We're Going To Struggle BIG TIME

[shearer]

I had a look at training the other day and was alarmed at the amount of our better players who arent in the main group at training but are still doing there rehabilitation.

Blokes like Hall,Williams,Creswell, Davis are still a long long way off being fit. There were a heap more as well who havent done much pf the preseason.

The most disturbing thing though was the amount of times Roosy had to bring them in to get up them for there skill errors.Blokes like Fosdike & Bolton were repeat performers and to be honest i know of some u/14's with better skills.

If they cant hit a target when under no pressure how are they going to go in games...probably like they always do, useless .

I was very optimistic that we were going to have a good year but now i think it will be a massive struggle to improve on last year.

[NMWBloods]

Interesting feedback. This has been a critical problem of ours ever since '96 - an incomplete pre-season. I think there are a few players who have no hope of improving their skills to an adequate level. I'd be interested in other views on this from people who have watched training (preferably without red-and-white glasses on).

[desredandwhite]

Sorry Shearer - I had to insert the apostrophe into the title of your thread - it was driving me nuts

back on topic though, I'm never really sure what to think about reports from pre-season training. Much as I don't necessarily think that a good training run results in a killer season, I also don't think much of bad reports either (not bagging your assessment, shearer, I just don't think you can read very much into it)

We've known about the disrupted pre-seasons to Willo, Davis, Hall etc and the reports coming out suggest that they're doing well, or at least on target with their rehabilitation. Obviously there's not much we can do about those, the best time to have operations is in the off-season! Hopefully they'll get right back into the swing of things.

With the skills, as NW said, this is a recurring theme with us. I guess we'll see what improvements, if any, have been made when the side trots out onto the field for the pre-season matches. One would hope that a lot of emphasis is put in this area this year. Get the basics right before you try something fancy, guys!

My gut feeling though, is that we'll do ok this year. It'll be interesting to see what Roos can do with a full year in charge - see if there's any changes in mindset about the place.

[Mike_B]

I agree with what Des has said with regards to injuries. Yes its not the ideal situation with players not having a full pre-season (or in some cases no pre-season at all), but when else can injuries be given a chance to heal? As long as these guys are fit when it matters (ie Rd 1), I'm OK with it.

The poor skills are a much bigger concern for me. It's something we've struggled with for a long time, and is something that could definitely hold us back again this year if it doesn't improve.

[Steve]

Once key players start missing most of the practice games, it is then time to worry.

For experienced players with previously decent fitness levels, it's very rarely a problem not being in full training before February. Only really the younger players, who need their first few PS's to improve fitness/strength, that struggle if they're out of action b/w Nov and Feb.

There was a Collingwood supporter somewhere who at this time last year commented on how much better Sydney looked in training than the Magpies at the time. I'm sure Collingwood are happy with the way things panned out in 2002.

This time of year is just a bad time to be reading anything into performances or appearances. Even in that practice game at Footscray early last year Melbourne were woeful, fielding basically a first-string side, yet won convincingly in Rd 1.

[shearer]

The problem is if a lot of the squad havent done the preseason they will be behind a lot of other clubs once the season starts.

If the players try to get theer fitness by playing they will be behind the 8 ball against there opponents.

Roosy will have to rotate the playesr a lot more than he would like due to a lack of fitness.

[desredandwhite]

Shearer, hopefully the law of averages means that other clubs will also have injury problems in pre-season ;-)

Actually I don't recall many recent seasons where we've had ALL our players firing 100% going into february. I wouldn't really see it as a problem, rather it's more a reality thing IMHO.

[swan_song]

I'm beginnng to feel quite optimistic again re 2003...if we can play like we did for the last six matches, then attractive, attacking footy will be the order of the day...gee I hope so. Around trade time I thought we'd finish in the bottom 3 or 4 for 2003...now, I'm thinking final 8...(*slap* reality...HELLOOO)...no seriously, I'm beginning to think maybe we could get to 7 or 8 spot , and have a real crack during September...
But hey, I thought preseason that we'd have a great 2002, so what do I know...

[SWANSBEST]

I agree with Steve and Des that there is nothing to be concerned about at present apart from the obvious poor skill levels from the
usual suspects. If you considert the last few yeares Port Adelaide came out the blocks very quickly and faded when it counted while Collingwood were flogged by the Swans in a pre season game last year by about 15 goals and made the Grand Final. That day I was sitting near Eddie and he became so red in the face I thought that he was having a heart attack.

When Adelaide won their 2 premierships they improved form gradually over the season and peaked for the Grand Final. Some years the Swans have looked a million dollars early in the season and folded badly at Finals time .The catch of course , is to win enough games to qualify for the Finals . Roos is also on record of advising supporters not to expect too much too soon,

[Cheer Cheer]

What it comes down to is that we are still 2 months away from the real stuff, i'll start getting worried if we have injuries / skill problems when the real stuff starts - I appreciate the update though, however i'll hold my breath until we reach round 1, till we can really comment on who skills are down and whos are up etc
Dont read too much into it now

[Steve]

If players are fit to play by the time the practice matches come around, generally there shouldn't be a major concern.

They might not start the season at full tilt, but (especially for experienced players) with a few games under their belts everything falls into place.

If, as in the case of Hawthorn last year, guys are coming back in Rds 1, 2, 3 etc without a PS and without any games under their belts, those players will struggle with match fitness and form/confidence for maybe a month.

Then when they actually get match fit, their confidence is shot (eg. Hay, Barker etc), and their season is a write-off 1/3 of the way into the year.

In any case, is "a lot of the squad havent done the preseason" a totally accurate statement? Also, there are varying degrees/stages of 'rehabilitation', and given that guys like Williams and Hall are coming back from 'clean-up' type operations after last season finished, you'd imagine they'd be in the final stages of rehab.

[NMWBloods]

The Swans have only had one good, consistent start to a season since '96 and that was '98. Other years have either been poor starts or we've had about 3 wins and then fallen in a heap. One of the problems has been interrupted pre-seasons by certain players.

Pre-season form can be misleading, but it can also be an indicator. In our Wizard Cup game last year against Port I wrote on the yahoo.groups site that I thought there were worrying signs with our commitment and skill level, and we would experience another below-average season. It was obvious also during the early couple of rounds, despite unbridled optimism in certain corners. In the end we finished off worse than I expected, but we never looked like anything but a poor finish.

As mentioned some teams look good in the pre-season but fare poorly during the year, others do the opposite. Unfortunately, we rarely surprise to the upside.

As for finishing strongly last season, that might be a promising sign, or it might not. We have finished with a wet sail before but not kept going the next year.

I'll reserve judgement until I see them in some proper games, but I wouldn't necessarily underestimate the importance of showing certain signs early in the season.

[swansrock4eva]

I've been to training a couple of times, quite a while apart (i.e. end of nov, and abt 2 weeks ago). At the one a couple of weeks ago, there was marked improvement in a lot of areas, and the players you have mentioned as in the rehab group were actually working with the fit players, which suggests to me that they are a lot closer than perhaps they looked when you were there, shearer. Also, given that it's about a million degrees hotter and usually a bit more humid up here than in melbourne (generally speaking), and we aren't actually training on a proper ground yet, we're not going to look like the next hot thing. I've seen the training field and it's not a good one in comparison to some of the AFL standard grounds i've seen.

Also, as has been said, who really cares about preseason? it's a time to get the young guys aware of what they are in for in terms of playing, experiment with new things for established players, and basically give everyone a little warm up for the season proper. I'd rather see us do sweet stuff all in the preseason and do a bit of butt kicking when it counts than do a port adelaide and romp it in in the preseason matches and eventually do nothing in the real deal.

[Dpw]

Can't add much to this thread that really hasn't already been said.

But would like to thankyou for the update and hope you could do it semi-regulary so you could gauge our improvement over the coming months that would be very interesting.

[Rod_]

Too Early to Say

I recall reading a report that Paul Roos wasn't concerned about the preseason matches. Therefore I wouldn't be worried about some of the senior players being behind the pack during the preseason. Seems the game plan is for the "real games". Which suits me fine. Blood the young ones during the preseason to see what they have for the real games. Step up and win a regular game......

Rod_