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There is absolutely no doubt that Sydney's achievements in 2005/6 were built on the notion of the team (and devotion to it). That's something to be borne in mind when thinking about any trade. The cost to the Bloods' spirit may well be greater than the loss of the individual's talents... and becomes exponentially greater as you trade more players.
As The Big Cat pithily put it in another thread, "Why break up a team which was 30 seconds from back to back flags."
We saw it with Port in 2005. They were the best team in the comp by a substantial margin in 2004, but once the remaining members of that premiership-winning side had fallen below a critical mass (about 15/16 players remaining) they were suddenly no more than the sum of their parts again. Some of that was injury or retirement that they couldn't control, but they exacerbated those problems by selling off a bit of the farm (or at least having farmworkers walk out).
Our team is a fair bit younger, and so if you believe in this sort of thing has a longer 'window', than Port did. I reckon we should stick with 'em. To look at our immediate future:
The 'bad' news:
Brett Kirk turns 30 in a few weeks, MOL, Leo Barry and BBBH turn 30 next year. They should all, touch wood, not slow down noticeably in 2007, and in fact barring injury Kirk, Leo and BBBH would all be eyeing at least 2009 with some confidence. It is important that we try to stagger their retirements, as you can't rip that level of experience and leadership out of a team in a single season and remain competitive. Of course, we lose Kennelly at end 2009 as well.
The good news:
Apart from the above, Ben Mathews and Jared Crouch (both 30 in 2008), the entire Sydney squad was born in the 1980s. They are all, at worst, mid-career. That's a lot of good players with a lot of years left in 'em: 16 out of the 22 who played yesterday (excluding Tadhg). If this group stays together, and it keeps its intensity and cameraderie, there's no reason why it can't keep giving the premiership a shake while we slowly and incrementally develop, draft and occasionally trade players to fill the boots of BBBH, MOL and Leapin' Leo through the period 2008-10.
We don't need to panic, and we know that trading in one great player doesn't bring premierships. Getting the best out of 22 players, across a range of roles and with a range of levels of talent, all playing for each other, does.
I'm not saying: don't trade. I'm just saying: don't sell off, piece by piece, the things that have made this team the first Swans side to make back-to-back GFs for over 70 years.
As The Big Cat pithily put it in another thread, "Why break up a team which was 30 seconds from back to back flags."
We saw it with Port in 2005. They were the best team in the comp by a substantial margin in 2004, but once the remaining members of that premiership-winning side had fallen below a critical mass (about 15/16 players remaining) they were suddenly no more than the sum of their parts again. Some of that was injury or retirement that they couldn't control, but they exacerbated those problems by selling off a bit of the farm (or at least having farmworkers walk out).
Our team is a fair bit younger, and so if you believe in this sort of thing has a longer 'window', than Port did. I reckon we should stick with 'em. To look at our immediate future:
The 'bad' news:
Brett Kirk turns 30 in a few weeks, MOL, Leo Barry and BBBH turn 30 next year. They should all, touch wood, not slow down noticeably in 2007, and in fact barring injury Kirk, Leo and BBBH would all be eyeing at least 2009 with some confidence. It is important that we try to stagger their retirements, as you can't rip that level of experience and leadership out of a team in a single season and remain competitive. Of course, we lose Kennelly at end 2009 as well.
The good news:
Apart from the above, Ben Mathews and Jared Crouch (both 30 in 2008), the entire Sydney squad was born in the 1980s. They are all, at worst, mid-career. That's a lot of good players with a lot of years left in 'em: 16 out of the 22 who played yesterday (excluding Tadhg). If this group stays together, and it keeps its intensity and cameraderie, there's no reason why it can't keep giving the premiership a shake while we slowly and incrementally develop, draft and occasionally trade players to fill the boots of BBBH, MOL and Leapin' Leo through the period 2008-10.
We don't need to panic, and we know that trading in one great player doesn't bring premierships. Getting the best out of 22 players, across a range of roles and with a range of levels of talent, all playing for each other, does.
I'm not saying: don't trade. I'm just saying: don't sell off, piece by piece, the things that have made this team the first Swans side to make back-to-back GFs for over 70 years.
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