2018 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[KSAS]

"Brave" was getting rid of Mitchel who was likely to improve as the years went on.... and has.
Getting rid of Hanners (broken) and Rohan (outside best 22) were easy decisions in comparison.

In essence we swapped Rohan for Menzel (win), and offloaded cap space with Hanners. To be in a position where we have to offload players due to cap space is poor cap management, but for the price of $800k, he was the easy target.

Mitchell's loss was due to cap space management issues as we didn't have the required $$$$ to retain him, rather than he wasn't required (he did have a contract offer). With the benefit of hindsight, the club would've been better off trading Hanners to Richmond rather than extending his contract on big coin and kept Mitchell. That would've been a true brave decision!

I do agree with you though the club may have learnt from that experience not to be put in that position again. Hence the cap space we've now created might be to ensure we're able to retain our emerging young guns rather than chasing another big fish (imo, Moore & Langdon weren't in that category had we been successful in enticing them).

Collingwood are now in similar position as were in 2016 in regards to cap space, with players taking pay cuts in order to accomodate Beams. Interesting to see if they are able retain their emerging talent in coming years (i.e. Stevenson), particularly if finals/premiership success doesn't come their way.

[Markwebbos]

Of course list management isn't the sole decision of Longmire, but as the senior coach he would have some input in the decision process which would include parting with Hannebery and Rohan (the latter did finish playing the season in the NEAFL). The final point I was trying to convey above, is the club might now think a change in playing direction is what's required and Longmire being at the helm is in the position to drive that.

What I've wondered in today's professional environment is how much of the game plan(s) is devised/owned by the senior coach? It may well vary from club to club.

My understanding is that the turnaround in gameplan at both Collingwood and Richmond did not come from the senior coach.

That’s one reason why I’m disappointed in the lack of change in assistant coaches this off-season.

There was a huge turnover last year, but no significant change in GP as a result. I can’t see a Blake Caracella in our ranks. And Horse seems to have surrounded himself with very inexperienced or ex-Swans as coaches.

Don’t some clubs have a “ball movement” coach?

[707]

Second year at the club for some of the coaches, reckon they'll be stronger in having input into the game plan. The early exit will put pressure on to develop something new.

[liz]

From Marcellin seconds to the big time: Swan's unusual journey - AFL.com.au

Here's a somewhat more expansive article about McInerney and the journey he's travelled to make it onto the Swans' list.

[Mark26]

From Marcellin seconds to the big time: Swan's unusual journey - AFL.com.au

Here's a somewhat more expansive article about McInerney and the journey he's travelled to make it onto the Swans' list.

What a great story. It's refreshing to get some actual news, and not read the same old tripe.

[Swansongster]

From Marcellin seconds to the big time: Swan's unusual journey - AFL.com.au

Here's a somewhat more expansive article about McInerney and the journey he's travelled to make it onto the Swans' list.

Reminds me of the Nick Farr-Jones story. Couldn't get a game in Newington's First XV, went on to captain the Wallabies to a World Cup victory.

[liz]

Reminds me of the Nick Farr-Jones story. Couldn't get a game in Newington's First XV, went on to captain the Wallabies to a World Cup victory.

I guess sometimes the reason is because young men (probably moreso than young women) develop physically at such different rates. So a player who develops later than most may suddenly find their abilities, relative to peers, accelerate in their late teens or even early twenties.

But I was also interested reading this story about McInerney how the guy who headed up the football programme didn't even know McInerney existed, so large was the programme he was overseeing. It suggests that something broke down a little in the communication channels between the coaching team, but I guess if you've got a quietly spoken young man (which McInerney comes across as) who doesn't have pushy parents, there's always a chance they'll slip between the gaps.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Outliers and Youth Soccer Development - SoccerNation

“And we all know once a kid is on the top team, he or she is considered to be better than anyone on the second team, even at future tryouts. Players on the top team one year, more often than not make the top team the following year.

Think about that next time you are watching 125 kids try out. Consider it when you are debating with other coaches about which players to select for the top team, or maybe the second team”

——

Gets more interesting a couple paragraphs in

In part.....Explains someone like Justin being taken at pick 44..........an outlier ? Maybe

[Mountain Man]

Need to do the exercise for 24 hours, 7 days and 60 weeks (not 6) to clock up the 10,000 hours - or do it 8 hours for 7 days for 3 and a half years etc etc.

I suspect anyone drafted would ass that test

[Auntie.Gerald]

Yep

I also suspect that 10,000hrs is only part of the equation to succeed

Another key layer is how people practice

In soccer I have always trained juniors, youth an adults to have equal skill progressions using both feet

In AFL until more recently academies and local level don’t do equal training on both hands and both feet

This is such a mistake

Defending against someone who can use both feet and both hands fairly equal is a nightmare

Defending against a generally one footed player is fairly easy

Case in point Heeney launching that 60m left footed kick on the run down the line with 30 seconds to go last qtr vs Bulldogs - Florent then scores - we win

Not many other right footed kickers in the swans team could have nailed that difficult kick but Heeney obviously out a lot of time into using both feet in “practice”

My daughter when 14yrs of age got picked in an under18 rep team purely because she uses both feet equally. The coach came up and said “we have no left footers. I need one player for left wing and although you are very young I noticed u use both feet equally”

Her world changed from this point onwards due to her less common ability and she rocketed into playing reps with older kids

Right practice as well as the amount of hours are so important

Steele Sidebottom has been quoted saying that his dad used to yell out the back window at their house “only use ur left foot or I’ll cut ur right leg off”

Steele is fantastic at using both feet which gives him so much time to transition play and take the best option

[barry]

Outliers and Youth Soccer Development - SoccerNation

“And we all know once a kid is on the top team, he or she is considered to be better than anyone on the second team, even at future tryouts. Players on the top team one year, more often than not make the top team the following year.

Think about that next time you are watching 125 kids try out. Consider it when you are debating with other coaches about which players to select for the top team, or maybe the second team”

You see this all the time. Kids develop are different rates, but by about 15 or 16 are starting to even out.
Putting fast track programs in too early means you miss out on a lot of late developing talent.

From what Ive seen in junior soccer in Sydney at least, a lot of the top team kids are populated by kids with soccer-aligned-ethnicity parents who insist on little Jose being in the top grade. Probably because they know how the system works.

[Swansongster]

Outliers and Youth Soccer Development - SoccerNation

Very interesting. This article tells a great truth about junior development in all sports. I have seen exactly the same principle at play in junior hockey (field) development that I am involved with through my kids. There's some gems that come from a long way back when they do finally get the coaching and opportunity to play with like-skilled players.

That is probably where our recruiting team excels and anecdotally out-performs some of the others. Instead of looking at who everyone else has always said are the best players, we identify the raw ingredients that can be developed through intensive work in our proven system.

I recall the great Ric Charlesworth saying when he took over the Hockeyroos and introduced the AIS hockey development program 25 or so years ago. He said (and I paraphrase) "Give me elite teenage athletes. I can teach them the rest."

[liz]

That is probably where our recruiting team excels and anecdotally out-performs some of the others. Instead of looking at who everyone else has always said are the best players, we identify the raw ingredients that can be developed through intensive work in our proven system.

I doubt that's different to any club. All the recruiters are trying to project forward and work out which kids could be stars in a few years time, rather than entirely focussing on what they've already demonstrated. And so that's why a fair few physically underdeveloped "project players" get taken quite early in the draft, ahead of more consistently performer teenagers.

But it also helps to explain why someone like Luke Parker, who'd won his club's B&F at pretty much every underage level, was still sitting in his draft when number 40 rocked around. He'd shown recruiters what he could do but they weren't convinced he had much scope for improvement. Or they were simply more seduced by what they saw as higher ceilings for other players.

Rory Sloane is another who I've heard those-in-the-know say showed at junior level exactly what he has delivered at senior level, yet he also slipped well back in his draft year. I have a feeling James Worpel will prove to be another.

[caj23]

Rory Sloane is another who I've heard those-in-the-know say showed at junior level exactly what he has delivered at senior level, yet he also slipped well back in his draft year. I have a feeling James Worpel will prove to be another.

James Worpel?

Absolutely butchers the ball, he's a slight upgrade on the recently departed Will Langford. I'd be astounded if he got anywhere near the level of Parker or Sloane

He's a

[liz]

James Worpel?

Absolutely butchers the ball, he's a slight upgrade on the recently departed Will Langford. I'd be astounded if he got anywhere near the level of Parker or Sloane

He's a

Most players butcher the ball occasionally. Those who play inside the contests tend to butcher it more than most. Even some of the very best (Dangerfield, Fyfe, for example) regularly butcher the ball. (Dustin Martin and Gary Ablett, particularly in his prime, are two examples of players less prone to doing so).

Certainly Luke Parker is prone to butchering the ball at times. So is Rory Sloane. Worpel had a poor couple of games in the finals but they were something like his 9th and 10th games at senior level. Many more experienced players have let themselves down under the intense pressure of finals football.

You may be right about Worpel, long term. Or not. We'll have to wait and see. He showed enough contested ball-winning ability in his early games to suggest to me he is another who could very well belie his draft position.