Goodes' best is yet to come

[j s]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/10/1073437523463.html?from=storyrhs

Goodes' best is yet to come
By James MacSmith
January 11, 2004
The Sun-Herald

Adam Goodes may have won the Brownlow Medal last season, but Swans coach Paul Roos believes his versatile ruckman's career will be a disappointment if 2003 is remembered as his best year.

The All-Australian and Swans best-and-fairest winner was instrumental in Sydney's stirring form last year which took them to the preliminary final.

But Roos is adamant the football world hasn't come close to seeing the best of Goodes yet, partly because the Swans coaching staff is still trying to work out how to make the most of his prodigious talent.

"He's still got a lot of improvement in him," Roos said.

"He's still developing his contested marking, and we're still trying to determine where we should play him.

"Obviously, his consistency has really improved over the last 18 months, but I still think that can get better, and his better games can get better.

"Whether it's 2004 that you will see that improvement, or whether it's 2006 or 2007, I would be staggered to think that if you looked back in 10 years 2003 would be his best year of footy."

Goodes's adaptability is a key weapon in the Swans' armoury, but Roos said the fact the 24-year-old can play so many positions might be slowing his development as a footballer.

"He's got the athletic ability to dominate a game, and he's such a unique player that he can play in just about any position on the field," he said.

"I suspect that helps him but maybe it hinders him.

"The sort of thing we have to work out is whether we put him in one spot, do we play him as a ruck-rover, or do we play him on the wing?

"I think we as a coaching group are still learning how to play him in the best possible way. Certainly it seems at the moment his best football is in the ruck, but he's not big enough to play as a ruckman on a regular basis for 120 minutes a game week in, week out."

Sydney's fourth place and 14 wins far exceeded Roos's expectations in his first full year coaching the team, and the former Sydney and Fitzroy defender said he had found the start of this year a little easier than the last.

He is happy that fans are hopeful about the Swans' premiership chances in 2004, but has told his players it will be hard to replicate their form of 2003 this season.

"I know the fans are very excited about what might happen this year and it's good to see that, but we have to make sure we don't become at all complacent," he said.

"Things are different now for me as coach. Having been through a full 12-month cycle, I know what to expect and I'm a bit more settled now than this time last year.

"The coaching staff are more comfortable with their roles and the players are very comfortable with what we're trying to do.

"But we know that if we drop off 5 per cent, instead of finishing fourth we'll finish 10th, and the players have a very good understanding of that.

"They know it's going to be hard to reproduce what we achieved last year because we know we're still a fair way short of a number of teams in terms of pure ability, and it's more difficult for us to win football games than it is for Brisbane or Port or Collingwood."

[Reggi]

SYDNEY: THERE have been some personal best times recoded in the 3km time trial, with Jarrad McVeigh and Lewis Roberts-Thomson leading the group. In a month, the team heads off to its training camp, which is when the fair dinkum football work will start. Ben Mathews (ankle operation) and Rowan Warfe (hip arthoscope) have started running again. Fitness coach Dave Missen said the players were approaching an important eight-week period leading into Round 1. "They've come back in pretty good shape. The fat farm has been disabanded this year," Missen said.http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/foo...E20322,00.html

Seems that they are either dampening expetctations - keeping it low key or not going as well as planned.

Funny to the high performing players are changing in every report almost.

Anyway here's hoping

[liz]

Re: Goodes' best is yet to come

Originally posted by j s
"They know it's going to be hard to reproduce what we achieved last year because we know we're still a fair way short of a number of teams in terms of pure ability, and it's more difficult for us to win football games than it is for Brisbane or Port or Collingwood."

I have mixed feelings about comments like this one. As a statement to the media it's fine, but I hope the message that is being given to the players is a bit different. It's good to make sure they understand that they need to work even harder this year to keep up the standard, but they also need the belief that they are good enough if they want success enough.

And I don't see any clear gap in talent between the Swans squad and those of Collingwood or Port, to be honest. I know those two clubs have done pretty well in the last two years but I don't read their lists and quake in fear. They work well as teams but have a lot of "good" players playing well in a cohesive structure, rather than heaps of out and out stars, IMO. I also think, though, that the same can be said of the lists of about 10 clubs in the competition.

[Go Swannies]

I'm with you Liz - last year we ran throughout the season on the basis that we are a team without stars. Over the past week I've watched a lot of games again with the benefit of hindsight (thanks Margie and Bam Bam). Okay, we know that Bazza and Adam can turn a game around. But watch again and you'll see others that did that in 2003.

Brett Kirk probably prevented more than 40 goals being kicked against us in 2003 (look at the players he was matched up on and their average per game and their average vs the Swannies). We all expect Leo to take half a dozen crucial (and unbelievable) marks or blocks per game. Vs the Weagles Ryan O'Keefe put in a performance that single handedly kept us from losing. We simply presume Jude and Paul Williams will emerge from the pack with the ball down the corridor - so does Nic Fosdike time and again. On song, Mickey O and Nick D are stars - and even by this season Adam Schneider could become our second most reliable goal kick. I'm not convinced I'd recognise Andrew Schauble in the street but watch EVERY game we won and he was taking vital marks that turned play around. Most games, the commentators have to mention Jared Crouch about as often as Goodes. Everyone knows how important Tadhg and Jason Ball are but watch how quickly LRT has developed.

Yes, the Swans came 3rd in 2003 because as the Crows' Risciutto (sp?) said they play like a band of brothers. But, besides Brisbane, I'm like to hear what teams anyone else thinks have a greater (or equal) depth of talent. Sure the Bombers have the glimmer twins of Hird and Lloyd, and Wanganeen and Buckley can be brilliant, like the top players on every team. But for depth throughout, I think we're more than equal to most.

I wish I can remember which coach said at the beginning of 2003 that there were only about three Swans that would get a start with any other team. I wonder what his count would be this year? More or less than 18?

[chammond]

I certainly agree that the Swans best side has nothing to fear from any team in the comp. But its a much bigger step to say that we have a strong squad . . . outside of the best 22, we are relying on real novices to plug the gaps resulting from injuries.

Half a dozen injuries to our senior squad would quickly bring us back to the pack.

[footyhead]

I think Roosy is very right to keep a lid on the ego of the players at this stage, cos if they don't improve as a group they will fall down the ladder for sure.
It is funny cos I used to be annoyed when Eade made similar comments, it made me feel that he was undermining there self confidance, but with Roos I think that he has a greater ability to instil self confidance in the players(perhapes because he actually does have real confidance in them).
So I think his comments are OK at this stage.