2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[dejavoodoo44]

About 5 years ago. There were 7 including Patrick Mills (? The American).

Don't know if I can remember them all. Naismith, Nankervis, Derickx, Pyke...

Mitchell? Was Kyle Galloway also on the list then?

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Oh, and Tippett.

[barry]

About 5 years ago. There were 7 including Patrick Mills (? The American).

Don't know if I can remember them all. Naismith, Nankervis, Derickx, Pyke...

Sam Reid, Allir Allir, and I think I saw Josh kennedy take a few hitouts too. Basically, we were a team of ruckman.


If you could sum up the dark years of 2018-2020, it would be that we took a team of gun ruckman, right across the board , and we ended up with just Sinkers doing the ruck on his own.

Ironically, Sinkers wasnt even on the list during the glorious "ruckman on every line" era.

[Ludwig]

Mummy, Pyke, Tippett, Naismith, Nankervis, Derickx, Patrick Mitchell and Kyle Galloway.

I don't think they were all on the roster in 1 year. Maybe 2014 was the big year for ruckmen numbers. When you can't count your ruckmen on one hand, then you have too many. And I lost 3 fingers in a lawnmower accident, so I have a very low tolerance level.

[Markwebbos]

Tired of ruckmen, tired of life.

[barry]

Mummy, Pyke, Tippett, Naismith, Nankervis, Derickx, Patrick Mitchell and Kyle Galloway.

I don't think they were all on the roster in 1 year. Maybe 2014 was the big year for ruckmen numbers. When you can't count your ruckmen on one hand, then you have too many. And I lost 3 fingers in a lawnmower accident, so I have a very low tolerance level.

You neglect to mention that the police report did say the "lawnmower accident" was suspicious and have left the case open in case further evidence comes forward.

Do you think we have the right mix of ruckman now Ludders, or still a bit top heavy.?

[stevoswan]

Shame we mismanaged our salary cap and ruck stocks so poorly over the last few years that couldn't have both

True.....and a good point. I suppose they couldn't predict Naismith's woes though but it is certainly a shame we were forced to let Allir go.

[Ludwig]

You neglect to mention that the police report did say the "lawnmower accident" was suspicious and have left the case open in case further evidence comes forward.

Do you think we have the right mix of ruckman now Ludders, or still a bit top heavy.?

If Naismith can stay healthy, and Hickey too for that matter, as he is also injury prone, then I think we are just right for ruckmen now.

Even though I've gone cold on Mabior Chol, I still think he's someone to be considered in the trade period. I think he's gettable and could develop into a solid forward ruck option. It depends on how well McLean and Amartey go this year, as well as who we take in the mid season draft.

[Meg]

True.....and a good point. I suppose they couldn't predict Naismith's woes though but it is certainly a shame we were forced to let Allir go.

Pandemic hit to AFL revenue led to cut to salary cap. Were the Swans expected to predict that?

[barry]

If Naismith can stay healthy, and Hickey too for that matter, as he is also injury prone, then I think we are just right for ruckmen now.

Even though I've gone cold on Mabior Chol, I still think he's someone to be considered in the trade period. I think he's gettable and could develop into a solid forward ruck option. It depends on how well McLean and Amartey go this year, as well as who we take in the mid season draft.

You have 3 fingers, Nainsmith, Hickey, and Amartey, and you want more ruckmen. Did your other fingers grow back ?

[stevoswan]

Pandemic hit to AFL revenue led to cut to salary cap. Were the Swans expected to predict that?

No....I'd forgotten about that aspect.

[bloodspirit]

Shame we mismanaged our salary cap and ruck stocks so poorly over the last few years that couldn't have both

I totally disagree with this point of view. On the contrary, particularly with our current, ahead-of-schedule success I want to laud the exceptional work of our list managers. Kinnear Beatson is the best in the business at his role, especially since the retirement of Stephen Wells from Geelong. Kinnear Beatson has been with the Swans since 2006 and the only other team that has had the same sustained success over this period is Geelong.

Of course, with 20-20 hindsight (or perfect foresight) every club could look back and change numerous list management decisions that have been made. For example, if we had known what would happen afterwards, we would have done better not to recruit Tippett. We could have kept Mummy. We would not have picked the many draft busts we have picked and instead we would have drafted exclusively the players that turned out to be superstars. We might even have found a way to draft Hickey without giving up Aliir. Etc. etc. However, nobody has perfect foresight.

Nevertheless we have an overall brilliant record. We have played finals for almost all of Kin's 15 years at the club (and been contending for a flag for many of those years too). We attracted the biggest superstar in the game and massively increased our membership base and managed to achieve it within our salary cap and while remaining competitive. We appear to be on track to achieve a full-on rebuild in record time: we've gone from being minor premiers and grand finalists in 2016 back to the point where we are likely finalists this year and with the prospect of another grand final in the next few years within our grasp. The Hawks took 17 years to get from 1991 to 2008, the beginning of their next great era and they are the most successful club of the past 50 years. The Hawks have been less successful than us since 2016 and, despite this, still look a lot further from contending for a premiership than we do now, even thought they have the best match day coach in the business. Has any club achieved a faster rebuild than us? Has any club even come close in recent history? The best that comes to my mind is West Coast going from a flag in 2006 to another one in 2018 with a completely different team.

It's probably still a bit early to call it, but AG are you still looking enviously at any of Hawks, Cats or Saints list management? It's true, Cats are a chance of snagging a flag this year. But more likely they won't and then they will fall off a cliff. The Cats' record in finals over the past 10 years is nowhere near as good as ours. Saints at best will play finals for a few years but don't look like they will come close to a flag.

In my opinion the reasons for our success are (a) our list management; (b) our development of players; and (c) having a generally well run club (not necessarily in that order). So, congratulations to Kinnear Beatson and his team. Congratulations to all our coaching staff for their player development. And congratulations to our Board and senior management (especially Ireland and Colless).

[Ludwig]

You have 3 fingers, Nainsmith, Hickey, and Amartey, and you want more ruckmen. Did your other fingers grow back ?

Firstly, Amartey is more a forward than a ruckman. Chol as well is more a forward than a ruckman, and a similar size to Sinclair, who will be 32 this year and out of contract. So it's really more about getting a younger replacement tall utility at a reasonable price. It's hard to find an affordable KPP these days, and our list doesn't suit chasing a high price one just now. So I've been looking around to see who could be available as a tall depth player with upside potential, and Chol seems the best fit.

BTW, I've injected those 3 fingers with salamander stem cells and they're growing nicely in a petri dish; they should be ready for transplantation by the start of the 2022 season.

[barry]

I think McLean is looking like the Sam Reid replacement. (Tall forward who can ruck a bit)

[rb4x]

I think McLean is looking like the Sam Reid replacement. (Tall forward who can ruck a bit)

No way. He is not prone enough to being injured.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Shame we mismanaged our salary cap and ruck stocks so poorly over the last few years that couldn't have both

Pandemic hit to AFL revenue led to cut to salary cap. Were the Swans expected to predict that?

Silly combative comment Meg - caj23 clearly said "last few years" which would predate the pandemic a bit.

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Tired of ruckmen, tired of life.

Amen to that.