10am: Beware the Sleeping Swans

[Melbourne_Blood]

IMO 1-2 years is not unachievable. Not by a long stretch. Not sure what team your watching but the one I see has a lot of potential and a lot of spirit. By the wayCarlton may be on the 'verge', but so were the Saints for a few years and they never quite got there . Being up there doesn't guarantee you'll get there. I understand to an extent some of your misgivings about our side but your complete lack of faith in our ability to move up the ladder is quite confusing.

[Dosser]

I love our team and am excited every time they take to the field. However, I think 1-2 years is a bit soon for a real tilt. We need to address our fade-outs and our skill level but I think that we have a good group who will keep us excited and entertained in the meantime.

[erica]

Anything is possible, depending on injuries - ours and theirs. Situations change so quickly in footy, which is why I don't buy into predictions.

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

I love our team and am excited every time they take to the field. However, I think 1-2 years is a bit soon for a real tilt. We need to address our fade-outs and our skill level but I think that we have a good group who will keep us excited and entertained in the meantime.

Most realistic reply so far.

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

So we can't predict flags or be optimistic about our future but you can be a pessimist and it's just a fact we need to accept?

The highest Carlton have finished since they tanked is 5th and our highest finish since 2006 is....yep, 5th. They needed to trade in an absolute gun in Judd to do so, we're not a big Victorian club who will get many superstars asking to be traded to us.

We've made two GF's since 2000 and really could have won both. Carlton haven't made one GF in that time and the Hawks have only made one. The most successful team over the same period has been the Cats and I can't remember when they last "won" a spoon.

So forgive me if I think the tanking theory is a big load of crap and forgive me for not worshipping teams like Carlton for achieving zilch.

ok

[jono2707]

For someone who rekons they have a clue, you don't. Laughable post really.

I thought we had gotten past the personal attacks as per the recently posted thread reminding all of us about the rules of using this great forum.....

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

wotyatalkingboutwillis?

[Melbourne_Blood]

Im not saying i have my heart set on a flag in 1-2 years, what i am saying is at best, i think 1-2 years is achievable. Sides on the up have been known to "pinch" flags so to speak. Hawthorn in '08 werent expected to be premiers, more on there way to that title . The same could be argued for the young Pies side of 2010. Im not saying it will happen, but i am saying i think its a bit rich for someone to sit there and say that it definitely wont. You dont know how good Sam Reid will be by the end of this season, let alone 2013-14. Same can be said of Jack, Kennedy, Rohan, Jetta, Hanners, AJ, Mummy, Mitchell, Parker,Bird. Throw in Lockyer, Lamb, Armstrong, TDL, and Cunningham running around in the ressies. Who knows how good they can be? Considering only 2 of those are first round draft picks though, and one of those top ten, i guess there mostly duds...Scrap the list, to the bottom we go for the next 8 years. Swans for premiers in 2022.

[mcs]

I just love the optimism. A flag in 1 or 2 years?

Really?

hahahaha

anyway i'll let you all dream..to bad when reality hits it bloody hurts!

As I said in another thread, if you don't like to dream about what might happen, then perhaps you should become a benevolent AFL supporter... just support the league, not a team in particular. Dreaming is one of the great parts of being a supporter of any team in any sporting environment - but perhaps you may take more satisfaction from being the one that says 'told you so'? Whatever floats your boat really!

I'll continue to dream though... for if you don't dream, then dreams can't come true

Believe....

[Beerman]

I think the last seven games of 2010 sums up my opinion of the swans. We are a team who can expect to finish no better than 7th or 8th and possibly worse, but who somehow manage to win enough games to finish 5th!

My theory is that we are low on skills and (traditionally) on pace but we are very good at contested possession. We give the ball away a lot, but we put up a darn good fight to win it back and that makes games close and a close game can go either way.

As far as winning a flag goes, I think Michael Voss said it best - even for the best teams, to win a flag means that a lot of things have to go right. Injuries, draw, venues, weather, the other teams you meet in the finals etc. Even the best teams can't be sure of winning a flag, and anyone in the top four is a chance.

I still think we're a little way off the top 4 but I'm starting to think we might finish 5th or 6th in the next couple of years, which means we will probably finish 3rd or 4th!

[GongSwan]

We're as much a chance as anyone, a good run with injury and a stable team, learning to play as a unit, in 2005 we had a couple of champions in the side, this year we have a couple of champs, what we need is a champion team, one that plays consistent 4 qtr footy and is hard at the ball. We got most of that right now, and I reckon on our best day we can beat anyone, ask Geelong

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

In 2005 there really wasnt an outstanding two or three teams like there have been in the past few seasons. 2005 was special but really we wernt the most talented side to win a flag. But i guess we all know that.

To win the flag atm you need so many variables to go your way, as it always has been, BUT more than ever before skill and clean use of the ball is a priority.

[Xie Shan]

The thought of facing Carlton in a grand final makes me feel quite ill... it would be almost unbearable if we lost to them after they have spent the best part of a decade in the doldrums...

[mcs]

In 2005 there really wasnt an outstanding two or three teams like there have been in the past few seasons. 2005 was special but really we wernt the most talented side to win a flag. But i guess we all know that.

To win the flag atm you need so many variables to go your way, as it always has been, BUT more than ever before skill and clean use of the ball is a priority.

Wet Toast and Adelaide were pretty damn good though - Wet Toast won 17 games in both years, and Adelaide 17 and 16 games. Not quite in the same league as the dominant teams like Geelong and more recently Collingwood, but I think they were clearly the two outstanding teams 'as such' over 2005 and 2006.

You are spot on about skill and clean use of the ball... and that is the area we must improve most on if we are to work our way up the ladder.

[sharp9]

Here's the thing about winning flags....and you can go right back to Carlton 1995 (the first year I watched footy) - EVERY team which wins a premiership takes a massive leap up at some point from good team to "Champ" and there is often no particular rhyme or reason. Why did Swans 2002 suddenly go to contenders? Hawthorn '05 were a joke (remember the line in the sand and the huge "Mummy's Boys" headlines that included mugshots of players who were too weak to win anything? - Bateman, Osborne, Ladson among them).
WC 2010 suddenly took the leap - there's no paricular reason why....they just got better
Collingwood 2009 suddenly stepped over to the other side.
Will the Swans 2012 become the latest side to leap into contention? Probably not - but they MIGHT! We have a some top players and a crop of REALLY promising youngsters, some of whom COULD become as good as Cloke, Buddy, Swan, Bartel, Mitchell, Scarlett and other premiership players.

Or will it be Adelaide? Or Fremantle? History shows somebody WILL step up "unexpectedly" - they always do. Most importantly nobody knows it is going to happen before it happens. (Well, OK lots of people have been predicting Carlton would be coming....but they have been saying that for around four years now....and Carlton have not even made a prelim, remember!!!!! Four years ago their membership campaign was "They know we're coming".....yeah, right)

BTW I am getting all this optimism out this week...before we lose to Port and my life sucks again