Improvement

[reigning premier]

Does anyone think Malceski will get 'second year blues'? - seems to happen to a lot of our younger players.

Hope not.... But did he play a full year last year??? Perhaps then this is his first full year...

But know what you mean...

Schneider..... Is the one that immediately comes to mind.

[NMWBloods]

Hope not either - he is my favourite young player. But we have sort of seen elements of this with Schneider, Bevan, Dempster, McVeigh.

[daniel]

interested to see how more does. really hope he does well but competing for a hard position and also similar to alot of players in the team.

i doubt Mal will get second year blues as his been around the club for about 5 years now and has alot of exprience and conditioning the only way i can see the great man stopped is through injury however his a tough tough nut. see his recoverey from the monster hit by chick in the semi.

[Sanecow]

Hope not either - he is my favourite young player. But we have sort of seen elements of this with Schneider, Bevan, Dempster, McVeigh.

Yup. I am not saluting the Malceski flag until the runs are on the board and the pudding has been eaten.

[Jeffers1984]

Schneider..... Is the one that immediately comes to mind.

Schneider's 2004 was tough. Tore his hammy against Essendon (the game we were raped by the umpires). Never recovered after that.

[Industrial Fan]

Yup. I am not saluting the Malceski flag until the runs are on the board and the pudding has been eaten.

Has he been doing gymnastics?

[Captain]

I'm looking for Jude Bolton to take his game to the next level. I think he can go from an average midfielder to a genuine star.

[liz]

I'm looking for Jude Bolton to take his game to the next level. I think he can go from an average midfielder to a genuine star.

Realistically, it is unlikely that Jude will improve much. He is a very handy player - better than many on this site give him credit for - but players who improve notably once they've been in the system as long as he has are few and far between.

Having said that, I suspect it is injuries that normally hold him back a little. For the last couple of years he has been very very good in the first half of the year - arguably the Swans' best- but hasn't been able to keep it up. Niggling injuries, of which we're probably not aware, are a likely explanation.

[liz]

Hope not either - he is my favourite young player. But we have sort of seen elements of this with Schneider, Bevan, Dempster, McVeigh.

I wouldn't have said either Dempster or McVeigh had second year blues. In both cases their debut seasons were decent, without being spectacular, and neither had clearly established themselves in the best 22 by the end. Both were then in and out of the senior team during their second years and I thought they both showed moderate improvement over their debut years.

[Captain]

For the last couple of years he has been very very good in the first half of the year - arguably the Swans' best- but hasn't been able to keep it up. Niggling injuries, of which we're probably not aware, are a likely explanation.

His best is very good, that's the point.

Jude can easily show genuine improvement this year though consistency, injury management, decision making, leadership etc. These will all contribute in him taking himself to the next level.