Withdrawls (or "Watching old games in the off-season")

[RogueSwan]

As summer rolls along, and our thoughts drift towards upcoming practice matches I scroll back through the DVR for classic Swans games.
Last night I relived this gem:

2014
Round 13
Swans vs Power at SCG
Kizza's 150th
An absolutely cracking game that went down to last minute.
All day the Swans seemed to just that little bit better. They were harder in the contest and more disciplined with the ball.
Then, early in the fourth, the Power found something and started beating the Swans at their own game.
Hanners was taken below after rolling an ankle and it seemed that the Swans were just about beaten.
Then came #23. A monster 70m goal followed by another from outside 50 and the Swans regained their composure and held out the relentless Power, who were the ladder leaders (as at rnd12).

I now need to find another couple of hours for myself and a game where we thrashed someone, not another nail-biter.

[aguy]

That was an awesome game. I remember watching it from high in the new noble stand. Sadly there was a fight Between Two port Adelaide supporters, one of the only fights I've ever seen at a swans game. I was proud that the Swans fans had pulled them apart and basically thrown them out of the stand before security could even arrive. Luckily none of that could steal the show from Mr Lance Franklin and his monster goal.

[bloodspirit]

That was an absolutely golden game! Beautiful football - both hard at it intensity and superb glamour goals from Buddy - capped by glorious late afternoon sunshine and an SCG that was a picture. One of the very best I've been to.

For a good thrashing it's hard to go past our game against Geelong at the SCG just two rounds earlier. That was sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!

[Aprilbr]

Withdrawls (or "Watching old games in the off-season&quot

Yes the Port game was very special for those of us lucky enough to be there. Port played really well that day and if not for some real Buddy magic in that second half I would think a loss would have been registered.

It makes me think about how many games since Buddy joined us where he was the difference between the two teams? I would think 6-10 games across his time with us. The difference between finishing top 4 and scraping into the 8. That's food for thought when people query his hefty salary or claim that the deal has not worked. We have made the gf 2 of the last 3 years and top 4 the other one. Would that have happened without him? I doubt it.


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[bloodspirit]

Are there still people querying whether the Buddy deal worked? I think if there are, it's only based on the length of the deal. He's clearly provided value for money in his time so far - but can he keep it up for another 6 seasons?

[moocher]

Are there still people querying whether the Buddy deal worked? I think if there are, it's only based on the length of the deal. He's clearly provided value for money in his time so far - but can he keep it up for another 6 seasons?

I don't think he has to keep it up for the length of the contract. He's brought in more members, increased attendances and his performances on the field have as a team member been fantastic. In the twilight years of this contract his seasonal payment will not be so relatively large with the increases to the salary cap. He'll just be a well paid senior player. If he was on a % of the salary cap then I'd be concerned but as it stands I think the Swans will come out well from this recruitment and I was dubious at the time. What I had never realised is what he contributes as a team member, the extra metres he runs in defence and his tackling...all big bonuses. He fits into the Swans
culture like a hand in a glove

[Aprilbr]

He has been All Australian 2 out of 3 seasons so far which also saids a lot about his performances. The length of the contract issue is an interesting one but he looks set to play a few more seasons yet. His athleticism is amazing.


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[bloodspirit]

I, too, was unsure when we recruited Buddy, mostly because I wondered what it would do to our culture and also because I hadn't seen that much of him and didn't realise how wonderful he is. However, I absolutely love the ways he plays! Not just the brilliance but the defensive efforts, the leadership, the physicality, the insouciance - everything! He has really bought into what we stand for and I think that's made his pay packet, not quite a non-issue, but not too important.

I agree it's inevitable that he won't sustain his peak level to the end of the contract - but that's ok. I also don't think we need to win a premiership to vindicate the deal - I think that puts far too much responsibility on his shoulders and besides it's not that easy to buy a premiership, especially with a salary cap - but it would be nice! We haven't staked the farm on him and it looks like we'll be fine when he's gone (and maybe ready to snare another champion forward for top dollar?!). It's interesting to think that if he plays out the whole contract he could wind up with as many games as Goodsey (albeit only about half of them for us).

I don't agree though that his salary will diminish in significance and "he'll just be a well paid senior player". Although the TPP cap will rise, so does his salary over the course of the contract. I think he will likely remain our highest paid player until his contract is up and also among the highest paid in the league. The main upside to this is, that when the contract does expire, we will have a war chest to replace him with!

[goswannies]

I, too, was unsure when we recruited Buddy, mostly because I wondered what it would do to our culture and also because I hadn't seen that much of him and didn't realise how wonderful he is. However, I absolutely love the ways he plays! Not just the brilliance but the defensive efforts, the leadership, the physicality, the insouciance - everything! He has really bought into what we stand for and I think that's made his pay packet, not quite a non-issue, but not too important.

I agree it's inevitable that he won't sustain his peak level to the end of the contract - but that's ok. I also don't think we need to win a premiership to vindicate the deal - I think that puts far too much responsibility on his shoulders and besides it's not that easy to buy a premiership, especially with a salary cap - but it would be nice! We haven't staked the farm on him and it looks like we'll be fine when he's gone (and maybe ready to snare another champion forward for top dollar?!). It's interesting to think that if he plays out the whole contract he could wind up with as many games as Goodsey (albeit only about half of them for us).

I don't agree though that his salary will diminish in significance and "he'll just be a well paid senior player". Although the TPP cap will rise, so does his salary over the course of the contract. I think he will likely remain our highest paid player until his contract is up and also among the highest paid in the league. The main upside to this is, that when the contract does expire, we will have a war chest to replace him with!

In seasons 7-9 of his contract he will be the premiere forward pocket of the comp, impossible to match up on & taking every forward 50 ruck contest.

[mattybloods]

I don't agree though that his salary will diminish in significance and "he'll just be a well paid senior player". Although the TPP cap will rise, so does his salary over the course of the contract. I think he will likely remain our highest paid player until his contract is up and also among the highest paid in the league. The main upside to this is, that when the contract does expire, we will have a war chest to replace him with!

I just think about Alastair Lynch's contract. The Lions ended up paying him extra money in his last year/s as player payments went up as they felt he deserved it. Obviously its hard to know how much the TPP will rise over the course of Buddy's contract relative to Lynch's.

I think Buddy has been great for the club. I wasn't sold on him at first but he has been an impressive player for us and great for marketing/memberships