2020 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Aprilbr]

Taking away my Swans bias, I think that GWS have managed their list very well and made sure that when they lost a good young player they generally received good compensation. They have been in the competition one year less than Gold Coast and had the same initial concessions. The comparison between the two Clubs is stark. They played off in the Grand Final last year. If the injury gods are with them this year then they can go all the way. No obvious deficiencies on their list now whereas our list has serious holes at present. When GWS first entered the competition I thought that we would dominate them - on and off the field. I even thought we would poach some of their talent over time. How wrong was I! They have a vastly superior list to us and while they are still much smaller than us financially and in members they have made great strides in these areas too. We have never managed to poach any of their talent (Cunningham was a reject from them). Hats off to them. We are going to have to lift to get back on a par with them.

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[barry]

If memory serves the Swans were given access to local players very early on, probably because the VFL realised the locals weren't up to much. The exception was Terry Thripp but his interest in the game had more to do with an ex Collingwood player father than a Sydney kids enthusiasm for aerial ping pong.

FWIW I think the injury plague that hit the Giants midfielders last year has accelerated the development of some of the lesser names. If they get most of their team on the park I think they'll take the flag.

I think GWS have really struggled off-field. And a lot of injuries is probably the result of a sub-standard medical,conditioning and training department. They would need to sort that out before they hope to "get most of their team on the park". They will need to do that if they want to win a flag.

[Blood Fever]

Taking away my Swans bias, I think that GWS have managed their list very well and made sure that when they lost a good young player they generally received good compensation. They have been in the competition one year less than Gold Coast and had the same initial concessions. The comparison between the two Clubs is stark. They played off in the Grand Final last year. If the injury gods are with them this year then they can go all the way. No obvious deficiencies on their list now whereas our list has serious holes at present. When GWS first entered the competition I thought that we would dominate them - on and off the field. I even thought we would poach some of their talent over time. How wrong was I! They have a vastly superior list to us and while they are still much smaller than us financially and in members they have made great strides in these areas too. We have never managed to poach any of their talent (Cunningham was a reject from them). Hats off to them. We are going to have to lift to get back on a par with them.

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As I said, given an absolute saloon passage into the AFL. Only a clown could mess things up in terms of success for GWS. Only thing needed was patience as the gilt edged list developed.

[Markwebbos]

I think GWS have really struggled off-field. And a lot of injuries is probably the result of a sub-standard medical,conditioning and training department. They would need to sort that out before they hope to "get most of their team on the park". They will need to do that if they want to win a flag.

They did at the end of last season.

[barry]

As I said, given an absolute saloon passage into the AFL. Only a clown could mess things up in terms of success for GWS. Only thing needed was patience as the gilt edged list developed.

Gold Coast says "hi".

[bloodspirit]

Taking away my Swans bias, I think that GWS have managed their list very well and made sure that when they lost a good young player they generally received good compensation. They have been in the competition one year less than Gold Coast and had the same initial concessions. The comparison between the two Clubs is stark. They played off in the Grand Final last year. If the injury gods are with them this year then they can go all the way. No obvious deficiencies on their list now whereas our list has serious holes at present. When GWS first entered the competition I thought that we would dominate them - on and off the field. I even thought we would poach some of their talent over time. How wrong was I! They have a vastly superior list to us and while they are still much smaller than us financially and in members they have made great strides in these areas too. We have never managed to poach any of their talent (Cunningham was a reject from them). Hats off to them. We are going to have to lift to get back on a par with them.

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I mostly agree with you, Aprilbr. But I think GWS had more generous initial draft concessions than Gold Coast.

[barry]

I mostly agree with you, Aprilbr. But I think GWS had more generous initial draft concessions than Gold Coast.

I think it was the other way around. Gold Coast was a long term plan by the AFL where a number of different approaches were thought out, and then when North refused to move at the last minute causing an uneven number of teams, AFL quickly scrambled together the GWS option.
The AFL heavily influenced the GC to squander their picks on guys like Ablett, whereas GWS (Sheedy and Silvangni) took a different approach and defied the AFL to build through the draft which cause a lot of short term uncompetitiveness. Whether that was intentional or not is hard to know, as by the time GWS starting looking for poaching targets, either GC had got them, or the existing clubs had tied them all up to long term deals.

In summary, GC had an instant success attitude, and GWS had a generational attitude.

[Blood Fever]

I think it was the other way around. Gold Coast was a long term plan by the AFL where a number of different approaches were thought out, and then when North refused to move at the last minute causing an uneven number of teams, AFL quickly scrambled together the GWS option.
The AFL heavily influenced the GC to squander their picks on guys like Ablett, whereas GWS (Sheedy and Silvangni) took a different approach and defied the AFL to build through the draft which cause a lot of short term uncompetitiveness. Whether that was intentional or not is hard to know, as by the time GWS starting looking for poaching targets, either GC had got them, or the existing clubs had tied them all up to long term deals.

In summary, GC had an instant success attitude, and GWS had a generational attitude.

Some of this stuff belongs on GWS fan forum- orange and white, rather than red and white

[Aprilbr]

Some of this stuff belongs on GWS fan forum- orange and white, rather than red and white

I disagree. We all love the Swans on here but we need to recognise that GWS as our rival in Sydney, have played the list development game well and have set themselves up for sustained success. We need to learn from what they have done well. I vividly recall when we played our first ever game against them at the Olympic Stadium. They had a team of kids and a few crusty veterans. We won easily as expected but they already had the makings of a great team then. Look at these players who played in that first ever game some 8 years ago! Even the ones who left were traded for good picks and other excellent players.

Phil Davis; Will Hoskin-Elliott; Toby Greene; Callan Ward; Dylan Shiel; Stephen Coniglio; Jeremy Cameron; Devon Smith; Nathan Wilson; Adam Tomlinson; Dom Tyson

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[Boddo]

I think it was the other way around. Gold Coast was a long term plan by the AFL where a number of different approaches were thought out, and then when North refused to move at the last minute causing an uneven number of teams, AFL quickly scrambled together the GWS option.
The AFL heavily influenced the GC to squander their picks on guys like Ablett, whereas GWS (Sheedy and Silvangni) took a different approach and defied the AFL to build through the draft which cause a lot of short term uncompetitiveness. Whether that was intentional or not is hard to know, as by the time GWS starting looking for poaching targets, either GC had got them, or the existing clubs had tied them all up to long term deals.

In summary, GC had an instant success attitude, and GWS had a generational attitude.

Partly agree. From what I’ve seen and from what I’ve heard most young players would have failed on the Goldy.

The culture that used to be there was horrendous. And the off field facilities and admin wasn’t much better than what you’d see at s suburban club.

It’s not just the picks the GWS got right it was the culture and off field stuff. Which Sydney already have in place.

It’s not possible but allow O’Meara, Lynch, Martin, May, Swallow, Dixon, Day etc to start their career & build a club at Sydney now and I’d bet with the culture and facilities that is already there you’d have a finals side in 4 years.

Do not underestimate how the off field stuff screwed up GC.

[SeanM]

We don't seem to get mentioned in news articles as one of the clubs with a list spot open for the preseason supplementary period. But I thought we had a spare list spot.

[bloodspirit]

I don't know their respective reasons, but GWS and Gold Coast had very different list building strategies. Gold Coast tried to get competitive as fast as possible, trading away many of their high draft picks, whereas GWS kept their picks and invested heavily in talented youth and decided to accept a few seasons of suffering while they developed.

[barry]

Do not underestimate how the off field stuff screwed up GC.

Both teams have struggled with the off field, which I think is a lot harder to get right than anyone realises. Amplified in NSW and QLD due to lack of AFL people around.
Swans off-field is also a shadow of the 2010's off field. Still well ahead of GWS.

[Ralph Dawg]

Watched the first half of Carlton v Lions yesterday and it was the best I've seen Paddy Dow play. If we do end up losing Paps to Carlton (really hope we don't!), I wonder whether he could be part of a suitable trade package given that this year's draft is full of F/S and NGA's.

e.g. Dow + 2nd rounder?

[barry]

Some of this stuff belongs on GWS fan forum- orange and white, rather than red and white

I think it would be beneficial if RWO had an official policy on fellow Sydney based teams, ala GWS.
Many of us see value in comparing a side which faces many similar and unique challenges as ourselves.
Others, like Blood fever, want to be gatekeeper of what RWO can and cant discuss.

Everything GWS gets mentioned, the 2nd element post silly stuff like above.
Many people on RWO have a range of opinions on GWS from denial, hate, to respect, and like.