking game plan.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

I can see us improving. The list has been pretty well managed.

We have moved on some players who were not capable of delivering, one who was cooked and one average soldier in Newman.

We have improved the quality of depth players in Thurlow, Clarke and Menzel (with the latter expected to play and contribute to a significant number of games).

We have drafted in some promising young players, a couple of whom in Blakey and Rowbottom should play significant games.

Our 2018 draftees in Ling and Stoddard should challenge for games. Players such as Dawson and COR look ready made to make a significant impact in 2019.

There should be natural improvement from Allir, Ronke, McCartin, HayCart and Florent with another pre-season and experience under their belts. Mills and Heeney should have big years.

Yes injury will hit as it always does but with a bit of luck it will not wipe out our talls as it did in 2018.

Most importantly we should expect an improved game plan, involving run and carry, eyes lowered and less chippetty chip. I hope the selectors have learned the error of selecting out of form players based on their past deeds (eg Jack, Hanners) or unearned reputation (eg Rohan).