2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[stevoswan]

Agreed that Stephens and Gould are vulnerable to interstate raids. Having said that, the player bonds seem especially strong and the future bright. Why would a player seek to leave?

So they get to regularly play senior AFL footy.....as much as they might love the club, their prime motivation is to play seniors. We have to give them hope that they have a future where this is possible at the Swans. If they can't see this, why would they want to stay? Their loyalty must rewarded unless the club see's no future in them......and if this is indeed the case, the club must free them to seek opportunity.

I envisage bright futures for both Stephens and Gould at the Swans so hopefully they get the chance to prove themselves worthy of realising this with us.....and soon. I'm sure they want to remain at the Swans and be part of what looks to be an exciting era ahead. On that score they would not want to leave but more importantly, they want to be playing at the top level with us.....not just supporting list depth and wasting their talent in the reserves comp.

Strong lists will always face these challenges as loyalty only goes so far when it remains unrewarded.

[Markwebbos]

Gould is more of a worry than Stephens, given how undersized our backline is at the moment.

[707]

After today's result it could be we are not picking at the pointy end of the Mid Season Draft or the National Draft.

Our depth has very suddenly become good and lack of (touch wood) injuries makes it hard for contenders to break into the senior team. But it's a long brutal season, there will be opportunities.

[gloveski]

Injuries will come, Gould and Stephens will get there opportunities. Stephens had an injury pre season . If that didn’t happen he most likely would have started in the ones . We are only 3 rounds in , depth is a great thing


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[Auntie.Gerald]

I just absolutely love the style of footy we are playing right now.

Super high pressure around the ball.

Fast break moving forward footy and looking for an immediate 12 o'clock space from the contest.

Plus beyond all my expectations has been our ability to execute and transition so fast between defence and attack. Simply amazing to watch.

Most pleasing of all has been watching Dawson, Warner, Wicks, Hickey, McCartin etc go to a whole new level.

Warner has doubled his clearance speed........bloody amazing actually his ability to pull away from contests and back himself. He could become our next Parker ie later pick that just manchilds his spot in the team.

[TheBloods]

Warner is our best young player. Incredible what he is doing in his 3rd 4th 5th game. Has all the makings of being a future Brownlow medalist and top 5 player in the comp. Great drafting

[greeng]

I wonder if the bloke who recruited Hannebery and Jones to St Kilda still has a job?

[MattW]

I wonder if the bloke who recruited Hannebery and Jones to St Kilda still has a job?

There was a bit of hand-wringing about trading Jones last year, but there are some insoluble limitations in his game. Warner is a similar kind of player, but looks to have the ability to be a better player. He’s at least as fast, seems to have a superior capacity to break tackles, and better goal sense. The goal on the run yesterday was thrilling.

Really savvy drafting.

[Legs Akimbo]

There was a bit of hand-wringing about trading Jones last year, but there are some insoluble limitations in his game. Warner is a similar kind of player, but looks to have the ability to be a better player. He’s at least as fast, seems to have a superior capacity to break tackles, and better goal sense. The goal on the run yesterday was thrilling.

Really savvy drafting.

Agreed. Warner is a much better luck than either player. That's the key to our new game plan. Kicking strength and precision. I wonder if the club was working to a plan all along with moving these high price but flawed players along.

[liz]

Of all the players we've lost recently, Jones was the one who's departure disappointed me the most. He had his flaws but he offered a speed and acceleration to our otherwise plodding midfield that we'd been missing since Jack's departure (or even Jack's decline).

I'm now firmly in the Zak who? camp. Warner, Rowbottom and Florent now offer that speedy escape from congestion in spades. Long may it continue.

[Bangalore Swans]

Of all the players we've lost recently, Jones was the one who's departure disappointed me the most. He had his flaws but he offered a speed and acceleration to our otherwise plodding midfield that we'd been missing since Jack's departure (or even Jack's decline).

I'm now firmly in the Zak who? camp. Warner, Rowbottom and Florent now offer that speedy escape from congestion in spades. Long may it continue.

Jones was indisciplined. He gave up so many unnecessary free kicks that destroyed team momentum.

[Aprilbr]

My understanding is that Zac Jones asked to be trading to the Saints as he was keen to be closer to his family. We would have preferred to keep him but he was adamant that he wanted to go. Horse said as much at the time.

We received a second rounder in return (number 32) for Jones which regrettably we used on that Elijah Taylor - enough said on him. As things have transpired, we have injected other pacy players into the midfield since so he was not as big a loss as it could have been. Just a shame that the pick 32 did not work out for us as we have tended to do well with our picks in the 30s over the years.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Jones left because he was determined to go home, and Harley even conceded we all but lost him two years before.

But I remember when he did, and Papley wanted to as well, you looked around and went we're going to be the slowest side to ever play the game.

The transformation since: Blakey, McInerney, Wicks, Campbell, and Stephens would all be quicker than Jones, Florent has become at least his equal this year, Warner is as dynamic (and going to be more explosive), Rowbottom a more rounded midfielder and Gulden a smarter player. Remarkable.

[gloveski]

Of all the players we've lost recently, Jones was the one who's departure disappointed me the most. He had his flaws but he offered a speed and acceleration to our otherwise plodding midfield that we'd been missing since Jack's departure (or even Jack's decline).

I'm now firmly in the Zak who? camp. Warner, Rowbottom and Florent now offer that speedy escape from congestion in spades. Long may it continue.

Zak was fast but his biggest down side is his disposal by foot , turns it over way to much . Has a tendency to do soft tissue injuries as well


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[Aprilbr]

I was reviewing our picks in the past 9 drafts since our last premiership. See list below. My overall observations are:

1. Our recruiting people have done an excellent job in identifing young talent and bringing them to the Club. Most years we have identified at least two or three who have gone on to be good players for us. Some years it has been four good ones.

2. Our draft performance has been very consistent with selections in the earlier years when we finished higher on the ladder and so receiving lower picks generally comparable to later years when we finished lower. The Academy helps in this regard as does our rookie selections.

3. Some of our picks have gone on to play good football elsewhere eg Membrey, Nankervis, Aliir.

4. The rookie list has been kind to us, especially in those earlier years. We have picked up key players like Papley, Rampe and Lloyd this way.

4. The consistency of our talent identification helps explain the current healthy state of our list. We don't get every one of those picks right but we have a healthy strike rate that would be comparable if not superior to most other teams.

5. Our draft performances in 2018 and 2020 are noteworthy.

Thoughts please.



2012

Dean Towers
Harrison Marsh
Tim Membrey
Matthew Dick
Harry Cunningham
Kurt Tippett (pre-season draft)

Rookie

Jake Lloyd
Xavier Richards
Dane Rampe
Daniel Robinson
Brandon Jack
Sam Naismith

2013

Zak Jones
George Hewett
Toby Nankervis
Aliir Aliir

Rookie

Patrick Mitchel
Lloyd Perris

2014

Isaac Heeney
James Rose
Jack Hiscox
Abaina Davis

Rookie

Sean McLaren
Nic Newman
Lewis Melican
Jordan Foote

2015

Callum Mills
Tyrone Leonardis
Jordan Dawson

Rookie

Tom Papley
Harrison Marsh
Kyle Galloway
Samuel Murray
Colin O'Riordan

2016

Oliver Florent
Will Hayward
Jack Maibaum
Darcy Cameron

Rookie
Ben Ronke
Robbie Fox
Shaun Edwards
Toby Pink

2017

Matthew Ling
Tom McCartin
Ryley Stoddart

Rookie
Angus Styles
Joel Amartey
Alex Johnson

2018
Nick Blakey
James Rowbottom

Justin McInerney

Zac Foot

Rookie

Durak Tucker

Harry Reynolds

Sam Wicks (Category B Rookie)

2019

Dylan Stephens
Will Gould
Elijah Taylor
Chad Warner

Rookie
Brady Rowles
Jack Maibaum

2020

Logan McDonald
Braeden Campbell
Errol Gulden

Rookie
Malachy Carruthers