Pre-season begins

[Mark26]

He will play 18+ games this yr . Forget last year , 1st to 4th yrs can have an off year . U just have to look at what hes got , everything you said , left foot kick , elite running, quick off the mark .. everything our team is moving towards , thats why we drafted him and he will thrive in the team we 've got

Agreed that he has all of those attributes. I just hope that it clicks early in the season so he has a good run at it. 18+ games would be amazing in a team where competition for spots is hot.

The other bloke I hope has an opportunity is Gould. Looks like he's shed some weight and has been on the books for a couple of years.

As Uninformed said, there's a lot to be optimistic about this year.

[Auntie.Gerald]

It's funny isn't

We want people we draft in those earlier picks like Gould to be successful and be a starting dominant player.

Yet sometimes players who have been in the system longer ie Fox and Oriordan make it very tricky for an emerging player to be an automatic selection.

Even Melican on his 3 year contract must been seen as an important part of the bavkline jigsaw.

Melican in our team this year won't see nearly as much pressure as he would have felt in 2019 and 2020 when bombs were coming into a dime a dozen. Our total team defence is way better and buffers key defenders from repeated one on one's.

Dawson a great example of someone who needed 4 years or so in ressies to really nurture his art to the next level

I'm guessing all of us worry about an exodus of players like Stephens, Gould etc if they don't get enough senior time and Adelaide or apart came hunting for a bargain.

My feeling is Stephens and Campbell will be a welcome addition to the 22 for approx 15 games each.

Can't tell re Gould yet.

[Auntie.Gerald]

It appears that the trajectory of development ie challenge vs skill is extremely high right now at the Swannies.

I would argue highest and deepest for a very long time.

When I look at the improvement in our list for 2022 I see a near perfect high performance environment.

There are so many areas that are driving our trajectory of improvement.

If we take just one to review in more detail I suspect the competition for spots is seriously peaking for 2022 and is an outlier factor in building a skills industry and as a team.

If you are one of our backline rotation ie Tom Mac, Rampe, Mexican, Fox, Blakey, Lloyd, Gould, oriordan, Jmac, Campbell etc then you have serious players u are competing against each week at training.

Imagine Tom and Mexican facing off against Bud, Reid, McDonald, Amartey, McLean, Hickey, Pistol Pete, Sinkers, Hayward, Heeney on the lead. That is a serious combo of talls and med talls u are honing ur skills against.

Likewise our tall forwards haven't been deeper in ability to play an above average role for our Senior team.

[giant]

Members First: Pyke's pre-season assessment

how good has been the inclusion of someone as experienced as Don Pyke to our club

watching the training this pre season and our adjustment in attack thru 2021....... we are playing a style of footy that our players appear to love.

Not only do they look like they are loving the adjustments to our playing style but they also look like they are really playing for each other.

Our mix between contested and uncontested footy has been so amazing to watch in 2021. Such a transformation to requiring players that are better by foot under pressure. We really seem to have a high amount of players that can play this style of shorter sharper kicks to leads. It does remind of when the Hawks were at their best and a little like Adelaides style in years gone past.

He was a huge get. Hope we can keep him for a while.

[i'm-uninformed2]

So, Paddy is now official. As someone who lives outside Sydney these days, and with COVID-travel restrictions, I've never seen him play as a defender. I'm keen to get the view on those who have: what's he actually do well as a defender, and what's his actual weak spots to work on as a defender? (Looking for more than 'he was once a No1 pick', or 'his diabetes', or 'not thump people').

McCartin joins Sydney's senior list

[Nico]

Heard a killjoy on SEN this morning who said Darling isn't vaccinated and won't be playing for WCE, and they should be going hard to get Logan McDonald at the end of the season.

[Mark26]

Heard a killjoy on SEN this morning who said Darling isn't vaccinated and won't be playing for WCE, and they should be going hard to get Logan McDonald at the end of the season.

We should be looking to extend his contract ASAP for precisely this reason.

[wolftone57]

So, Paddy is now official. As someone who lives outside Sydney these days, and with COVID-travel restrictions, I've never seen him play as a defender. I'm keen to get the view on those who have: what's he actually do well as a defender, and what's his actual weak spots to work on as a defender? (Looking for more than 'he was once a No1 pick', or 'his diabetes', or 'not thump people').

McCartin joins Sydney's senior list

His intercept game is sensational. I suggest you view some of the VFL replays he played in. Tech is great for getting an idea how he plays. You don't have to be there. Just look at the footage.

Sent from my JAT-L29 using Tapatalk

[707]

For those interested, there's a great photo on the Swans BF site, Pre Season thread, of Buddy in action at a recent (it's raining) training session, he looks in fantastic nick.

Only two games for players to impress the MC in the logjam for R1 spots, a practice match against GWS on one of the last two weekends of Feb, all details yet to be revealed, and a game against North at Giants Stadium 3.50pm Sunday 6th March.

The Herald - Sun has put up a list of injuries at all clubs, ours is pleasingly very short -

Callum Mills -modified training drills after the achilles injury.
Joel Armatey- modified training drills after groin pain.
Marc Sheather - Navicular stress reaction at start of pre season and has returned to running .
Sam Naismith - continuing rehab from 3rd ACL

[Aprilbr]

We should be looking to extend his contract ASAP for precisely this reason.

I am sure we are! Logan did say recently in a Swans video interview that he likes it in Sydney. That's a positive sign.

[liz]

I am sure we are! Logan did say recently in a Swans video interview that he likes it in Sydney. That's a positive sign.

I think the word he used was "love". But we know that words, on their own, don't mean much...

[Mel_C]

Channel 7 reported that the swans had an intraclub match today. They showed footage of Buddy (of course) and they gave me a heart attack when they showed Florent on the ground clutching his leg. It was his ankle but they said he was lucky it was only a sprain.

[stevoswan]

Latest installment......a good one.

Inside Sydney: Episode 4 - YouTube

[dejavoodoo44]

Latest installment......a good one.

Inside Sydney: Episode 4 - YouTube

Good that they featured the duo that are largely responsible for the fitness of the players: Damien Raper and Rob Innes. Hopefully they can keep up the good work of last year.

Innes is an interesting one. He was with Richmond throughout their recent glory days, and during that period, they had a remarkably good run with injuries. After he came to us, Richmond had an injury plagued season, while for much of the same season, our injury list was satisfyingly short. Of course, how much of that is due to good luck, rather than good management, is hard to tell.

I mean, I think most of the people in charge of an AFL club's medical program, would have passed much the same medical exams at uni, with much the same level of distinction. They probably also have a similar level of interest in new research, and possibly have similar access to helpful new technology. So, would there be that much difference from club to club? Looking for information on Rob Innes and Damien Raper, I did find an article from early last season, in which Dane Rampe enthused about the new team. While he stressed that the old staff were great, what he really liked about the new team, was that there was a higher level of personal communication. That is, they spent more time talking individually to players, working out if they had any niggles, sorting out individual needs and tailoring programs. Hopefully, another largely injury free season, will suggest that there is a difference from team to team.

[KSAS]

Interesting analysis Deja. Thanks. Injuries always plays a big part in a team's fortunes and importantly to whom. I had feeling the call on Buddy's hamstring during the 2020 pre-season where he felt soreness but got cleared to continue training, only for it to go shortly after & ended up missing entire season, was the catalyst for the change. Great to see he played more games than expected last season. Maybe the club as a whole got to better understand how to manage Buddy with his advancing years & injury history, rather than laying blame squarely on couple of medical staff. Good to see Buddy training with the main group & in match sims for this time of year! No delayed start to season. Fingers crossed!