Swans 2013 Draft Strategy

[707]

We are the only team with serious ruck deficiencies, so there is no point in wasting a high pick in a draft with no standout ruckman....and our shot at a flag will be diminished by the time this miracle ruck man comes of age ................ I thought we needed 6 picks, but others have said 5.

If we really want a ruckman then the danger to us comes with Gold Coast having their third pick at 27, Brisbane their 4th pick at 28 and GWS their 4th pick at 29, these are the kind of selection numbers in your order that you might take a ruckman having already grabbed 2-3 midfielders. Our 2nd pick is at 32 then more danger for us as Brisbane have their 5th and 6th picks at 33 & 34 before our 3rd pick at 35. So who we see as the best ruckman in this draft is highly likely to be gone by then. It will probably depend on who is available at pick 15 and pick 32 whether we take the risk or whether Naismith is seen as a viable alternative if Pyke goes down.

Our senior list will be kept at 38 I'd reckon to save $ for a couple of big contracts we have in place. We had 38 this year, out is Bolton, Mattner, Morton, Brown, Armstrong, Mumford, Everitt, White & Lamb, down to 29, in Franklin, Laidler, upgrade Rampe B Jack up to 33 so 5 picks in the ND.

[Auntie.Gerald]

15 - Bontempelli has that James Hird about him and the kid is class and although most clubs go for a hard midfielder i think if he is available at 15 he is to hard to ignore....hopefully not another Johnston

32 - Marsh, Salem, Lennon or Freeman if still available for a HBF possie...........i think although Lennon is a forward midfielder he could be a Malceski off the HBF

35 - Issac Conway

44 - Matthew Sully looks a likely defender and at 20yrs of age and having played VFL last two years at the Cats would be my pick at 44 or even 35. The kid is a very mobile 196cm tall............Joel Tippett makes a lot of sense to me also and young 18 yr old strong mobile 194cm defender Cain Tickner is a player on the rise for sure down back

53 - Ziggie Alwan at 87kgs and 185cm and 25yrs of age this midfielder forward is a wildcard but has ability and is hard bodied ready to have a go in 2014/15 !


* Jonathon Marsh is very exciting and if still available at 32 lets take him but i doubt he will be.........i would NOT take him at 15 because we have already taken similar players ie Rohan and Towers early in the draft an unless one or two can seriously hold down other possies in the team besides the loose athletic mid tall then we have too many......

[goswannies]

Now THAT is a fun off-season trivia question!
Paul Morwood, John Rantall, Warwick Capper, Paul Hawke, Laurie Nash, Bob Pratt, Ian Stewart, Brett Kirk, Barry Round, Fred Way, Roy Cazaly, Rob Clegg and Dinny McKay.
There must be more, anyone?

Andrew Bomford (played a heap of ressies games for us, went to Essendon, then came back)

Colin Hounsell (the first guy to kick a goal at the SCG for us after relocating) played a short stint with Woodville in 1981ish before returning

Carl Willis took time off for WW1 I think

Ed Whitfield I think took time off during WW2

Herb Mathews (the father if the Brownlow medalist) player with Richmond & Melbourne between his 2 stints with South

Stan Wootton 1915,1920-1922

Ken Dineen 1939-41, 1944-5

Poddy Hiskins took WW1 off 1908-15, 1919-23. His brother Stan did too 1913-14, 1919-20

John Woolley 1955, 1960-62

[Cosmic Wizard]

We are the only team with serious ruck deficiencies, so there is no point in wasting a high pick in a draft with no standout ruckman....and our shot at a flag will be diminished by the time this miracle ruck man comes of age.

My thoughts match many of those I've read here - which is either a good sign or a bad sign, but - for what it's worth, my dream Swans drafting will look a bit like this:

15 - Blake Acres - the big bodied, skilled midfielder

32 - Jonothan Marsh - Seen a few drafts where he goes to our second pick, but most have him going to GC at 20 or 27. If Acres is gone at 15 - would pull the trigger there. He could be anything...or nothing.

35 - Apeness - FWD/Ruck - good mark, mobile and competitive. Again it seems the fad to draft ruck man later. I wouldn't take a pure ruckman though, as I think this will/has been resolved by the Swans.

44 - Tippett - at 24 is a good age profile for us and our defence. Good in the SANFL last year - and continues with the brothers theme.

53 - Seaby - yep, the S word. Immediate coverage for Pyke, and experience to guide Naismith, Apeness, Mitchell and (maybe)Dawes, who as I said in the OP I expect to be rookied...so we go from 2 rucks to 4/5 rucks. Not sure if Seabs is interested in coming back to Sydney - but he is exactly what we need atm. He knows our structures.

I thought we needed 6 picks, but others have said 5. If we need 6 I'd use 44 for the next Parker/Membrey as I can't see too much demand for Tippett and Seaby.

As I said, it's the dream draft so I realise some of the picks won't be there...but one can dream.

Can't the younger Tippett ruck???
In stands 197cm and check out his leap via his SA combine test:

Running Vertical Jump
Joel Tippett - 95cm
Tom Gray - 85cm
Byron Sumner - 82cm

Standing Vertical Jump
Joel Tippett - 79cm
Liam Jacka - 68cm
Tom Gray/Baydon Ngalkin - 66cm

Recruit him at 15 and see where the other good player fall, because I don't think he will last until 44.

[Auntie.Gerald]

i think with Kennedy, Jack, Macca, ROK, Parker, Mitchell, Birdy, Hannes etc we need to be looking for a little bit of a compliment with the midfield.......ie a couple more athletic taller midfielders so we dont get exposed against the taller more athletic midfield like Freeo again

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hold the phone !!!

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-11-04/17-days-to-the-draft-meet-jonathon-marsh

Swampy Junior wants to be a midfielder ..........thats his aim !!!

he is a gary rohan without the polish

[Ruck'n'Roll]

No comment on this kid, but Swampy senior hasn't exactly set the world alight in the two's midfield,

[chuckie]

Surely one of our 5 picks will be Biggs, clearly he did enough in his games to get a spot on the list.

[ernie koala]

I can't possibly express how much I hate the idea of Tippett rucking for us. He's a forward and averaged three goals a game when he came into the side.

Making him a part time ruckman would be a big mistake imo.

With you whole heartedly DA.

I sincerely hope they pick up a mature ruckman in the upcoming drafts, or if there is no one they like available, then use LRT as the backup ruckman.....

NOT Tippett, from what I've seen of him playing ruck for Adelaide....He's an elite full forward.

[Ludwig]

There's a bit too much panic about the ruck situation for 2014. Look at it tis way: We dropped backups Seaby and White, who few rated highly, and replaced them with Naismith and Mitchell. Naismith has looked promissing and will be 22 yo next year. He was outplayed but didn't look out of place against Billy Longer and did some good things around the ground.

Pyke replaces Mummy as no. 1 ruckman. He easily outpointed Mummy in the RWO bnf voting, so he is our consensus number 1 ruckman. Tippett takes Pyke's place as forward-ruckman. He's a step up as a forward and not a bad number 2 ruckman. Barring injury, I think it is a stronger combo than Mummy and Pyke.

We still have LRt. What is lacking is knowing if Naismith or PM can step up in case of emergency.

[liz]

I reckon one of the reasons the Swans were willing to sacrifice Mumford to fit Buddy into the squad was because they had lingering doubts about the structure of the team. Both Mumford and Pyke were clearly in our best 22 players, and hence they were both played for the whole of 2013 when fit and available. But we did look top heavy at times. Add Goodes and Buddy into the team (plus Reid as a direct replacement for White) and we are still a tall team in the midfield and forward line.

I can see LRT being used in the ruck if Pyke is injured. I can see LRT being used in defence, depending on who else is available. But I can't see him being used as a second ruckman, resting forward, if we have all of Pyke, Buddy, Reid, Goodes and Tippett available.

[707]

Agree Liz, we were too top heavy against the better sides. Franklin doesn't add to the top heavy problem as he is very quick and athletic.

What we need is a back up ruckman in case Pyke goes down, not a starting 22 ruckman. Who we take in the ND will tell us the likely team structure for 2014. Think we definitely need a ruckman in our picks, someone mature enough to pinch hit if necessary, that's why I like Lobb, a bit more mature, played against en and still stacks of upside with view to 2015 and beyond.

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15 - Bontempelli has that James Hird about him and the kid is class and although most clubs go for a hard midfielder i think if he is available at 15 he is to hard to ignore.......

Dream on Auntie, word from most of the knowledgable draft watchers (as opposed to media hacks) is that Collingwood upgraded from pick 11 to pick 6 to be more certain they get Bontempelli.

At pick 15 it will be one of Acres, Taylor, Dunstan, Crouch, Hartung, some fairly different players amongst that lot. Crouch is a Tom Mitchell clone, absolute ball magnet with questions at this stage about pace and endurance but the best magnet in the draft it seems. At the other end of the scale Hartung is high pace and high endurance. Pick 15 is at an interesting time of the draft this year. A real pisser that we didn't get fair value for Mumford so we could have had two picks around here.

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Surely one of our 5 picks will be Biggs, clearly he did enough in his games to get a spot on the list.

Not enough to get an obligitory two year contract which I understand is what he gets if he gets upgraded. Will he be a top 25 player in 2014-15?

[GordonS]

so what happens to biggs then?? isn't he only allowed two years on the rookie list? or can he accept a new rookie contract? otherwise he has to be upgraded

[caj23]

Not enough to get an obligitory two year contract which I understand is what he gets if he gets upgraded. Will he be a top 25 player in 2014-15?[/QUOTE]

Don't know whether Biggs will be upgraded or not, but the 2 year contract is incorrect, he can be upgraded with a one year contract

[Ludwig]

I believe Biggs can also be a third year rookie. We may want to wait to see who is still available at ND pick 53 before deciding on a further upgrade. It could be a pick we use to get a mature ruckman or Joel Tippett.

[Mug Punter]

[QUOTE=707;629847]What we need is a back up ruckman in case Pyke goes down, not a starting 22 ruckman. Who we take in the ND will tell us the likely team structure for 2014. Think we definitely need a ruckman in our picks, someone mature enough to pinch hit if necessary, that's why I like Lobb, a bit more mature, played against en and still stacks of upside with view to 2015 and beyond.
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Agree with this. Totally comfortable with having Pyke as number 1 with the other duties being shared. Agree that the structure with Mummy and Pyke was a little top heavy.

I would be very surprised if we don't recruit a ruckman in the ND, it will be intriguing to see who it is and where we take him at.