Great expectations

[707]

Anyone notice how Will Gould went in the 2km? Given he was very unfit at Combine time after Premiership partying hard!

[SeanM]

I was not positioned near the finish line so don't know how he finished. He ran in the third group and was coming fourth quite late in the run. I wrote down Sinclair, Gray, Maibaum, Gould, Rowles as a rough order on one of the later laps. Though they were all fairly close together.

Also he seemed to participate in the whole training session without difficulty.

[Auntie.Gerald]

It was interesting that Kinnear described Gould as a busy player

From memory gould did 21 something in the yo yo test which is pretty good

[KSAS]

I remember someone posted here recently that Buddy regretted rushing back for R1 last year. I hope he isn't rushed back again this year and that Buddy is able to do a proper preseason workload, even if it means missing the first few rounds. I'd rather he plays a FULL NEAFL game than playing limited minutes in the seniors (which could be detrimental to injury, recalling how he did his hammy last year after extended time on the bench).


How well we start this year will probably have the greatest influence on Buddy's return, but he's early absence will give the chance to play Naismith, Sinkers, Reid & McCartin in the same team. I'm particularly interested how the Naismith/Sinkers ruck combo will work with Sinkers predominantly as a forward.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

++1 KSAS on Sinkers as relief ruck

[bloodspirit]

Better than average article on Swans website with Horse talking about our forwards: Forward line a strong point: Longmire. In particular his comments about Buddy and how he might be used higher up the ground are a bit illuminating.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

The attached article also reminded me that Callum Mills is the only next gen Swan in the leadership group, and when thinking of leadership I thought of Luke Hodge and the a comparison I made some time ago with him and young Mills.

I've nothing against giving Mills a run in the middle, but I also think some may be underestimating his value to the backline. I wonder whether he could well become the equivalent of Hodge in the Hawks teams, quarterbacking from the back half.

Hodge was used in the midfield at the Hawks but only really reached his peak when he took on that quarterback role.

There are differences of course, Mills is genuinely courageous but Hodge was also a thug sniper, but this is my great expectation of Mills.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Better than average article on Swans website with Horse talking about our forwards: Forward line a strong point: Longmire. In particular his comments about Buddy and how he might be used higher up the ground are a bit illuminating.

Noted - but no mention of a resting Ruckman/Sinkers or Nick Blakey amongst the 9 forward line options listed.

If we play Blakey on one wing and Buddy on the other, it'd have to create some sort of record for the biggest pair of wingmen in the games history.

I wonder if the Saints would consider playing Daniel against Nick "I'll get you Butler" Blakey, and if Nick can grow a mustache yet?

[Auntie.Gerald]

I am guessing that this is the best thread for mulling over individual players trajectory / 2020 performance

Id love to review a few of the categories of players that can make a serious difference to our team competitiveness.

Given we are a very young inexperienced team vs the competition the first group of players id like to review are the more middle aged, either new to the club or who havent featured due to injury but have some AFL experience as a minimum.

They know how to train and conduct themselves. They are arguably AFL players albeit fringe through to 100 game players which is no small effort. They are not necessarily X factor players or part of our elite / emerging category.

They have an opportunity to make a top 22 spot their own OR as a minimum feature in 10 plus games in the senior team for 2020.

As a coach I would look at these players that can offer specific utility to the squad and can become dependable to play specific roles that help out team function better. They have the ability to maybe step up individually. They more so provide greater opportunity for other more dominant players in our team, to play with a little more freedom and expression of talent......end result to help us win more games.

They are link players, pressure players, shut down players and or hold their opposite number accountable.

Ryan Clarke
Jackson Thurlow
Sam Grey
Squizzy Taylor
Kainden Brand
Sam Naismith
Robbie Fox
Lewis Melican
Harry Cunningham

I included Harry C due to fighting back from injury and now being in a younger less experienced team. Cunningham was a good link player in an experienced team and played an outside role. Can he step up and become the experienced go to player or will he be fighting just as hard as everyone listed above to maintain a top22 spot ?

[Ruck'n'Roll]

oops

[Ruck'n'Roll]

An unusually good season preview: The Good, Bad And Ugly - Sydney Swans 2020 Season Preview - The Mongrel Punt. It's rare to see content this good in the media. And that's without seeing the part of the article that is for subscribers only. It's not that it's brilliant but it's actually competent and that is sadly unexpected. I usually rely on RWO to provide this level of insight (sure, one has to filter through a fair bit of other stuff including people's views about the Chinese government... but I suppose that's part of the charm).

The preview evidences real knowledge of our list, including those on the fringes of the 22, like Fox. Curiously, makes absolutely no reference to our draftees. While they aren't going to be mainstays of our team, I think there is a real chance that Dyl Stephens and Will Gould will have some impact on our season. There's also persuasive discussion about our need to find a replacement for JPK and that it seems Hewett may not cut it but no mention of our up and coming players like Rowbottom and, who knows, Warner.

In short, worth a read.

I couldn't agree more with bloodspirit or this this article. In particular the excellent discussion of Heeney (drifting), Naismith (vital), Blakey (lets not waste such a talent) and Buddy (his current on-field value)

[Faunac8]

Ahh the first wooden spoon prediction for 2020 from a so called expert on Roar
My predictions for the 2020 AFL season

[Markwebbos]

I’m predicting a better Swans in 2020 than in 2019 but still missing the eight.

[stevoswan]

Ahh the first wooden spoon prediction for 2020 from a so called expert on Roar
My predictions for the 2020 AFL season

I'm not even going to read that garbage.....

[KSAS]

Ahh the first wooden spoon prediction for 2020 from a so called expert on Roar
My predictions for the 2020 AFL season

We might able to claim a priority pick then after finishing in bottom four last year! Agree that it will be a tightly fought season as you can throw a blanket over sides who could finish anywhere between 7th - 16th. I'm honestly not sure where we'll finish as there are so many variables at play with our list & rest of the comp. Think most need to go right for us to make the top 8 but I would be shocked if we finished last. My top 6 are West Coast, Richmond, Pies, Giants, Dogs & Brisbane.