2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Thunder Shaker]

Perhaps the Swans\ official announcement will give us some insight into the McAndrew selection. Here are some thoughts with pure speculation.

• There may have been some concern that another club was interested in him and could have drafted him with a pick after ours.

Gold Coast drafted a ruckman with their first pick (Ned Moyle), but their ruck stocks are so thin right now that it is conceivable they may have picked another with their other pick. They ended up passing their second pick.

[HeeneyIsAGun]

He is however extremely raw and our history of developing rucks from within is poor at best.

Mike Pyke? Toby Nankervis? I think we do alright. And he is 208.5cm!! That's 3.5cm taller than Naismith, so there is true potential to build on. He is 94kg, so light for now, but put on some beef and he can do real damage. With a rugby background, he will be used to the bash and crash, which is why I reckon they picked him.

Why now? Because it doesn't cost us a draft pick at the end of the year. And its a shorter commitment, so worth it.

[Thunder Shaker]

• We passed on Jackson Callow, one of the more more highly rated key forwards in the draft, who was taken later on. Maybe we didn't rate him, or perhaps we are happy

I was a little surprised that Callow wasn't drafted last year. He looked ready to play without needing three years in the gym first. His good SANFL form is not a surprise to me.

[Ludwig]

It just occurred to me that Nathan Freeman wasn't drafted. Maybe clubs are not willing to draft players with known injury histories, regardless of how well they are playing at the moment. That judgment might apply to Paddy McCartin as well. It shouldn't be too many weeks before Paddy is playing for our VFL side, covid permitting, and we can see if he can get through the rest of the season without concussion or other injuries. I don't think the suspension affected our decision not to draft him.

[bloodspirit]

I also don't think we were ready to draft Paddy yet, even apart from his sustainability.

McAndrew is raw, and a bit of a beanpole, but the four best ruck prospects had already been taken by our pick. Hopefully part of the reason we like him is because of his attitude, not just his height. It seems we will have to prepare for a game with taller rucks, where Naismith height is the norm and Cox height not off the scale.

[bloodspirit]

Swans select McAndrew in mid-season draft

Sure enough, Kin and co reference McAndrew's desire to compete, and his ability and desire to learn. Here's hoping he becomes a star!

[Captain]

I must have missed something. Before he was suspended, Paddy was all the rage. Why is there suddenly no interest??

[longmile]

This reeks of Michael Knoll

[bloodspirit]

I agree that we are still searching for an extra, tall ruck. However this time we have had a much closer look at our draftee. And he's younger. And taller. If we keep trying, we'll succeed sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

[goswannies]

This reeks of Michael Knoll

Knoll was recruited as a ready to play ruckman who sustained a partial PCL tear after he joined us which stuffed his immediate and long term prospects

McAndrew is a project recruit with little AFL experience and a rugby background (so he reeks of the sweet scent of Mike Pyke if anything)

He’s slower and skinnier than Pyke. But younger and taller. He has time to mature physically (it took Naismith, Doyle and Stafford a few seasons to bulk up to contest with the big boys), and as a mid-season rookie, he’s not costing us a lot.

And if he’s had mentoring from Steve Taubert & Dean Cox, there is no greater grounding for a young developing ruckman IMO

[goswannies]

What I’d like to see one day is each club having 1-2 designated list spots for a young ruckman/ruckmen the could be paid the lower end of the pay scale (so not a big chunk of cap space) but on a 2-3year contract, giving them more time to develop (as the talls take longer). This would ensure that there were 18-36 ruckmen developing as full time professional footballers in the AFL system rather than second tier competitions, potentially fast tracking their progress. As it is, few genuine ruckmen are taken in the National and Rookie drafts meaning their development is limited to participation in second (or lower) tier competitions against inferior opponents.

[707]

Means we didn't rate players taken after our pick. McAndrew is now a full time footballer so will go onto a diet and gym project to build up and be taught by the best ruck coaches - full time. Doesn't cost a proper draft pick and stops other clubs grabbing him later.

McCartin as a delisted player so can be picked up by us for free in any of the delisted player signing periods that will appear later in the year - if we want him :-)

[goswannies]

707 are you going to the get together for the Swans/Hawks game on Friday week?

[MattW]

Means we didn't rate players taken after our pick. McAndrew is now a full time footballer so will go onto a diet and gym project to build up and be taught by the best ruck coaches - full time. Doesn't cost a proper draft pick and stops other clubs grabbing him later.

McCartin as a delisted player so can be picked up by us for free in any of the delisted player signing periods that will appear later in the year - if we want him :-)

Nice summary.

[Ralph Dawg]

I recently was chatting with Nick Malceski. We talked about Mike Pyke and his transition from Canadian Rugby fullback to AFL ruckman in under 2 years. This was down to him being a good athlete but also being a really hard worker. Mal said he was first to training, last to leave and would do alot extra to work on the skills specific to AFL. Hopefully McAndrew can do the same and follow the same trajectory as Pyke (what a legend!).