Postmortem - Where to go from here.

[Ludwig]

I thought I would start a thread to focus more on the future rather than on what went wrong in the GF. Of course the GF is the most important game of the year, but we can't make decisions just on one game. I think it's worth a sober look forward to see how we can make amends next year.

IMO Goodes and Shaw were 2 of our better players in the game, but we need to make room for our younger players to move forward, and I think both should retire.

We probably started with Reid up forward early in the season in part because our main forwards were injured. There really is not a place for him in our forward line. Many will say we should trade him, but I disagree. Starting from now we should tell him he is our CHB next year.

Reid, Rampe, Rohan and Smith will form the core of our defence. What happens with Ted and Reg will depend on their form; despite this GF loss, they are far from washed up. We don't have many options at the moment, but Walsh, Xav and Allir may be worth a go at some point. Macca should probably move to defence as well to help stabilise a young outfit, especially if Malceski leaves.

We have lots of options to come into the midfield next year, especially now that it seems that Mitchell will be staying. I'm sure we will find the right combination by midway through the next season.

As for the forward line, with Goodes and Reid moving out, we can bring in Membrey and perhaps Towers. (No way should we allow Membrey to leave for another club). With Tippett and Buddy, we don't need another tall option.

I wouldn't be looking to make any particular moves at the trade table this season. I think our list is strong enough and our prospects in the next 2 drafts are encouraging for the future. I would imagine that we will focus on getting another KPP or 2 in this year's draft.

[Conor_Dillon]

Agree with all of that Ludwig.

Mitchell will have a huge pre-season which will allow him to improve his two way running.

Membrey is too talented to let go.

Heeney is a huge chance to debut early and play a significant amount of games...already physically mature.

I think Jones will become a mainstay too.

I'm going to back in Reid for a substantially improved season, whether at CHF or CHB...he was clearly hampered in the back half of the year.

McVeigh is a bit of a worry for mine. Not sure if he was playing injured or not but his finals series was well below par, only 3 times during the H&A did he have under 20 touches then he did it 3 times in a row in the finals. We lack precision by foot as it is so we can't afford for him to go backwards in 2015.

[rojo]

I wonder about the calls to put Reid in the back line. What kind of a role do you envision? Just imagine playing him against our forward line, on say KT or Buddy or even Goodes. Man on man he is useless. How would he go looking after Roughy or Hale? We need someone for our back line who is tall, has pace and can stick like a limpet eg Lake or Rance. Hard as he tries, it is not a job for Rampe. We are unprepared to replace Reg and Ted just as we were unprepared to replace Mummy.

[Ludwig]

I wonder about the calls to put Reid in the back line. What kind of a role do you envision? Just imagine playing him against our forward line, on say KT or Buddy or even Goodes. Man on man he is useless. How would he go looking after Roughy or Hale? We need someone for our back line who is tall, has pace and can stick like a limpet eg Lake or Rance. Hard as he tries, it is not a job for Rampe. We are unprepared to replace Reg and Ted just as we were unprepared to replace Mummy.

Sam has roughly the same physical attributes of his brother who was AA CHB. Sam was actually drafted as a defender, but showed a lot of promise as a forward in the days before we had Tippett and Buddy. Sam is tall and he is quick and agile. He's not unlike Hooker and Talia, who are both in the top 5 KPPs this year. With Tippett and Franklin, we are just not going to be looking for Reid as a tall target. It is just a waste to have him up there.

My early call for next year's for line would be Tippett, Buddy, Towers, Membrey, KJ and Jetta rotating with Cunningham and McGlynn.

[Matt80]

I'm feeling like coming off the long run. Some of my ideas will be confronting.

Trade week is upon us and I'm ready to roll.

Will the moderators let me fire? Will the Red and White Community let me explore some confronting ideas and concepts?

It's in your hands.

[Ludwig]

I'm feeling like coming off the long run. Some of my ideas will be confronting.

Trade week is upon us and I'm ready to roll.

Will the moderators let me fire? Will the Red and White Community let me explore some confronting ideas and concepts?

It's in your hands.

Why don't you go through all your old posts, strip out the non-footy political stuff, and form them into a single post comprising your plan for the club. It should be interesting reading, confronting or not.

[jono2707]

I would suggest taking a deep breath and let the disappointment of the day settle before any knee jerk reactions set in - I'm sure that's what the coaching staff will be doing.

[wolftone57]

These are the players we need to hold onto; Jones, Xav, Hewett, Biggs, Membrey, Towers, Mitchell, Naismith, Toby, Tommy, Aliir, Jones, BJ Perris & maybe Robbo (who has been very good for the reserves). I think we need to move on from those who wre not making it and get new players in the draft. No trading unless they are young, GWS or Suns.

[R-1]

We are a damn good team, the best this club has ever produced.

We will be around for years to come and most of the team, especially the younger blokes, will be better for this humiliation.

We will be back hungrier, more desperate, and less complacent.

And you can damn well bet none of them goes into a grand final with that sort of attitude again.

The rest of the competitive should expect us.

[ASSASSIN]

We are a damn good team, the best this club has ever produced.

We will be around for years to come and most of the team, especially the younger blokes, will be better for this humiliation.

We will be back hungrier, more desperate, and less complacent.

And you can damn well bet none of them goes into a grand final with that sort of attitude again.

The rest of the competitive should expect us.

With that said, there still is a few players that need to go or be traded. Jetta is a real issue imo -he is half the player he was in 2012.
Mcveigh's best days are really behind him now. The backs are a real issue for Longmire. One major flaw i've noticed with the Swans over the years and especially this year and that is the players go to the ground wayyyyy too much, compared to other clubs. Hawthorne just takes advantage of this weakness better then any other club. Through the off season, the skills coach needs to drum into the players head to not dive on the ground just because the ball is there - ever heard of bending down, whilst remaining on your feet

With a few tweaks - i'm sure the swannies will be not just a real force next year, but i'd say win the flag.

[dawson]

Where to go from here? Enjoy the offseason
The team starts 1-3 and finishes as minor premiers.
No doubt about it, we played our worst game of the season in the most important game of the season, but such is life.
It stings, but for me it doesn't hurt like 96 or 06.
Winning would have been amazing, but we should look no further than Hawthorn for inspiration. Last time they lost a Grand Final, they went out and won the next two....

[plumberdan]

Good post. Totally agree.

[Matt80]

I think how we go next year also depends on other teams. This is just my opinion.

The Hawks have one more season of potential greatness before Hodge, Mitchell, Lake, Gibson and Hale start to decline. They are a top 4 team in 2015. They will slide in 2016.

Port with the addition of Paddy Ryder and greater experience will be a top two team and 2015 favourites.

Freemantle have run their race. There is not much more they can expect from Pavlich, Sandilands and Mcpharlin. They will recruit aggressively but will finish 6-8 and maybe outside the 8 if there are too many injuries.

North will be a 5-8 team but I don't see them being huge improvers.

Geelong may be lucky to be a 5-8 team. They got over the line in some very close ones, which I think won't happen in 2015. Their amazing defence is ageing and Stevie J may have peaked.

Gold Coast will have a big jump and may have a top five year in 2015. There talent is incredible on every line and will start to click.

Essendon, Collingwood, Richmond and Adelaide will not improve on their position in 2015 and may decline from their 2014 performances.

GWS, West Coast and Brisbane will be big improvers. These teams will be pushing on the fringes of the eight and one or two of them may sneak into the eight.

Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda will win some games, but won't make much ground. I think they will all win at least 5-6 games without one team being viewed as awful.

After yesterday, I'm not sure where the Swans will sit. They are not as close to a flag as we think. We can all say it was a bad day, but a bad day is a 30-40 point loss. 60 points is a long way away. They will need improvement from Rohan, Lloyd, Cunningham and Membray. They need a Hewitt, Heeney, Naismith or Jones to be a new sensation.

Mitchell needs a break-out year and we need a full powerful season out of Tippett.

Veterans such as Richards, Jack, McVeigh, Grundy and Pyke also need good solid seasons.

Franklin and Parker may give us better seasons in 2015 and are clearly our two best players.

If all this happens, the Swans will be top four challenges again.

[dimelb]

I think that before rebuilding comes recovery. After the game we went to the club dinner last night. Adam Spencer was the MC and gave a rousing speech to the effect that our future hasn't disappeared but the boys needed reassurance from the Swans faithful. They filed out and lined up on the stage and I have never seen a more sombre bunch of footballers. Dan Hannebery looked as if he might burst into tears and Nick Smith wasn't far behind him. I realise that it will sound odd to some, but I think this is a group that will confront their demons but will need to be restored to some kind of health before we will be able to do much else. That's in the hands of the team and the coaches.

It's been mentioned elsewhere on the board that we need to emulate Hawthorn after they lost the 2012 GF. The pain of the result has to burn and ignite a determination to redress the ledger. We lost this game in the mind. There is nothing wrong with our physical capacities that a bit of attention won't fix, but we need to pay more attention to the hardening of the psyche.

[Nico]

Do something about our deplorable centre clearance work. The single reason we got blown away in the second quarter. 5 goals on the trot from clean centre clearances is simply not acceptable. And don't blame Pyke. You can't blame the backs for yesterdays blow out. The ball came in far too quickly and often for them to be expected to cope.