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Swans to chase backline height
08 December 2003 Herald Sun
Geoff Poluter
THE Swans didn't get the tall defender they needed in the trade/draft period, but will go much harder for one next year.
"We are targeting, at this stage, maybe to trade away some early picks next year to become a bit more aggressive," coach Paul Roos said yesterday.
"We didn't want to go into it just for the sake of it and just pick up a tall guy.
"We had a chat to Daniel Bradshaw and we tried to get Ray Hall, but apart from that we were fairly inactive.
"We will try to develop Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Mark Powell and we have still got Jason Saddington and Craig Bolton and Andrew Schauble, so probably at the end of next year we need to go and get an uncontracted, taller defender.
"But this year we wanted to keep developing. We have now got eight young kids on the list.
"Next year we have got to be careful we don't get too many more; eight out of 38 is a fairly big percentage.
"It is very hard to draft quality defenders. They might be 6ft 2in (188cm) and under 18. You don't know how big they are going to grow."
Roos said that taking bigger kids with early draft picks was a difficult task.
"It does tend to backfire. There are obviously some exceptions, but we would like to go out to the market and maybe get a 23 or 24-year-old," he said.
"At least you know what size they are going to be. You are not punting on them putting on 5kg or 10kg and growing another 5cm.
"Long term we need to address, (but) we didn't want to make any knee-jerk reaction and take 27 or 28-year-old guys who might fill the gap for two years."
Roos was speaking at the Swans' family day, which drew more than 4000 fans to its old Lakeside Oval base, now known as Bob Jane Stadium.
The Swans' new Melbourne manager Tony Morwood aims to build the local membership from about 5000 to 10,000.
"We would like to think that if the team is successful that in three years' time we can build up," Morwood said.
"We already have a supporter base of 15,000. It is just a matter of turning them into members. They are going to the games."
The Swans have four games in Melbourne and one in Geelong next season. The Kangaroos' game will be played in Canberra and the Western Bulldogs again in Sydney.
Morwood said the membership money for five games ($79) went to the club, it was cheaper than general admission and supporters also received a cap, worth $29.
08 December 2003 Herald Sun
Geoff Poluter
THE Swans didn't get the tall defender they needed in the trade/draft period, but will go much harder for one next year.
"We are targeting, at this stage, maybe to trade away some early picks next year to become a bit more aggressive," coach Paul Roos said yesterday.
"We didn't want to go into it just for the sake of it and just pick up a tall guy.
"We had a chat to Daniel Bradshaw and we tried to get Ray Hall, but apart from that we were fairly inactive.
"We will try to develop Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Mark Powell and we have still got Jason Saddington and Craig Bolton and Andrew Schauble, so probably at the end of next year we need to go and get an uncontracted, taller defender.
"But this year we wanted to keep developing. We have now got eight young kids on the list.
"Next year we have got to be careful we don't get too many more; eight out of 38 is a fairly big percentage.
"It is very hard to draft quality defenders. They might be 6ft 2in (188cm) and under 18. You don't know how big they are going to grow."
Roos said that taking bigger kids with early draft picks was a difficult task.
"It does tend to backfire. There are obviously some exceptions, but we would like to go out to the market and maybe get a 23 or 24-year-old," he said.
"At least you know what size they are going to be. You are not punting on them putting on 5kg or 10kg and growing another 5cm.
"Long term we need to address, (but) we didn't want to make any knee-jerk reaction and take 27 or 28-year-old guys who might fill the gap for two years."
Roos was speaking at the Swans' family day, which drew more than 4000 fans to its old Lakeside Oval base, now known as Bob Jane Stadium.
The Swans' new Melbourne manager Tony Morwood aims to build the local membership from about 5000 to 10,000.
"We would like to think that if the team is successful that in three years' time we can build up," Morwood said.
"We already have a supporter base of 15,000. It is just a matter of turning them into members. They are going to the games."
The Swans have four games in Melbourne and one in Geelong next season. The Kangaroos' game will be played in Canberra and the Western Bulldogs again in Sydney.
Morwood said the membership money for five games ($79) went to the club, it was cheaper than general admission and supporters also received a cap, worth $29.
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