Swans Academy Games - 2022.

[Mr Magoo]

Written by a self-acclaimed "Expert" at the Roar. Obviously "Idiot" and "Expert" are synonyms at the Roar.

Conveniently ignores that any club including Hawthorne could have freely taken just even one of the hundreds of other kids outside of Blakey, Mills, Heeney, Gulden and Campbell over the last 8 years that have been spat out of this so called Cyborg factory.

Such short sighted rubbish.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

The arguments in that are so poorly formed, that for most of it, I didn't know if it was meant as satire or not. There are some cogent refutations in the article's comments section.

Yes, I particularly liked "Click-bait pandering to parochial Victorians"

[Goal Sneak]

Yes, I particularly liked "Click-bait pandering to parochial Victorians"

Hahaha, I love a fan of their own work

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Yeah, I know. Self praise is faint praise . . . . . . but it's better than none at all

[dejavoodoo44]

The academy side play Brisbane at 10.30am today. The streaming link is in this article.

Northern Academy Series Round 3: Swans v Lions

[dejavoodoo44]

Brisbane in front 20-3 at quarter time. Our forward 50 entries weren't good. Kept on picking out Brisbane defenders or bombing it on the head of our smaller forwards.

I thought Webster was good in defence, and when playing as a ruck, Edwards took some strong grabs in the midfield.

[dejavoodoo44]

Brisbane ahead 36-17 at the main break. Which I suppose is a reasonable comeback from our lads, after Brisbane got in front 32-3 early in the quarter. Generally, the Brisbane players look a bit bigger and stronger. Not sure why that is, as the majority of our side were eligible for the draft last year? Though of course, I've no idea of the ages of the Brisbane side.

Our first goal came from King spiking it forward in the ruck to Anderson, who kicked long to Edwards in the pocket, who then put through the set shot. The second goal saw a nice bit of play from some of the younger players. McLeod hit up Rider, who then found Cleary, who marked and converted the set shot from about 30 out.

In that quarter, King did pretty well in the ruck and Puncher was strong in defence. Lots of players had some nice moments and the effort was there, but we still struggled to move the ball efficiently.

[dejavoodoo44]

Now up 49-43 at 3/4 time. Missed the first 4 goals while making lunch, but going back through the feed, the goalkickers were Endemann 2, Edwards, McLennan and somebody who I couldn't identify.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Nice comeback, but in the end to no avail.

[dejavoodoo44]

Hmm, finished the game off the way that we started, with a goalless quarter. It's hard to know what to make of the game, as the only time that we were on top, was the time that I wasn't watching. But for the rest of the game, it was a struggle to move the ball with any fluency.

Looking at it draft wise, I'm not sure if there's anyone in this year's or last year's cohort, that are likely to be drafted. Of last year's cohort, Anderson is already in the system and he's played some reasonable games at VFL level, so I assume that he continues next year, with at least a VFL contract. He had a busy game today, without exerting a huge amount of influence. Of the others, Endemann appears to be the most skilful and should improve if he gets to play VFL. Edwards is another who should be worth persisting with. He's a key position size, that can play back and forward, with spells in the ruck. He's a strong mark, booming kick and was probably our best today. Rogers, who didn't play today, has done quite well playing in a couple of VFL games this season, so I assume that he's under consideration?
Puncher had a good game in defence today, and Giacometti has managed a few high possession games; so they might also be under consideration.

Kirk, King and Webster are possibly the front runners of those players eligible for this year's draft. Kirk has some good skills, does plenty of running on the wing and shows the odd moment of Kirk toughness. King's past couple of games in the ruck have been pretty good, but at 199cm, probably needs a couple more centimetres to be a genuine ruck prospect. Either that, or improve his threat as a forward. He has taken some contested marks, but is yet to really hit the scoreboard. Although, the service to our forward line hasn't been great, so if he gets to play in the rep series later, perhaps he'll look better. Webster might be the most likely. He's played a number of quality games as a key defender, and we still might need another one or two of those. However, at this stage, rookie list looks more realistic than late draft pick. Of the others, Gander is a versatile tall, that has played a few good games, but probably needs to add some muscle to be a genuine prospect.

On genuine prospects, I do think we have at least a couple of those for the 2023 draft: certainly Cleary as an in and under mid, and May as tall ruck, plus a few others who've had some handy moments and should develop well when given more game time next season.

[Scottee]

Hmm, finished the game off the way that we started, with a goalless quarter. It's hard to know what to make of the game, as the only time that we were on top, was the time that I wasn't watching. But for the rest of the game, it was a struggle to move the ball with any fluency.

Looking at it draft wise, I'm not sure if there's anyone in this year's or last year's cohort, that are likely to be drafted. Of last year's cohort, Anderson is already in the system and he's played some reasonable games at VFL level, so I assume that he continues next year, with at least a VFL contract. He had a busy game today, without exerting a huge amount of influence. Of the others, Endemann appears to be the most skilful and should improve if he gets to play VFL. Edwards is another who should be worth persisting with. He's a key position size, that can play back and forward, with spells in the ruck. He's a strong mark, booming kick and was probably our best today. Rogers, who didn't play today, has done quite well playing in a couple of VFL games this season, so I assume that he's under consideration?
Puncher had a good game in defence today, and Giacometti has managed a few high possession games; so they might also be under consideration.

Kirk, King and Webster are possibly the front runners of those players eligible for this year's draft. Kirk has some good skills, does plenty of running on the wing and shows the odd moment of Kirk toughness. King's past couple of games in the ruck have been pretty good, but at 199cm, probably needs a couple more centimetres to be a genuine ruck prospect. Either that, or improve his threat as a forward. He has taken some contested marks, but is yet to really hit the scoreboard. Although, the service to our forward line hasn't been great, so if he gets to play in the rep series later, perhaps he'll look better. Webster might be the most likely. He's played a number of quality games as a key defender, and we still might need another one or two of those. However, at this stage, rookie list looks more realistic than late draft pick. Of the others, Gander is a versatile tall, that has played a few good games, but probably needs to add some muscle to be a genuine prospect.

On genuine prospects, I do think we have at least a couple of those for the 2023 draft: certainly Cleary as an in and under mid, and May as tall ruck, plus a few others who've had some handy moments and should develop well when given more game time next season.

From what I saw I agree with you that Edwards (in particular) , Endemann and Puncher are worth VFL consideration. Edwards has the body size that we are lacking in the VFL key positions and seems to have a decent amount of footy talent. Endemann also shows a lot of potential but may not have the upside of the others being a small.

I must say that I was more impressed with Edwards in the ruck than I was with King. Edwards is better around the ground a seemed to provide more of a contest in the ruck contests.

Webster seems to be the one who could develop into a handy KPP at senior level when he fill s out. Performs the CHB role very well.

On a side issue, I have found information on the Academy players is hard to come by. If anyone has links to player details that they can share I would be most appreciative.

[dejavoodoo44]

From what I saw I agree with you that Edwards (in particular) , Endemann and Puncher are worth VFL consideration. Edwards has the body size that we are lacking in the VFL key positions and seems to have a decent amount of footy talent. Endemann also shows a lot of potential but may not have the upside of the others being a small.

I must say that I was more impressed with Edwards in the ruck than I was with King. Edwards is better around the ground a seemed to provide more of a contest in the ruck contests.

Webster seems to be the one who could develop into a handy KPP at senior level when he fill s out. Performs the CHB role very well.

On a side issue, I have found information on the Academy players is hard to come by. If anyone has links to player details that they can share I would be most appreciative.

Yes, it's hard to find info. The NAB League app has basic information on our players. Height, age, weight and stats for the NAB League games. Rookie Me Draft Central has the odd story, but that looks like being less so now, since we've finished our NAB League season. Sometimes googling individual players finds local news stories. The Swans academy Facebook page has largely become an information free zone.

[dejavoodoo44]

There was a game between the NSW/ACT Rams and SA on the weekend. The Rams won 57 to 33, and from the brief write up, it looks like some of our academy players had good games.

Scouting Notes: 2021 AFL U18s - South Australia vs. NSW-ACT - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

Caught the Eye: June 2022 - APS derby & representative trials - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

[Mark26]

There was a game between the NSW/ACT Rams and SA on the weekend. The Rams won 57 to 33, and from the brief write up, it looks like some of our academy players had good games.

Scouting Notes: 2021 AFL U18s - South Australia vs. NSW-ACT - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

Caught the Eye: June 2022 - APS derby & representative trials - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

Thanks for the links Deja. AA is mentioned and I've only seen glimpses of him. It's great to see a couple of other academy lads get a mention too. Hopefully, they're good enough to end up on our list and contribute to seniors down the track. What's more impressive is that we beat SA fairly convincingly on the scoreboard.

[dejavoodoo44]

The u16 academy game is playing a game against the Giants at 12.30pm. There's a streaming link in this story from the Swans website.

QBE Sydney Swans Academy boys in action this weekend

If you want to watch it, it might be an idea to give yourself 5 or 10 minutes to set up a Cluch account, or reset your password if you set one up some time in the past.

The u17 team also just played the Giants. Not sure what the final score was, but they were down something like 62-40 at three quarter time.