2023 List Management

[waswan]

I suspect that Francis or Arnold may have more upside than Gould in our backline……if we are going to give one of them game time.

TomMac
Rampe
Francis
Fox

Gould I suspect we still give us a trade late 40s to 50s to SA whether he plays or not in Snrs

I don’t think Gould will stay with us and will be fortunate to even get to another club

He is such an in between player and I suppose our hope was that maybe he could play a role like Rampe in the future but not many can achieve that level

If we package up Stephens and Gould maybe SA club maybe interested and we may achieve a better trade of picks back combined?

Stephens I think would still be in demand.

We arent getting a thing for Gould.
Stephens would be a 2nd rd pick upgrade at best which is why we should play him and keep him.
Let him chase his own ball, i think he is capable

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By upgrade i mean turn a pick 40 to a pick 32

Dont play the guy enough and when we do, play him in handcuffs and thats all you get

[Roadrunner]

We arent getting a thing for Gould.
Stephens would be a 2nd rd pick upgrade at best which is why we should play him and keep him.
Let him chase his own ball, i think he is capable

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By upgrade i mean turn a pick 40 to a pick 32

Dont play the guy enough and when we do, play him in handcuffs and thats all you get

With this year gone, why not play Stephens in his best position before we decide what to do with him? As for Gould: what are his best attributes? Surely he has some!

[Roadrunner]

It's been a disappointing year. The development of Rowbottom, Campbell and Sheldrick has been positive. Otherwise it has been blighted by injuries and key players (Heeney, Papley, Hayward, Stephens) underperforming.

Anyway, I started thinking about how we're shaping up for next year and came up with the below.

Thoughts?

Best 22 2023 (before trading/draft):

FB: Rampe, T McCartin, Fox
HB: Blakey, Lloyd, Florent
C: Campbell, Rowbottom, Mills
HF: Gulden, Heeney, Papley
F: McDonald, Amartey, McLean/Reid
Fol: Chad Warner, Parker, Hickey/Ladhams
I/C: Sheldrick, Cunningham, Hayward, McInerney

Depth: Arnold, Buller, Corey Warner, Roberts, Francis, McAndrew, Sheather, Hall-Kahan (or delist).

Delisted: Wicks, Clarke, Melican, Rankin, Gould
Traded: Stephens
Retired: Franklin, P McCartin

Will develop: Mitchell, Edwards, Magor
Need to develop: Konstanty, Vickery, Owen

Trade priorities:
- Elite ruck
- Elite tall forward
- Elite small forward

Draft priorities:
- Elite mid with highest pick
- Tall defender
- Medium forward

Question marks:
- Can Reid return? If so, plays instead of McLean and improves the team.
- Will Hickey improve with a preseason or is this the start of the decline?

Very good analysis Matt but the backline looks too short against a big forward line these days- hence the need for a top KPP with the loss of Paddy.

[liz]

With this year gone, why not play Stephens in his best position before we decide what to do with him?

What is his "best position"?

And if it is clear what his "best position" is, is he better at it than other players in the squad who currently hold his "best position"?

If not, what is the benefit to the team of playing him in his "best position"?

[Blood Fever]

Stephens' problem is not his best position. Unlike last year, he has gone into his shell this year in the seniors. Had a good finals series last year but doesn't look as comfortable and confident in the ones this season.

[Ludwig]

Stephens' problem is that he plays in a small circle of vision. He also doesn't anticipate well when defending. He's capable of winning the ball, running with the ball and kicking long to nowhere in particular. He has quite a good skill set. But he just doesn't move the ball on effectively. I think there was a VFL game last year when he had a bout 20 kicks, 19 resulting in loss of possession. It's hard to know what to do to improve that kind of player.

I suggested trying him as a defensive forward, or trying the role that Clarke was doing. Perhaps if we can narrow his focus he might be able to apply himself to the job at hand.

[waswan]

Id keep Stephens, still think he has something to offer, somewhere.

Gould wont get picked up, been on a list for years and could have been grabbed by any team multiple times.

[goods53]

I think a good player who is off contract end of this season (unrestricted free agent) Jack Silvagni 25yo 194cm 92k sounds like he is on the outer at the blues , he moves well great overhead mark contests the ball hard he can play forward or
back & always gives 100% + can do a bit of relief rucking could get him pretty cheap i would think . Watched a bit of our VFL match against a very strong Lions side the other day another Swans Academy youngster Jordan Endemann could be
worth a look at he had 19 touches

[troyjones2525]

What is his "best position"?

And if it is clear what his "best position" is, is he better at it than other players in the squad who currently hold his "best position"?

If not, what is the benefit to the team of playing him in his "best position"?

I think his best position is a CBA midfielder, and I think he offers some different attributes than some of our current on-ballers with his size and speed.

Most good teams have a large number who can rotate through there, so I can't see why it's not worth a look at the back end of the season.

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[troyjones2525]

I think a good player who is off contract end of this season (unrestricted free agent) Jack Silvagni 25yo 194cm 92k sounds like he is on the outer at the blues , he moves well great overhead mark contests the ball hard he can play forward or
back & always gives 100% + can do a bit of relief rucking could get him pretty cheap i would think . Watched a bit of our VFL match against a very strong Lions side the other day another Swans Academy youngster Jordan Endemann could be
worth a look at he had 19 touches

I know it's probably not a popular opinion, but the Blues player I'd like to take a chance on is Paddy Dow.

Even though Carlton are an ordinary side, they have a very strong midfield brigade, at least on paper, so he is struggling to get a game in there despite dominating at VFL level.

His skills can be a little hit and miss at times, but he has burst speed out of stoppages, is clean, was a very high draft pick as a midfielder, so has obvious talent but was unfortunate to be drafted by a near rabble of a club the last 15 or so years.

A change may do him the world of good and would likely come reasonably cheap too. It's worth a shot IMO.

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[Nico]

Dow played today and had poor stats. 5 kicks and 3 handpasses and they thumped GC. Too soft for my liking. Who does he replace in our midfield?

[chalbilto]

Dow played today and had poor stats. 5 kicks and 3 handpasses and they thumped GC. Too soft for my liking. Who does he replace in our midfield?

Haven’t really watched Dow play but I agree with you Nico. He doesn’t really dominate with his stats and he has been basically playing in the reserves. No for mine.

[troyjones2525]

Dow played today and had poor stats. 5 kicks and 3 handpasses and they thumped GC. Too soft for my liking. Who does he replace in our midfield?

He played as the sub and got injected into the game early in the last quarter. That's not too bad for less than 1 quarter of football!

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[troyjones2525]

I also don't think the correct thinking is who does he replace as I don't think it's that simple these days with all the rotations etc.

I just think he has an attribute that we don't have a heap of on our list ATM being real break away speed in the midfield, save probably Chad and the Papley cameos.

I just think it might be worth a shot if we could get him for next to nothing, but TBH I doubt we'll do it.

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[Auntie.Gerald]

For me Stephens is covered on our wings despite being no5 pick on draft night and a knight in shining in midfield armour.

Corey Warner won’t be far behind as a development player but we have Campbell, McInerny, Florent, Cunningham and or Mitchell who can play wing at a pinch.

So I tend to look at Stephen’s and Gould as the most obvious opportunities to increase trade picks and use this currency for a role / player that contributes much more to our ability to win games.

I could be massively wrong but combined is it possible with say Adelaide that it might help us for picks to bring in a player that is more important to our structure?

It is possible Adelaide May do a good deal…..despite being somewhat cornered on the Dawso deal……..sort of as we could have paid overs to keep Dawso.

But if we truly believe Stephens can play inside and outside (like he did in SA) then he is valuable and we should keep him as they are hard to find and or develop.