Swans' Pre-season 2019

[aardvark]

Menzel = Tipoff V.20

Yeah but at least Menzel didn't cost squillions.....

[stevoswan]

Menzel = Tipoff V.20

Nnnnooooooooo!! Please let it not be......

[aguy]

Nnnnooooooooo!! Please let it not be......

Big difference really.

Menzel couldn’t get a contract anywhere else and so will be on bargain basement money with us. Worth a shot if you ask me even despite the injury concerns.

[MattW]

Menzel = Tipoff V.20

More Daniel Brayshaw, I reckon.

[wolftone57]

I agree with you on first impressions of Perris - well, not really first impressions given we almost got to see him play for the Swans. There have been a few very talented players whose careers were cut unfairly short by injury that I really wish we'd seen more of. AJ is clearly one, Wade Chapman another. But at least we did get to see them play nearly 50 games for the club and both got to play in a Grand Final. Perris is the third member of my mental "what if" group. I remember watching him as a scholarship player playing with the NEAFL team, and then graduating to playing as a rookie listed player. I reckon he'd have made his senior debut in his first year, even though still a rookie, had he not done his knee. He wasn't quite as quick as Amon Buchanan but he had that same cleverness with ball in hand. He could make things happen, and dodge and duck through packs in the same way Amon did during his couple of peak seasons with the Swans.

Jamie Lawson was another bright star cut down after he broke his leg. Succh a sad story. I remember the day it happened, sickening.

[wolftone57]

Really hope Dawson is in the midfield mix this pre-season, forumites calling out for bid bodied mids when we have one not being used! Has so much upside, just needs a run at it.

The thing is kennedy gets 30 disposals most matches, or used to, but due to opposition smothering and some wayward kicking his disposal efficiency is not good. While Dawson does not at this stage get 30 plus his disposal efficiency is wonderful. He has also been played out of position. He's that special large mid come third or fourth tall forward and if he is played in those positions I think he will excel.

[wolftone57]

Has Buddy done anything approaching a full pre-season since he's been with the club? He seems to require some form of stitching back together at the end of every season. Last year it was a shoulder, I think. Or maybe a knee? Or both?

Doesn't seem to impact him much once the season starts. (Or maybe it does, and what we get to see is the "Buddy restricted by never being able to complete a pre-season".)

He'll look like herman Munster by the end of the season. HAHA

[stevoswan]

Jamie Lawson was another bright star cut down after he broke his leg. Succh a sad story. I remember the day it happened, sickening.

That was really sad that one.....then it ended acrimoniously when he had to retire and then sued the club. Not sure how that all ended.

[Markwebbos]

So now they are saying Buddy won’t join full training until February!

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2018/12/11/franklin-wont-return-to-training-until-february-swans-head-of-football/

“We expect he’ll be back in training probably February at this stage with a view to having him ready for the start of the season.”

[goswannies]

So now they are saying Buddy won’t join full training until February!

Franklin won't return to training until February: Swans Head of Football

“We expect he’ll be back in training probably February at this stage with a view to having him ready for the start of the season.”

Well, if we’re to believe Horse - & a fair number of gullible jurnos did - he only had to do have the first training session in Feb and he’ll have done more training than he did all last season

[KSAS]

I did hear that SEN interview with Charlie Gardner earlier this evening. He didn't sound as polished as Harley, but that will come. Here were his main points:

- As already highlighted above, Buddy not due to resume full training till late Jan/early Feb.

- Menzel not due to resume till late Feb. Club is hoping his groin op will give him increased manoeuvrability and longevity, as they were aware of his groin issues when they signed him up.

- Only a possibility (not definite) that Mills & Heeney will both play midfield next year. That decision will be made later in the pre-season. The club sees them playing various roles to further their development. They've both had strong pre-seasons thus far.

- Sam Reid has also put in a strong pre-season and are hoping a full season from him to help Buddy in the forward line.

- For the Swans to succeed next year the club will be relying on the young brigade coming through to take that next step.

[liz]

I feel the interpretation of the Buddy situation (and whether it is "news" that he won't return to training until early February) depends on whether that means returning to "full training" (which generally means participating in all the match simulation and skills training that the squad does together), or returning to any training.

It's pretty common for players returning from injury to spend a solid 3-4 week block (maybe less, maybe more, depending on the severity and nature of the injury) regaining fitness on their own or in small groups. From my observations of prior year pre-season training, there are usually as many as ten or so players not participating with the main squad, but instead running around the boundary line at varying degrees of intensity. Presumably these players also do other fitness/endurance related activities away from the training oval, in swimming pools, the dungeon or the gym.

From the time his groin surgery was made public, we were led to believe that Franklin wouldn't do anything pre-Christmas, other than what he's got a lot of practice at recently - ie standing on the sidelines and watching. If he's back into some kind of running programme once the squad returns from its mandated three week Christmas break, that sounds to be like he's on schedule. On the other hand, if the latest reports indicate he won't start running until late Jan or early Feb, that is somewhat later than was previously indicated.

[707]

Looking at the recent pictures of Mills upper body I'd reckon that was a very intentional bulking up by the club whilst he was off his ankle with a view to moving him into the midfield in 2019, a changing of the guard season.

[Odysseus]

I did hear that SEN interview with Charlie Gardner earlier this evening. He didn't sound as polished as Harley, but that will come. Here were his main points:

- As already highlighted above, Buddy not due to resume full training till late Jan/early Feb.

- Menzel not due to resume till late Feb. Club is hoping his groin op will give him increased manoeuvrability and longevity, as they were aware of his groin issues when they signed him up.

- Only a possibility (not definite) that Mills & Heeney will both play midfield next year. That decision will be made later in the pre-season. The club sees them playing various roles to further their development. They've both had strong pre-seasons thus far.

- Sam Reid has also put in a strong pre-season and are hoping a full season from him to help Buddy in the forward line.

- For the Swans to succeed next year the club will be relying on the young brigade coming through to take that next step.

I heard that interview, too. I agree with KSAS both in the summary of the main points and in the assessment of Charlie Gardner; I thought he was from a legal background, and was expecting him to be more articulate. I'm not wanting to imply that his skills in responding weren't up to the mark, only that he's not yet what I'd describe as a consummate media performer.

Some of the questions put to him were quite closed in nature. For example, he was asked about Mills and Heeney in the midfield next year, rather than a more open-ended, 'Who might be under consideration for time in the midfield next season?' To my mind, that meant the questions weren't probing enough, so that all-in-all he said as much of substance as our best exponents of the art of the interview, i.e. pretty much nothing. So as far as the interview is concerned, Zak Jones and others may also be midfield possibilities.

I hoped he might be asked about Matt Ling, but no.

[liz]

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.