Swans to trade up for midfielder

[chammond]

Personally, I reckon a natural ruckman is the number one priority, particularly with Bally presumably having a limited shelf life.

Can't see the logic in that.

We currently have Goodes, Ball, Doyle, Meiklejohn and LRT as the ruck team . . . more than enough, unless we must assume that Doyle, Meiklejohn and LRT are unreliable or just no good. In that case, get rid of them before we recruit any more ruckmen.

If Ball has a limited shelf life, then the same is true of Cressa (definite!), Maxfield and Williams, which surely makes it more important to focus on the midfield.

The Swans ended up this year with statistically the fourth best defence and, despite amazing accuracy in front of goal, only the eighth best attack. That in itself suggests that concerns about the defence might be misplaced, and that to improve we need to win the ball more, and create more forward opportunities.

[snajik]

Originally posted by chammond
Can't see the logic in that.

We currently have Goodes, Ball, Doyle, Meiklejohn and LRT as the ruck team . . . more than enough, unless we must assume that Doyle, Meiklejohn and LRT are unreliable or just no good. In that case, get rid of them before we recruit any more ruckmen.

If Ball has a limited shelf life, then the same is true of Cressa (definite!), Maxfield and Williams, which surely makes it more important to focus on the midfield.

The Swans ended up this year with statistically the fourth best defence and, despite amazing accuracy in front of goal, only the eighth best attack. That in itself suggests that concerns about the defence might be misplaced, and that to improve we need to win the ball more, and create more forward opportunities.

Goodes - sensational player, but do we want him to remain as our number one ruckman (as good as he is)? Could his skills be better utilised elsewhere? If we do decide he should be our number one ruckman, then he will need support.

Ball - Excellent ruckman though may only be with us for 1 or 2 more seasons. During this period we need to find someone of his calibre to replace him when he does go.

Doyle - Could be great, though perenially injured. If we can't get 15+ games from him next year, I'd be a little concerned.

Meiklejohn - handy, but as yet unproven. Could work out, but at this stage doesn't seem capable of dominating. Was originally picked up to fill in for Mott.

LRT - Spare parts ruckman at best. Played a great 2nd half against Adelaide, but Everitt sorted him out the following week. Needs to bulk up if his future is in the ruck.

I don't disagree that the midfield needs surgery, however this article suggests a kneejerk response to our efforts in the last quarter. I just think a tall, strong ruckman is a bit more desirable.

[Newbie]

Ready-made strong tall ruckmen do not grow on tree. Of course, we would be keen to pick up a Gardiner but then we will need to part with something substantial in return. In short, they are out of our reach.

While Ball is not going to be around longer, so too Williams and Maxfield. Taking Williams and Maxfield out, our midfield is bare. That needs to get addressed soon.

Out of our youngsters, apart from McVeigh who is quite skinny by all reports, there is no alternate midfield option. That is the worry.

We would be better to see if our needs could be met with our current developing list going to trade/draft to meet them rather than trading to fix our apparent immediate needs.

This principle simply rules out trading for a ready-made key defender given we already have a bunch of them in the queue(Hunt, Powell, Stevens, James and LRT) and in slightly lesser extent, a Ruckman (with Doyle, MJ).

I dont mind if we get an extra developing ruckman to enlarge out developing ruckman group (Doyle/MR/new guy), given the concern with Doyle's injuries.

There is no urgent need to get a key defender. If any of Hunt, James or Stevens becomes good, we are set. There is every chance of that to happen. The combination of Schauble/Powell/Sando is not too bad either.

[sharp9]

I reckon Stevens is soft...a receiver and terrible under pressure. How many kicks did he cough up against us and Collingwood? Shocking.

Luke Power is a much better player. Chapman? You're kidding aren't you? He's OK, but I would seriously hope that a few of our youngsters will be better than him.

Solomon. Seriously hard. Really good at clearances.

The trouble is that most inside midfielders are central parts of a tema nad not up for trade...Burns, Buckley, Ricciuto, Mitchell, Jason Johnson, Voss etc.

Nathan Brown wants to play in the midfield. Maybe we should let him. He'd get his hands on the footy. Fixter/Crouch/Mathew as a number 1 tagger and let Jude and Brett get down and dirty.

It's not just first hands that we lack, but also a (sorry about the cliche) player to "break the lines" in the midfield...a la Judd, Hird, McLeod, Kerr. It would be unfair to call these player receivers. They don't go in and under often but they do regularly win the ball first...and when they do they break forward with monotonous regularity.

It's the role Williams used to do a lot more a couple of years back.

I guess it's also what Davis or Schneider could do if out in the midfield permanently.

So, all in all, I hope that Roosey is true to his word and does not sacrifice any decent players or picks unless that new player is really a potential superstar....because we have plenty of good players in the wings. And (see the Melbourne experience) there is no need to weaken team morale unless it's for a really fantastic return.

[Newbie]

Ready-made strong tall ruckmen do not grow on tree. Of course, we would be keen to pick up a Gardiner but then we will need to part with something substantial in return. In short, they are out of our reach.

While Ball is not going to be around longer, so too Williams and Maxfield. Taking Williams and Maxfield out, our midfield is bare. That needs to get addressed soon.

Out of our youngsters, apart from McVeigh who is quite skinny by all reports, there is no alternate midfield option. That is the worry.

We would be better to see if our needs could be met with our current developing list going to trade/draft to meet them rather than trading to fix our apparent immediate needs.

This principle simply rules out trading for a ready-made key defender given we already have a bunch of them in the queue(Hunt, Powell, Stevens, James and LRT) and in slightly lesser extent, a Ruckman (with Doyle, MJ).

I dont mind if we get an extra developing ruckman to enlarge out developing ruckman group (Doyle/MR/new guy), given the concern with Doyle's injuries.

There is no urgent need to get a key defender. If any of Hunt, James or Stevens becomes good, we are set. There is every chance of that to happen. The combination of Schauble/Powell/Sando is not too bad either.

[NMWBloods]

Goodes - sensational player, but do we want him to remain as our number one ruckman (as good as he is)? Could his skills be better utilised elsewhere? If we do decide he should be our number one ruckman, then he will need support.

One of the reasons Goodes is so effective is that he does play in the ruck a lot. His opponent is another ruckman, who is generally too slow to keep up with him. This allows him to wander the ground at will.

LRT - Spare parts ruckman at best. Played a great 2nd half against Adelaide, but Everitt sorted him out the following week. Needs to bulk up if his future is in the ruck.

I think LRT could become a very good ruckman with some more training. I don't think he really needs to bulk up a lot as he has a great leap. I suspect it is experience he needs more, and some specialist ruck training.

[NMWBloods]

I reckon Stevens is soft...a receiver and terrible under pressure. How many kicks did he cough up against us and Collingwood? Shocking.

Although you also need to look at the rest of the team and their structure and plan. Their game plan is to kick short and find space. They were unable to do that against us or Collingwood. Therefore there weren't many people for Stevens to kick to. As far as clearances go, he'd be second on our list.

Luke Power is a much better player. Chapman? You're kidding aren't you? He's OK, but I would seriously hope that a few of our youngsters will be better than him.

Chapman is very good at around-the-ground clearances.

Solomon. Seriously hard. Really good at clearances.

How do you figure that? His clearance numbers are very low - wouldn't make our top 10.

[Rob-bloods]

Let's be realistic guys, we do not have a high pick, we have "bit" players only to trade, unless you count our few higher profilers.

The options are
- trade a good player
- trade our top draft pick (16 would it be, not too high)
- or we have to either unearth a 'smokey' from the bush or in the draft generally, a father and son job, or simply build up our list steadily.

There are unlikely to be any Craig Boltons in the pre-season/ experienced draft, cos' Geelong, Doggies and Carlton need players fast.

The only unknown factor is other clubs salary cap issues.

Unfortunately, IMHO, there are NO other alternatives, and that ladies and gentlemen is the draft working I suppose!

[sharp9]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
How do you figure that? His clearance numbers are very low - wouldn't make our top 10.

He didn't play on the ball all the time. When he did he was unbelievable, an absolute ball magnet. Really clean hands and very quick disposal. Cool under pressure, too.

[plumber dan]

I see Akermanis is out of the equation, he's re-signed for another two years.

[SWANSBEST]

I see Akermanis is out of the equation, he's re-signed for another two years.


Good. He was only using us as a bargaining tool.

[Diego]

Originally posted by Rob-bloods
Let's be realistic guys, we do not have a high pick, we have "bit" players only to trade, unless you count our few higher profilers.

The options are
- trade a good player
- trade our top draft pick (16 would it be, not too high)
- or we have to either unearth a 'smokey' from the bush or in the draft generally, a father and son job, or simply build up our list steadily.

There are unlikely to be any Craig Boltons in the pre-season/ experienced draft, cos' Geelong, Doggies and Carlton need players fast.

The only unknown factor is other clubs salary cap issues.

Unfortunately, IMHO, there are NO other alternatives, and that ladies and gentlemen is the draft working I suppose!

Spot on.

I cant players like McPherson Warfe or Nicks being of any value to any club.

[Reggi]

Hmm - I would have though Chapman would have been an obscure player - made definately have potential as an inside midfielder.

I figure he plays forward because Geelong already have Ling Corey etc.

Might be worth a go at

[liz]

My impression is that Geelong think pretty highly of Chapman and would be unlikely to let him go. And he's a regular in their side, so its not like he'd be looking to move to get senior opportunities, ala B2. If we're looking to find another quality, youngish player who's just not getting a go, you'd have to think that Port would be the place to look.

[Reggi]

Not sure Lizz. When it comes to younger midfield running types Geelong have Ablett, Bartel, Chapman, Clarke, Joel Corey, Enright, Johnson, Kelly, Ling, Milburn, Spriggs.

More than they need - they are short on any kind of marking players.

I think they can well afford to let him go.