no one wants to come to Sydney.

[footyhead]

The Swans are still on the nose as far as the players are concerned within the AFL. The only ones that want to come are those who go for the money, or those who think they can get it a bit easier in Sydney in the twilight years of their career away from the media.
Bas and plugger came for the money!
What are the Swans to do? At trade time they need to be able to attract more good to very good players.

[SWANSBEST]

Jolly does not fit into any of your categories because he wants more game time . I also doubt that he would be on big money.

[Rizzo]

Davis wanted to return to the Shire, Craig Bolton wanted game time, Bazz wanted a change on scene.....

If I was to move from Sydney to Melbourne for work it would be because I got an offer I couldn't refuse, couldn't get a job I enjoyed in Sydney, or my reputation was on the nose...I think the same applies.

[Snowy]

and really Geelong is the only club to have landed anyone - Ottens.

[gilze]

!!!

I reckon!!!!!!

[liz]

I think it's a fair comment that Sydney needs to more than match the cash to topline players to entice them here, something that supporters and officials of other clubs don't seem to get.

But so long as they perform when they arrive I don't particularly care what a player's motivations for coming are and I challenge anyone to name another club that can match the following list of mature recruits (and performances from said recruits in their new club colours) over the past decade or so:

Roos, Lockett, O'Brien, Maxfield, Schwass, Schauble, Ball, Williams, Hall, Bolton, Davis.

There are 6 club B&Fs in there, and probably around 10 other top 5 finishes.

[TheHood]

Originally posted by Snowy
and really Geelong is the only club to have landed anyone - Ottens.

Thats the ironic part to this whole thread.

Geelong have always struggled to get players there because the place is over an hour's drive from civilization. They only give you a Ford to drive when you get there and the chicks just don't stack up. (joking about that last point)

However it is a fact that Geelong haven't traded for a big name successfully in YEARS, so the Cats getting Ottens has been a surprising boost for them.

I think that Sydney being Brad's other target meant he was keen to get out of Melbourne city to finish his career and just wanted to avoid the day in day out criticism of Melbourne fans.

[Snowy]

Had Brad's family not have moved over and set up home it may have been a different story.

[ROK Lobster]

I had to spend a day in your wonderful city yesterday and do not blame the players one bit. Sydney has some very rude people...

But I agree with Liz. Only take the ones that want to come, get them when they are a bit older (no home sickness etc) but not too old (no Daffy, no Tingay etc - both these guys came pretty cheap didn't they?) and look at the results.

And also, there could well be plenty of players that want to come to Sydney but did not get an invitation.

[Wil]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster

But I agree with Liz. Only take the ones that want to come, get them when they are a bit older (no home sickness etc) but not too old (no Daffy, no Tingay etc - both these guys came pretty cheap didn't they?) and look at the results.

Yes look at the results. How many premierships have we won doing this? How long will it take until our current crop of older tradees (Maxfield, Williams) are retired until we can actually compete for a premiership?

The fact that most of our B&F's have come from other clubs show how pathetic a football team the Sydney Swans really are. Its not something to be proud of.

[Dave]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
I had to spend a day in your wonderful city yesterday and do not blame the players one bit. Sydney has some very rude people...

What a strange thing to say.

[silent lurker]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
I had to spend a day in your wonderful city yesterday and do not blame the players one bit. Sydney has some very rude people...

True, some Sydney people live life with their head firmly shoved down their rear end.

[ROK Lobster]

I should say that the majority of Sydney people I know are not rude. I even got a friendly toot of the horn from a car with a 2004 Swans sticker going west on the M2 at about 3.30. It was not one of you lot was?

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by liz
I think it's a fair comment that Sydney needs to more than match the cash to topline players to entice them here, something that supporters and officials of other clubs don't seem to get.

Yes Indeed.
Strange how silent that slimy Eddie McGuire is about the Swan's salary cap extension is at this time of the year. When Sydney's are having their annual trouble attracting a player north.

[Damien]

Re: no one wants to come to Sydney.

Originally posted by footyhead
The Swans are still on the nose as far as the players are concerned within the AFL. The only ones that want to come are those who go for the money, or those who think they can get it a bit easier in Sydney in the twilight years of their career away from the media.
Bas and plugger came for the money!
What are the Swans to do? At trade time they need to be able to attract more good to very good players.

The swans are not on the nose as such at all, but to get players to move interstate - and especially those players that love the superstar aspect of being an AFL player of any talent in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth is a very difficult thing to do.

We are rarely the first choice purely thanks to location. There is not much we can do about that at all.

Money is important to us because expect for the chosen few, we do not offer superstardom or the like, we offer a whole different football experience.

Our biggest plus is Plugger's famous story, without the Swans, I doubt he would have gone on the break the record and be remembered in quite the same way, so any player at the crossroads of their career (which was possibly BBB's case) are likely to see any move to Sydney as a positive.