Schwab Backs Roos

[Schneiderman]

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/06/02/1117568316230.html

This is now the fourth current or recent coach to argue the same line: leave the Swans alone. It adds to articles or quotes from Laidley, Malthouse and Sheedy.

Of particular interest to me was this quote:

Sydney has been a victim of its competitiveness. So while you may hate its style in 2005, you can not accuse this group of not giving their best every time they play. Give the Swans credit for their work ethic and accountability.

There are suggestions they could get better results from their available talent if they play more attacking football. I doubt that. If you analyse the team, you can see why a 50 per cent win-loss ratio, in possibly the hardest season for some time, is not a bad effort.

And I maintain that Roos is doing the best he can with what he has. And he is recruiting the best he can with what choices he is given.

[Snowy]

My criticism of Roos' recruiting would be that he doesn't respect the draft enough and focusses on the importance of rookies. He stated this when using his US knowledge/experience. While the odd good player escapes the mainstream draft and is unearthed through the rookie system, most of these come with flaws and none will probably be guns. Using the third pick on Spriggs was criminal, using a first pick for Jolly was probably over the odds. Finishing mid-table puts you in an unenviable position but doing what he did last year and putting so much faith in rookies is likely to keep you at best mediocre. And the current list reflects that, where is the next star, let alone superstar coming from?

[Mike_B]

Interesting article.

Scheiderman, just one question for you - did you notice this comment?

Talking about the Swans not playing in a manner to win a premiership is pointless. They haven't got the talent to challenge for a flag, let alone win one. The pressing problem for them and most other teams is how to find enough talented players to challenge for a premiership in the foreseeable future.

This is the beef I have - I don't feel like those players that have been drafted of late and could be the nucleus of a premiership side are being given enough opportunities.

On a separate note, I see we have two new players on our list, Jason Crouch and Robert Lewis-Thomson. Did NobNob proof-read that article or something?

[Charlie]

Peter 'I believe we will win the premiership' Schwab isn't exactly the most qualified judge of a list's ability.

[Rizzo]

My criticism is that the team won't win a flag while the coach says that can't. What does Roos expect, the team to come out and do it inspite of him?

[ugg]

Originally posted by Charlie
Peter 'I believe we will win the premiership' Schwab isn't exactly the most qualified judge of a list's ability.

That probably means we'll win it now.

[Dave]

Originally posted by Mike_B
On a separate note, I see we have two new players on our list, Jason Crouch and Robert Lewis-Thomson. Did NobNob proof-read that article or something?

LMAO!

[NobNob]

Hello again to all my friends on RedAndWhiteOnline.com Massageboard,

Robert Lewis-Thompson is the BEST! I am liking his stories but not the colonialistic Swiss Family-Robinson. Jason Crouch is no longer the SPEEDSTER he was but still is a holder of WORLD RECORD proportions. I am thinking the SWANS are having enough talent to be winning the PREMIERSHIP and that Peter Swab is ignorant. I ma looking forward to receiving a video tape recording of the last few SWANS games and seeing Robert Lewis-Thompson dominating as people here are saying. He will be a SWANS captain of the future. GO THE SWANS!

I am log-off
Sal D

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by NobNob
I am log-off
Sal D

Ok... so who IS NobNob??!!?

[ScottH]

Kallias said she met him @ the bombers game a few weeks ago.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by Snowy
My criticism of Roos' recruiting would be that he doesn't respect the draft enough and focusses on the importance of rookies. He stated this when using his US knowledge/experience. While the odd good player escapes the mainstream draft and is unearthed through the rookie system, most of these come with flaws and none will probably be guns. Using the third pick on Spriggs was criminal, using a first pick for Jolly was probably over the odds. Finishing mid-table puts you in an unenviable position but doing what he did last year and putting so much faith in rookies is likely to keep you at best mediocre. And the current list reflects that, where is the next star, let alone superstar coming from?

Maybe. But James Hird was recruited at pick 70. MOL was pick 40. Goodes was 43. Simon Black was 31. For every Judd (remember he was 3 not 1) or Reiwoldt, there are plenty that get picked up very late in the draft.

Paul Roos has stated that he has lost some of the faith in the draft. He is not the only one mind you, as Kevin Sheedy is in a similar predicament IMO, and has used the Rookie list well too.

Things to consider:
1. The Draft is a lottery. Apart from the reward-for-poor-performance regime it employs, there is also the Father-Son element that messes things up. And then the pre-Draft trading.
2. The kids you get to look at are 17 or 18. Thats a good ten years before most of them mature to their maximum capabilities! Do you know what you will be doing in ten years? There are so many hurdles (form, development, bulk, injuries, mental strength) to cross before you get there that its the most difficult crystal-balling excercise for the coaches. The only players worth anything are the rare exceptional few who are good enough to play AFL at 18-20, which is not even the first round of picks in most Drafts.
3. If you need an immediate boost to your stocks, the Draft certainly wont provide it. The players are too small and weak at 17-18 to slot straight into your side, and simply playing them every week wont necessarily ensure they mature faster. Instead they may well get more easily injured and mentally scarred by playing on battle-hardened 28yr olds. Look at poor Richard Tambling for example.
4. There are ample stocks of Rookie potentials out there. These are young men who have 4 or 5 yrs of senior footy under their belt. They have developed mentally and physically to the point where assessing them is a surer bet. They may not make it in the AFL, but you are a heck of a lot more informed about what they can and cant do. Vogels is a great example of this. He can walk onto the field in only his fifth month at the club, and not stand out like the raw recruit that Ericksen would have made at the same stage in his tenure.

[Matt79]

Originally posted by ScottH
Kallias said she met him @ the bombers game a few weeks ago.

Kallias is probably the Alias for NobNob or knows the person who writes as him!

Surely no one here is fooled by NobNob!!!!

[NobNob]

Originally posted by Matt79
Kallias is probably the Alias for NobNob or knows the person who writes as him!

Surely no one here is fooled by NobNob!!!!

Hello Matt79,

I am not fooling anyone. I am a real person living in the village of NobNob. I used to live in Port Moresby. I love the Sydney Swans. I am 14 years old.

Sal D

[Matt79]

Originally posted by NobNob
Hello Matt79,

I am not fooling anyone. I am a real person living in the village of NobNob. I used to live in Port Moresby. I love the Sydney Swans. I am 14 years old.

Sal D

What other villiages is NobNob near Sal? I was in PNG about 6 years ago, know a little about the place (admittedly not much!).

[NMWBloods]

I looked it up a few months ago. Found a site about it, but I can't seem to find it any more. It was somewhere in the highlands IIRC.