Roos abandons youth policy

[Jeffers1984]

Originally posted by penga
Schneider, LRT, Powell, Meiklejohn, Sundqvist

ill count sunny as a rookie, he only played about 20 mins of the melbourne game last year

Could we count Ablett as a rookie?
he's played the equivilent of 20mins or so for all his matches hasn't he?

[penga]

Originally posted by Jeffers1984
Could we count Ablett as a rookie?
he's played the equivilent of 20mins or so for all his matches hasn't he?

he got more of a go last season

[chammond]

Schneider, LRT, Powell, Meiklejohn, Sundqvist
ill count sunny as a rookie, he only played about 20 mins of the melbourne game last year

Hardly a radical "youth policy", though. Blooding 4 youngsters in a season is barely more than "business as usual" for the Swans.

Certainly nothing like the extreme approach adopted (stupidly IMO) by some AFL clubs in recent years.

[penga]

Originally posted by chammond
Hardly a radical "youth policy", though. Blooding 4 youngsters in a season is barely more than "business as usual" for the Swans.

but we dont have hacks in the side such as brockman, mott, bennett... only by the lack of injuries have we had less rookies developed

[Charlie]

Originally posted by penga
but we dont have hacks in the side such as brockman, mott, bennett... only by the lack of injuries have we had less rookies developed

To be fair to Mott, his early games had us all excited for the future.

[penga]

Originally posted by Charlie
To be fair to Mott, his early games had us all excited for the future.

sure, but he is of the preseason type pickups we were so used to

[Sid]

Mott definitely excited us all but his attitude just wasnt there.

Roosy is definitely thinking finals. We could give the flag a shot this year and i think everyone involved with the club is thinking about it. The question is, is it worth trying out more youths if it means giving up the flag?

Definitely not, and i think Roosy has reacted well.

[chammond]

but we dont have hacks in the side such as brockman, mott, bennett... only by the lack of injuries have we had less rookies developed

Er . . . so even though we've got no young hacks, we still only play the youngsters if we have enough injuries.

Is that a "youth policy"??

I actually believe that Roos does have a brilliant youth policy: play the youngsters when they prove they're good enough and providing it doesn't bugger up the team balance.

Mind you, that's probably the same policy that Eade, Barassi and Drum also used.

[Jon]

Even so, we've still gone from having one of the oldest lists, to having a vital, youthful side.

The "youth policy" thing is a bit overdone. I'd rather see more responsibility be given to players in their mid to low twenties, than simply see a lot of teenagers getting a run in a losing side. Actually I'd prefer to see players in their mid to low 20's getting more responsibility AND some teenagers getting a run, and I think Roos and co have delivered.

Struggling clubs obviously play more kids, but we've avoided being a team in trouble this season.

What I've really enjoyed about Roos since last year, is that the youngER players have been given room to demand a spot.

Great to see LRT, Schneider, Powell, Sunny etc

But it's players like
Fosdike, Kirk, Tadgh, Goodes, J.Bolton, O'Keefe etc who are still young, but perhaps weren't getting the chance to show their wares (in some cases), hadn't been trusted to play a key position due to lack of room on the list (in others), or were on the verge of losing their spots altogether (Kirk a good example) having a crack.

[liz]

Totally agree with you Jon, except that Kirk isn't actually a youngster - at least not in age terms. He's actually 26!

[Jon]

Yeah...true. I was just talking about the team balance Roos has. If Kirk hadn't responded, then perhaps one of the younger players would be in there as a midfielder. But he came out and showed you can't be cutting players just because they're old enough to remember Atari.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Jon


Yeah...true. I was just talking about the team balance Roos has. If Kirk hadn't responded, then perhaps one of the younger players would be in there as a midfielder. But he came out and showed you can't be cutting players just because they're old enough to remember Atari.

And Kirky is obviously old enough to remember the hairdos from back then as well!!!

[Jon]

Originally posted by Charlie
And Kirky is obviously old enough to remember the hairdos from back then as well!!!

Oh I dunno. It ain't looking too bad this year, I reckon. But hey...I'll even take that starched mammoth wig Kirky sported last year over one of those blonde-tinted spikey numbers so popular with Victorian players at the mo.

Check out Melbourne's website....it's like they spent the off-season taking electroshock therapy. And what's the deal with Robertson? Too ashamed to go the rat's tail, so he dyed one on his head instead

[Big Country]

The club with the worst hair in the AFL has to be Richmond closely followed by St Kilda and Hawthorn

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

What about Fraser Gehrig!!!!

Originally posted by Jon
Oh I dunno. It ain't looking too bad this year, I reckon. But hey...I'll even take that starched mammoth wig Kirky sported last year over one of those blonde-tinted spikey numbers so popular with Victorian players at the mo.

What about Fraser Gehrig! He was to prove the CULT HERO with the crowd down our end all night. At one stage each bay either side of the Cheer Squad was singing "Muuuuuullllllllleeeeeeeetttt...Mullllllllllleeeet ". Gehrig looked up a couple of times, and actually looked quite embarrassed that everyone was teasing him so much for his shocking head.

The Cheer Squad's response- "Fraser Gehrig's Mullet Army....Fraser Gehrig's Mullet Army"

I wonder when either of the South Australian sides will try and draft Gehrig. Because his hairdo would surely lead to thousands of extra Adelaidians flocking to the football. PORT ADELAIDE WHERE ARE YOU? As Charlie will no doubt testify, Adelaide has to be the mullet capital of Australia these days. Mullets were popular in the western suburbs of Sydney in the late 80s/early 90s....an indication of how behind South Australians really are.

JF