Goodes puts buddy on notice.

[magic.merkin]

"He's going to start back on Monday and at least spend a couple of days with the young fellas so they know who he is. He's due back on December 2."

haha. I doubt any kids will be "who's this big fella? Back of the queue Bundy".

...And yes I know the meant him on a personal level. But I smiled at the US import etc having no clue

[annew]

I didn't think they were allowed to come back early, I thought they had to have the prescribed time off.

[liz]

I didn't think they were allowed to come back early, I thought they had to have the prescribed time off.

I don't think they can be required to come back early. But if Buddy wants to spend two of his leave days running around Centennial Park and having a kick on Lakeside Oval, doubt anyone will get too upset.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I just want to know who is going to wear the 23 this season ?

my personal opinion is no one should have to give up their jersey for anyone else if they dont want to !

[liz]

I just want to know who is going to wear the 23 this season ?

my personal opinion is no one should have to give up their jersey for anyone else if they dont want to !

Buddy may not even want 23 (notwithstanding his comments at the post-signing press conference). It is a number of some significance at the Hawks but not at the Swans.

If he does, I find it hard to imagine Lockyer "not wanting" to give it up. His public demeanour doesn't suggest he's the type to dig his heels in, and it's not as if he has achieved anything in his career that might make that number particularly dear to him.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Pies entitled to their opinion: Thomas - AFL.com.au

[0918330512]

Buddy may not even want 2. It is a number of some significance at the Hawks but not at the Swans.

It should be. The first Sydney Swan to kick a goal at the SCG was wearing it at the time. The first player in the VFL/AFL to play 50 games for 3 different clubs wore it for us.

it's not as if he has achieved anything in his career that might make that number particularly dear to him.

No, but he might be a massive Michael Jordan or Shane Warne fan (or even Colin Hounsell or Glenn Coleman for that matter). Who knows why someone wants a specific number?

[goswannie14]

It might also just be that the number was available when the young fella came to the club.

[Triple B]

I've said it before, just give Buddy #13....thirteeeeeeennnnnnnnnnn!!!

[goswannies]

I've said it before, just give Buddy #13....thirteeeeeeennnnnnnnnnn!!!

How about something unique that will make him stand out? Copy Chicago Bull Robert Parish & wear 00? Or Wayne Gretzky's 99? Why has no one ever worn rediculously high or low numbers like in the NBA or HNL?

[Triple B]

He cops enough unfair flack now for supposedly being self-centered and me me me, imagine if he went down that path, all hell would break loose....lol

[Melbourne_Blood]

100 may be appropriate. A few years ago urban legend has it he hit that mystical number of bedded woman and began to refer to himself as a " triple figure Nig#%@ " when out and about on the turps.

[Velour&Ruffles]

I'm as willing as the next Swans fan to embrace a "Melbourne media hates us" line. Most times it is true (because most articles are written to appeal to Collingwood supporters). But in this case I don't think so. I have a lot of thoughts and misgivings about the Buddy deal. Some are just personal instinct/bias, some are more objectively based. But here they are, for whatever they are worth. I hope I am proved wrong and he is a roaring success. But I have a bad feeling.

1. The Melbourne media have been all over Buddy for years. Caro Wilson loathes him already. It isn't anti-Swans bias at work. The real question is just whether he is a Fev-esque knob who deserves it or an unjustly maligned innocent. Crying "bias" is an easy way of avoiding hard questions. I just hope that none of the rumours that circulated when he was a Hawk were true because if even a small proportion are right then our "no dickheads" policy and renowned culture are under major threat.
2. On an unrelated subject, the apple don't fall far from the tree. Anyone seen a picture of Buddy's old man? And if it is true that you know a man by the company he keeps then I'm pretty concerned. He seems to favour the absolute dregs of rugby as companions.
3. Do we really need him? We won the 2012 GF when he was against us. Since then we have added the Big Tip to our forward line. And frankly he didn't contribute much to the 2013 Hawks flag.
4. He has a genuinely terrible kicking technique. While other factors were also important, I doubt we would have won the 2012 GF if it wasn't for his technical flaws. Despite the obvious talents he has, I am not sure that - overall - having those flaws on our side is such a good thing. And whether they are worth the biggest contract in football history is a whole other question.
5. He is the antithesis of the Bloods ethos. Is he a Brett Kirk Cortina? I think not. A big part of the joy of being a Swans supporter has been being a Cortina driver who wins against the odds. We have been a team that has thrived on a "sum of the parts is greater than the whole" ethos and now we are suddenly buying into the polar opposite philosophy. What car are we being asked to embrace here? I hope it is an enduring classic like the Porsche 911, but I fear we have bought a flashy, unreliable DeLorean (spare us your Back to the Future analogies). And by the way,
6. Does anyone seriously believe Buddy will play until he is 36? I fear his contract will be a salary cap millstone around our necks many years after he has become an "ambassador" for the Swans or something equally spurious. (Yes, I am familiar with the Alistair Lynch example but I don't think he is Alistair Lynch. As he shows every pre-season, Buddy is a fat lazy dude by nature, hiding in an incredibly gifted shell. Sooner or later the inner fat lazy dude will take over, and with a massively backended contract where is the incentive now for him to keep flogging himself unto age 36?) If we were going to offer a Godfather deal like this, wouldn't waiting until Jeremy Cameron's contract was next up for renewal have been a smarter move?
7. I fear we have paid WAY over the odds. All the articles about the vast amounts GWS were going to pay him proved to be laughably inaccurate (like most articles in the press, but that is a different rant). I think we have been played like a violin by his management. We could have got him for a HEAP less (and kept more depth in the process). The exodus of depth will bite at some point. And what will the massive investment in Buddy do to our ability to recruit other important ingredients ( eg a Teddy replacement) and retain rising stars (eg Tom Mitchell) when the time comes....sooner than we think.....
8. Even now, I don't think he is the player he once was. His overhead marking is non existent. In fact, he seems to struggle to lift his arms above shoulder level. There is a lot of lurking and staging, always a bad sign. He will produce brilliant moments, maybe even some brilliant periods, but we have bought a star that is already on the wane. I repeat my inner fat lazy dude theory.

I could go on but I won't. My point is clear. I think we have bought someone who is a nuff-nuff knob by nature who has never really had to try because he has been able to coast along on the strength of his incredible athletic gifts, who doesnt have the mental strength to start working hard now for the first time in his life and will fall off a cliff performance-wise when age and injury start to exert their influence on him.....which has already started to happen. I fear he is cultural poison who will tear a great team ethos and the work of twenty years to shreds. And I fear we have put all our eggs in the one overrated, waning and unneccessary basket, which will cripple our recruitment and retention for years.

Our club management has done a remarkable job since the early 90s to lift us to where we are now, and the Swans are one of the few enduring loves of my life, so I sincerely hope that they are right and I am wrong.

[goswannies]

100 may be appropriate. A few years ago urban legend has it he hit that mystical number of bedded woman and began to refer to himself as a " triple figure Nig#%@ " when out and about on the turps.

Mal Brown apparently wore 100 in the WAFL. I wore 272 for a season for UniBlacks. Didn't get me any unwanted attention

[ernie koala]

Unfortunately, I pretty much agree with Velour & Ruffles...

It's going to be a fluctuating ride early, hopefully with more highs than lows...But there is an extremely long tail, ready to sting.