Now that the droughts broken...

[timthefish]

Originally posted by tantrum
But I reckon this group of players won't do a Port Adelaide and lose the hunger overnight, so who knows what might happen!

the bringing in of the new players should ensure the hunger for playing spots is maintained within the team. i wasn't previously aware of roos' intention of bringing in youth. if this is the plan, we might hold off trying to trade for another big-name player (eg yze) and maybe leave it for next year or see if we can snag another one from under the radar like craig bolton. i can still see us shopping our first and/or second round picks, but it will definitely be under our terms.

does anyone know where i can find the most recent figures for the total player payments for our and other clubs? i had a fish around on afl.com but to no avail.

[sharpie]

Isnt next year's draft meant to be a belter? Lets tank to top up and have a crack in 2007!

[Young Blood]

I think it will be very tough next year - our gameplan will be scrutinised like never before. We will have to continue to evolve.

Ball will be hard to replace. And the retirement of Schauble means we have almost no backup tall backs (surely the priority for trade period). We can't hope to have such a good run with injuries.

On balance, I think we'll have a better chance in 07 than 06. But as we've shown this year, if we can finish top 4, we'll take some beating in the finals.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

15 AFL coaches will spend the summer pulling apart the game plan, we will be hunted by every team wanting to prove themselves in the league in 2006, we may have the best our of our players this year, we may not be so fortunate with injuries etc. etc. So I don't think we will go back to back but right now I don't care, I've waited 40 years for this os now I'm going to wallow in it for a whle.

[giant]

Interesting that Roos just didn't even want to contemplate 2006, let alone a dynasty.

No question it was a case of right place, right time for the Swans in 2005 but you'd love to think that 2006 can be just as productive. Still, if I was a player & knew how much pain & suffering I'd had to go thru to win one flag, I'd be pushing 2006 to the back of my mind for a few more weeks too.

[hammo]

The thing about being top dog is that everyone wants to knock you off.

I have no doubt we can play with the same intensity as the leaders in the team won't allow it to drop off.

I think we need to concentrate on drafting youth this year however.

[R-1]

If things go as well as they did this year there's no reason we can't do it again - there's only a few sides who can trouble us when we're playing well at this point. But it'll be a lot tougher, I doubt we'll get the luck with injuries we did this year and of course there'll be infinitely more scrutiny. We won't tank, I'd expect us to go about 6th and bow out in week two or three of the finals, but right now I'm so serene and philosophical I don't care in the slightest as long as we don't fall in a heap next year.

Let's rebuild and keep renewing the club... give the youngins a run.

[Vivien]

Originally posted by Young Blood
I think it will be very tough next year - our gameplan will be scrutinised like never before. We will have to continue to evolve.

You make a good point Young Blood. Much harder to stay at the top than to get there.

Not to undermine our premiership win - we proved ourselves to be the best team and thouroughly deserved victory - but we had a lot of luck this season. This year saw one of the closest and most open competitions in a long time. There was no real stand-out team to speak of. Our injury list was the best it has been in a long time. We had a great run through the finals without playing brilliantly.

I think we did well to capitalise on the chances we were given this year. I'm sure we will be very strong next year, but you can't keep classy teams like West Coast and St Kilda out of the picture for long.

Having said that, I'm immensely proud of our efforts. I think the thing I liked most about our side this year was that the guys played for eachother and knew that there was no room for passengers.

[Go Swannies]

At the dinner on Saturday I had a talk to Richard Colless. Mainly I had to apologise for being aggressively emotional at the post match at Subi - but so was he. When I did so he said "we were both angry there - but we're both pretty happy right now, aren't we?"

But, you know how sometimes you can't think of what to say next and I blurted "What about next year, then?" and he just laughed and "Can we have the weekend off first?"

I don't think the team will fall off the pace much next year. But we have to think of a back-up for Jolly and, although he looked fit on Saturday night, I don't think we can purely rely on Doyle. And we need a taller backman. But I'd hope we can finish top 4 next year - and from there, anything can happen. But, unless we really fall apart, I don't care too much.

Next year, I can just appreciate the footy and not think about who has to do what for us to have a flag chance. We're the bloody Premiers. Premiership Bloods! I'm still in love with the world.

By the way, I always thought that "ending the 72 year drought was a figure of speech". After riding back in the rain (the bike never missed a beat) I realise it's literal.

[GoBloods]

now the drought is broken ...BACK TO BACK FLAGS, carn bloods

[ihamilto]

Originally posted by ihamilto

Not sure what I did then but Go Swannies I believe you and Wardy were seen dragging each other along the freeway who won ?
cheers Ian