Lets play the Kids Roosy !!

[bandwagon]

Oh yeah, I reckon we will be staying in Canberra 'cos we can't afford anything else just now...

[sWAns63]

Best : L.Johnston , B.Meridith , R.Brabazon , K.Thornton

ROOSY , JUST PLAY THEM : Give them a go,
Im sick of not watching our kids at the elite level.

See what they have got, Carlton ,Freo,Crows,Lions,Hawks,Bombers all played them. Hurley played in a Key Defensive position and did Ok.

Really want to see Johnston play. Why cant he be thrown in a pocket or a flank. Give him a crack. Play Brett Meridith. [/QUOTE]
Would love to see 2 youngsters given a go at least
Roosy stated that there were no young ones available well what about Johnston & Meridith they had great games in the ressies they are going to be future players for the Swans so getting some experience against a team like Hawthorn would be invaluble

[liz]

Do people realise just how young Johnston is? He turned 18 less than a month ago.

What would we expect from him if he were thrown in there? Would he be howled down as "soft" if he didn't launch himself fully into every contest, regardless of the welfare of his still slight frame? Or would a season ending shoulder injury be justified so long as "Roos will just play the kids"?

How many 18 year old KPPs are out there even playing senior football, let alone having any kind of impact? And how many of that trivial number have Johnston's current build? It is not unknown - Frankin and Roughhead both debuted in their first years and were a couple of months older than Johnston is now - but they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule, and did so in a team that went nowhere that year. Have we already, after just one round, decided that the Swans are going nowhere in 2009?

[sWAns63]

Do people realise just how young Johnston is? He turned 18 less than a month ago.

What would we expect from him if he were thrown in there? Would he be howled down as "soft" if he didn't launch himself fully into every contest, regardless of the welfare of his still slight frame? Or would a season ending shoulder injury be justified so long as "Roos will just play the kids"?

How many 18 year old KPPs are out there even playing senior football, let alone having any kind of impact? And how many of that trivial number have Johnston's current build? It is not unknown - Frankin and Roughhead both debuted in their first years and were a couple of months older than Johnston is now - but they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule, and did so in a team that went nowhere that year. Have we already, after just one round, decided that the Swans are going nowhere in 2009?

They'll probably get even softer playing in the Canberrra league

[Nico]

Do people realise just how young Johnston is? He turned 18 less than a month ago.

What would we expect from him if he were thrown in there? Would he be howled down as "soft" if he didn't launch himself fully into every contest, regardless of the welfare of his still slight frame? Or would a season ending shoulder injury be justified so long as "Roos will just play the kids"?

How many 18 year old KPPs are out there even playing senior football, let alone having any kind of impact? And how many of that trivial number have Johnston's current build? It is not unknown - Frankin and Roughhead both debuted in their first years and were a couple of months older than Johnston is now - but they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule, and did so in a team that went nowhere that year. Have we already, after just one round, decided that the Swans are going nowhere in 2009?

The counter argument Liz is that Clarkson was giving them game time for when they were needed most and it worked. In this case Johnston has games under his belt for the time when Hall and MOL give it away rather than bring him in at that point. Hall, MOL and Johnston on the forward line means he gets the 3rd backman in 2009. I think it deserves serious thought because it is a long time since we recruited a key forward.

[2005]

Do people realise just how young Johnston is? He turned 18 less than a month ago.

What would we expect from him if he were thrown in there? Would he be howled down as "soft" if he didn't launch himself fully into every contest, regardless of the welfare of his still slight frame? Or would a season ending shoulder injury be justified so long as "Roos will just play the kids"?

How many 18 year old KPPs are out there even playing senior football, let alone having any kind of impact? And how many of that trivial number have Johnston's current build? It is not unknown - Frankin and Roughhead both debuted in their first years and were a couple of months older than Johnston is now - but they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule, and did so in a team that went nowhere that year. Have we already, after just one round, decided that the Swans are going nowhere in 2009?

So what Liz that hes 18 if the kid can play and hold his own and is in form why not pick him and see how he goes. The kid went at 12.
Michael Hurley played Full Back on a pretty handy forward this weekend ( 6 months older than Lewis) and he performed admirably well. Whilst he is bigger than Lewis he was against quality opposition and a bigger and stronger unit in Tredrea who looks on the improve.

Like you said there are EXCEPTIONS to the rule. This could be and I say could one of those exceptions to the rule.

Surely we can play him in a pocket ,especially while Micky O isnt there.
Jeff Gartlett whilst he is only a pocket player aint a well built raging rhino, he went alright and Im sure Lewis I would be able to handle himself he aint a girl.
Standing with Kirky yesterday,Lewis is a giant.
Also Liz, I do believe now that we will struggle this year even after 1 game down. I hate saying it ,though Ive been of the belief that we would since the Bulldogs final last year ,so nothing has changed in my opinion deep down.
Ive hoped we would be competitive and sometimes I still believe we will though after seeing 4 games now I strongly believe that this season is going to be a very long hard grind . I would love more than any on here that Im wrong, though Im not alone in these thoughts and I would prefer to see what we have in the cupboard with the kids than to live in the past and keep on going with those that bought success for so long.

Simply, just want to see our kids given more time at the top level instead of hiding in an inferior competion that really isnt doing them any good at all.

[Legs Akimbo]

Do people realise just how young Johnston is? He turned 18 less than a month ago.

What would we expect from him if he were thrown in there? Would he be howled down as "soft" if he didn't launch himself fully into every contest, regardless of the welfare of his still slight frame? Or would a season ending shoulder injury be justified so long as "Roos will just play the kids"?

How many 18 year old KPPs are out there even playing senior football, let alone having any kind of impact? And how many of that trivial number have Johnston's current build? It is not unknown - Frankin and Roughhead both debuted in their first years and were a couple of months older than Johnston is now - but they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule, and did so in a team that went nowhere that year. Have we already, after just one round, decided that the Swans are going nowhere in 2009?

It's not warfare Liz, it's footy.

Somewhat ironic that Roos says he can't play 'the kids' because they are all injured (which I think is a crock of @@@@ by the way). You can get injured playing anywhere. If a guy is ready he's ready and it has nothing to do with body shape or size. Tim Watson debuted at 16 in an era a lot more violent and physical than today. Another example - McVeigh - he looked about 60kg wringing wet when he started, didn't do him any harm...well physical anyway, not sure what effect the merciless bagging on RWO had.

[goswannie14]

It's not warfare Liz, it's footy.

Somewhat ironic that Roos says he can't play 'the kids' because they are all injured (which I think is a crock of @@@@ by the way). You can get injured playing anywhere. If a guy is ready he's ready and it has nothing to do with body shape or size. Tim Watson debuted at 16 in an era a lot more violent and physical than today. Another example - McVeigh - he looked about 60kg wringing wet when he started, didn't do him any harm...well physical anyway, not sure what effect the merciless bagging on RWO had.

You're right LA, kids join up in the Army before they turn 18. IIRC Watson was actually 15 when he played his first game, whether I am right or wrong, you make the point well. Age doesn't matter if a kid has got "it".

[pjcswan]

I live in Canberra and get to most reserves games and was there yesterday. i have some comments about matters raised in this thread.

Just to clarify the team composition. In late 2007, after we won three flags in a row the ACTFL were very concerned about our "unfair advantage" in having a large number of professionals playing their amateurs. In order to retain the right to have our own team in the League the Swans agreed to limit the number of Swans listed players (seniors & rookies) to 12 in the home & home and just 11 in the finals. The remaining players are provided by other clubs in the League (about 2 players each). Yesterday we had just 11 players available and this included Luke Ablett.

Personally I am concerned that spending a lot of time playing in the ACTFL does not really assist the young lads to develop their skills fully and we they get into poor habits through the generally lower standard of play in the ACTFL. Yesteday we played Belconnen who we've played in 3 of 4 GF over the past 4 years, so the result was not really suprising. Where to play the Magoos is a dilemma as the Club needs to play them in one team NOT spread over a number of teams. The reality is the ACTFL is not up to the standard needed to develop young talent for AFL Seniors. We did have a partnership with Prot Melbourne before 2005 but this was unwieldy for a number of reasons.

There are a number of the young lads who would benefit from playing in a higher level competition, but I am not sure of a practical solution.

Some observations on the young lads:
Lewis Johnstone was impressive and showed real talent as a leading CHF with very good 2nd & 3rd efforts. He would benefit from playing IC forward in the Seniors.
Brett Meredith played very well in the midfield and seemed to benefit from NOG's instructions.
Mike Pike showed huge improvement since playing the first NAB Cup game. He is very good as a tap ruckman and kicked a couple of handy goals. Hid sense of the play has definitely improved.
Ryan Brabazon and Kristen Thornton played well and so did Murphy until he injured his shoulder in the 2nd Q. He was kept off the ground as a "precaution".

[Legs Akimbo]

You're right LA, kids join up in the Army before they turn 18. IIRC Watson was actually 15 when he played his first game, whether I am right or wrong, you make the point well. Age doesn't matter if a kid has got "it".

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was 15 or 16, but either way, the whole age thing is a red herring .

[goswannie14]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was 15 or 16, but either way, the whole age thing is a red herring .

Yep, I agree, if a kid is good enough to be on the list, he should be under consideration for senior selection regardless of age.

[Ludwig]

I think we can let LJ stay in Canberra this year. We have enough young KPPs to settle in the team with White and Grundy. I think its more important to get these two into permanent positions than introduce another KPP at this time. Plus, we can expect MOL back in a few weeks.

The ones that should be brought in early this year are the kids that have been on list 4 years and more, which would be Schmidt, Laidlaw, Braba and Thornton. As of now, two are injured, but hopefully will be back in a few weeks, while Brabazon and Thornton seem to be playing well. I would like see at least one of them come in this week. Assuming Ablett in for Cheese, then perhaps we could drop Crouch and bring in one of our better performing young mids. I'd give Merridith a while to to show that he can be consistent performer in the Ressies before testing him out with a senior game.

Pyke seems likely to come in to the senior side within the next month or so, which could provide a KPP spot for White.

I am sure that if Schmidt can overcome his injuries he will be a very good senior player.

If we don't suffer too many more injuries to the younger guys, we may yet see a fair number become senior players this year.

[Robbo]

Thornton is still a rookie IIRC.

Johnston shouldn't play this year I agree with Liz on that.

However, guys like Brabazon need to start getting some chances. He's been in the system 4 years now.

[T-bag]

Our blokes should be spread out amongst the Canberra clubs.

They are the @@@@ing sydney swans not the @@@@ing canberra/nsw league. Time to get serious and use our team on our terms!

[Robbo]

Well, if they are the Sydney Swans then why are they playing in the Canberra comp?