Swans' Pre-season 2019

[Odysseus]

Heeney, Mills await big 2019 campaign - sydneyswans.com.au

This is the take of the Swans' website content-creating-brains-trust of that interview with Gardiner on SEN. If it's a truthful summary (and from posts above, it sounds like it is), the interview certainly had a high fluff quotient.

I hadn't seen that - I check RWO before looking at the club's website! "The Swans' website content-creating-brains-trust" wouldn't rate too highly on logical thinking, on the basis of some of that content:

Gardiner says there’s every chance forward Heeney and half-back Mills will play bigger roles in the midfield in the Swans’ 2019 campaign.

“I think it’s certainly a possibility that those two will make greater contributions to our midfield rotation in 2019,” Gardiner told SEN.

“Isaac and Callum are two of our emerging stars, and they’ve had strong openings to the pre-season and haven’t missed a beat.

“I don’t know exactly where they’ll line up at this point as we’re still pre-Christmas."

I mean, "I think it’s certainly a possibility ..." and "I don’t know exactly where they’ll line up ..." = "Gardiner says there’s every chance ...". Really?

I suppose it give us fans something to dream about over the summer, but the report of the interview is no less in its fluff-quotient than was the original.

[MattW]

Heeney, Mills await big 2019 campaign - sydneyswans.com.au

This is the take of the Swans' website content-creating-brains-trust of that interview with Gardiner on SEN. If it's a truthful summary (and from posts above, it sounds like it is), the interview certainly had a high fluff quotient.

Yes, Charlie did not exhibit insight in a footballing sense beyond that of a reasonably casual observer (but performed a lot better than his woeful post draft interview with Swans TV).

The SEN interview is here, if anyone has a spare 8 mins while cleaning the kitchen or something: The Sporting Capital | 1116 SEN.

[AB Swannie]

Interesting to see Fox winning the yoyo test today with Clarke in second place. I don't have Fox in my top 30 players but he really does seem to have put in the effort to give himself the best chance of playing next year. John Blakey also noted that JPK and Parker did PBs in the test.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Fox definitely has the ability physically but so do so many players in our squad

Mentally we will see this year how he fairs if given the opportunity

He averaged a stack of tackles in the vfl and I wondered whether he would be a next Nick Smith type player for us ?

[AB Swannie]

Fox definitely has the ability physically but so do so many players in our squad

Mentally we will see this year how he fairs if given the opportunity

He averaged a stack of tackles in the vfl and I wondered whether he would be a next Nick Smith type player for us ?

I also see that as his most likely position moving forward.

[liz]

I don't think it's surprising to see a fringe player like Fox excel athletically simply because if he didn't have excellent endurance (and decent speed) he wouldn't be on the list. In past years we've generally seen the likes of Foote, Robinson and Marsh similarly at, or near, the front of the running drills for the same reason.

Rose is probably a counter-example. He has the flair and skills to be a regular AFL player but has struggled to elevate his endurance to a level that enables him to deliver at the top level.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

It'll be very interesting to see whether the NEAFL granny will be the making of James, such unfamiliar but welcome intensity was exhibited. Or whether he'll just drift off

[YvonneH]

My hope is that this thread does not turn into a 'Hanners' put down.
I loved him when he was a Swan and will still take an interest in how he plays now he is a Saint and am sorry he has issues already.

Hope all our players get through the pre-season un-impeded.

[liz]

My hope is that this thread does not turn into a 'Hanners' put down.
I loved him when he was a Swan and will still take an interest in how he plays now he is a Saint and am sorry he has issues already.

Hope all our players get through the pre-season un-impeded.

I've moved the posts about Hannebery to the thread discussing past players so this thread can focus on the Swans' pre-season.

Swans chat Past players - what are they up to?

[Auntie.Gerald]

Ling full of hunger ahead of 2019 - sydneyswans.com.au

[stevoswan]

From this article: Your say: What should be your coach's New Year's resolution? - AFL.com.au

.......comes this:

To maintain a balance between youth and experience in the forward line, to lift the dismal levels of scoring and relieve the pressure off Buddy.
- Josh Callaway, Greenwich NSW

I will not play injured players. I will not allow injured players to play, even if they say they can.
- Joel Paterson, St Andrews NSW

To develop more run and carry through half-back and to have a multi-faceted (not Buddy-dependent) forward line. To not bring Blakey in too early from the NEAFL, and to respond more quickly within a game with a plan B when plan A is not working.
- Greg Jewson, North Curl Curl NSW

.....and they're all spot on. The fans can see it, now let's hope Horse can see it too......

[liz]

Except they're not. In the main they are simplistic, or asking for things beyond the coaches' control.

If the Swans never played an injured player, how many games would Buddy have played in 2018? One or two, maybe? And while there were games where his injury didn't allow him to contribute, there were others where we simply wouldn't have won without him out there, despite never being truly fit all season. If the club's aim was to gain access to Lukosis or Walsh, that might have been a decent approach. But I'm glad that's not typically the Swans' approach.

Balancing youth and experience in the forward line sound like a great idea. But in practical terms it translates to forbidding players getting injured. If Reid and Naismith (or Tippett) hadn't been injured all year, there might have been experienced options to play up forward (with Naismith freeing up Sinclair). As far as I know, forbidding players from getting injured is yet to work for an AFL club, no matter how hard they try.

The Plan A and Plan B has been done to death already.

[dimelb]

I don't have any claim to footy expertise, I've never played the game, and I rely pretty much on what I see, on selected journos, and RWO. Making allowances for that, I have come to think that the Plan A to Plan B stuff is not going to work. With the Swans - and other clubs as far as I can see - there is no Plan B in the sense of a different way of approaching the game, there are only the options of which players go in which positions. For instance, when Gaz was sent to full forward in the goal mouth against Essendon, or Isaac Heeney gets moved temporarily into defence, or Buddy gets a run in the middle, and so on.

So I'm thinking that it's a good thing to have players who can all function in various positions, and the more the merrier; indeed I think we want that kind of versatility from everyone, from the old warriors down to the rawest recruits. If Plan B means a different style of footy, I doubt it can happen. And I don't mean to criticise innovations like slingshot (what a masterpiece that was, and at times still is), because we can introduce changes of that ilk and revamp our style. The one thing I'd like to see is an emphasis on more accurate kicking; if we could do that more often we would improve our basic style out of sight.

[stevoswan]

Except they're not. In the main they are simplistic, or asking for things beyond the coaches' control.

If the Swans never played an injured player, how many games would Buddy have played in 2018? One or two, maybe? And while there were games where his injury didn't allow him to contribute, there were others where we simply wouldn't have won without him out there, despite never being truly fit all season. If the club's aim was to gain access to Lukosis or Walsh, that might have been a decent approach. But I'm glad that's not typically the Swans' approach.

Balancing youth and experience in the forward line sound like a great idea. But in practical terms it translates to forbidding players getting injured. If Reid and Naismith (or Tippett) hadn't been injured all year, there might have been experienced options to play up forward (with Naismith freeing up Sinclair). As far as I know, forbidding players from getting injured is yet to work for an AFL club, no matter how hard they try.

The Plan A and Plan B has been done to death already.

Buddy doesn't count among mere mortals.....he is a freak. I think those 'wishes' are made in 'a perfect world' (with no injuries)....which we all wish for.

It has to be said, if the club does achieve the above 'goals', we will go a long way this season.

As for Plan A and Plan B, sure it's been done to death but strangely it still hasn't been successfully achieved by our team.....and this is totally Horse's responsibility and has little to do with injuries......all the players either buy in or they don't, whether they are experienced or not.....if indeed there is an alternative gameplan. I still don't think any Swans fans can identify if a Plan B actually exists.....except maybe 'play Plan A harder'.

[Meg]

The one thing I'd like to see is an emphasis on more accurate kicking.

‘Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly?’ ..... sigh!