Ages of our list at end 2007

[swans song]

Where from 2007
Current Players in 23
33 Everitt
31 Kirk
30 Barry,Hall,O'Loughlin
29 Crouch,Mathews
27 C. Bolton, J. Bolton, N. Davis, Fosdike, Goodes
26 Doyle, Jolly, Kennelly, R. O'Keefe
25 Ablett, Buchanan,
24 Richards, Roberts-Thompson
23 Malceski, Schneider
22 McVeigh
7 that have played
24 Vogels
23 Bevan, Dempster
21 Grundy, Moore,Schnmidt
20 Phillips
Next string
21 Brabazon
20 Laidlaw, Simpkin
19 Thornton
2006 Draft
19 D.O'Keefe, White, Faulks
18 Currie

[Damien]

Thanks for that - actually made me feel better.

Obviously having our co-captains, spida and Magic in the 30's is a little concern, but we do have a fair bit of experience that you would say has 5 or so year left.

You would hope players like White can develop into a Hall type player, and we really need to Doyle to come of age in the next year or so when Spida does hang up his boots, but things could be a lot worse for us in the age department.

Really need a gun midfielder to come through though.

[swans song]

Looks different when spelt out like this

[revolsnaws]

Good reds mature with age,great red and whites should dominate wif age.Just their set-shottin deteriorates,but theys footy brains should be well wisened.

[Nico]

Very few key position players under 27 yo. Sticks out like the proverbials.

[NMWBloods]

That age list has some concerns.

[barry]

They all should play in 2008. But 2009 we'll have to let go Everitt, OLoughlan, Kirk and Barry, and go the all-mighty poach of the next "Hall".

[liz]

That age list has some concerns.

Only if you're a Hawthorn fan who hangs out on BF and is obsessed with having the youngest list.

If you're a club currently enjoying success - real success, as the Swans have for the past four seasons - and with a valid belief that it can continue for another year or two yet, why not just enjoy the current without stressing too much about the future?

No, you can't totally ignore the future shape of the list but the group of youngsters generally hailed as the best at any time very rarely matures into the best group of players. And surely having an evenly distributed list of players, agewise, is better than stockpiling them within a similar age group.

The Swans have a very well balanced list, agewise, and won't be scared to trade judiciously if needs require in the future.

Where are the next stars? Who knows, but then few would have predicted the likes of Craig Bolton, Ryan O'Keefe or Brett Kirk had the potential to be AAs four or five years ago, nor that a skinny Irishman would turn into one of the better HBFs in the comp, or that a hotheaded bruiser from Morabbin would earn the right to captain Australia.

[NMWBloods]

I'm not stressing about the future. I think we have the potential to do well in the next couple of years if our younger players improve this year. After that though, we need to make sure we have brought through younger players (and there are a number of players in our side we should gradually start replacing).

[swansrule100]

if we dont win a flag this year or next year will be time to cut some of those older players or trade them for what we can get and rebuild.

[SimonH]

The word 'rebuilding' should be struck from every football fan's vocabulary. Its use should be confined to failing coaches, and people doing marketing for failing clubs. Players, often your best players, get older and eventually retire. Younger players are drafted or recruited by you to replace them. Such is the circle of life, regardless of whether your team finished top or bottom the previous year. Everyone is 'rebuilding' all of the time. The term is meaningless, except for the fact that it offers a combination of excuse ('that's why we're crap now') and promise for the future ('we'll be much better in 2 or 3 years' time') in one word.

The age profile of our squad is excellent; nearly ideal. Sydney is very rigorous at weeding out players like Spriggs, Saddington, Powell, James and Schauble to prevent us from having an overly mid-to-late-20s heavy list. This is a common problem of many Victorian clubs, who for some reason let 26 year olds who are only cracking the team in half of the senior games each year drift on in their list, seemingly unaware of the problems with balance this can create a few years down the track. O'course, whether we have the right players across the various age groups is a different question. Hey, even I was 23 once; it didn't make me any good.

Very few key position players under 27 yo. Sticks out like the proverbials.

Nailed it. There are enough (just) there for us to hope that we're not going to need to do a BBBH-style trade to save us in 2010. Sydney's major structural weakness in its senior list is that we're disproportionately dependent on Vogels and Grundy to come on, and LRT to continue an improvement curve, so that we have some KPPs after BBBH, MO'L and Leo move on. Obviously tried to start addressing this by drafting Colombo and MySpace White in the 2006 draft.

Where we can really successfully play catch-up without hocking our best draft picks, is if someone comes through from the rookie list. It's basically like getting a free player, who is already fully familiar with the club (and vice versa). Goodness knows where we'd be for big blokes if Vogels and Grundy hadn't impressed when they were rookies. Sam Rowe and Ed Barlow are the current hopes.

[liz]

Where we can really successfully play catch-up without hocking our best draft picks, is if someone comes through from the rookie list. It's basically like getting a free player, who is already fully familiar with the club (and vice versa). Goodness knows where we'd be for big blokes if Vogels and Grundy hadn't impressed when they were rookies. Sam Rowe and Ed Barlow are the current hopes.

Roos' (or maybe the club's) philosophy seems to be that it is so hard to judge how a skinny 17yo key position player / ruck will develop that it isn't worth wasting round 1 picks on them. A safer bet is to pick up a DOK or a Willoughby(!!) or to trade for someone who looks marginal but could flourish in another environment (Richards, Jolly).

Of course this may have been different had the Swans had access to picks that would secure players like Hansen or Gumbleton, but I suspect that if you look at the best bigger players in the competition, they have come from all over the place, draft wise.

We only need a couple of Grundy, Vogels, Barlow or White to come on and turn into really good players for the list to suddenly look much more balanced at the lower age range.

[BBBBH]

future does not look bright to say the least i reckon.

[swans song]

Where from 2007
Current Players in 23
33 Everitt
31 Kirk
30 Barry,Hall,O'Loughlin
29 Crouch,Mathews
27 C. Bolton, J. Bolton, N. Davis, Fosdike, Goodes
26 Doyle, Jolly, Kennelly, R. O'Keefe
25 Ablett, Buchanan,
24 Richards, Roberts-Thompson
23 Malceski, Schneider
22 McVeigh
7 that have played
24 Vogels
23 Bevan, Dempster
21 Grundy, Moore,Schnmidt
20 Phillips
Next string
21 Brabazon
20 Laidlaw, Simpkin
19 Thornton
2006 Draft
19 D.O'Keefe, White, Faulks
18 Currie

Thought it was time to have another look at the list

[NMWBloods]

I'd like to somehow see more of the 19-21 year olds be introduced into the seniors gradually, and very gradually reduce the time of some others in the side now (eg: McVeigh, Mathews, Crouch, J Bolton).