Looking forward to 2024

[royboy42]

He is, and could be important to us making a challenge this year.

But I can think of a dozen or so items closer to the top of my new year wish list - like Campbell absorbing the self-belief from his mate Errol, McDonald's star shining brightly now that it is no longer in the Franklin shadow, Grundy recapturing AA form, McCartin taking over the mantle of "best key defender in Sydney" from Taylor down the road etc etc.

The Campbell wish is one I completely agree with.
And your others are high up as well.
But, I believe an uninjured and in form Reid would be as least as important as any.
His all round performance is invaluable.

[wolftone57]

happy New Year everyone. 2023 is a year I just want to forget. It was not good from a footy point of view with us having far too many injuries. The only bright light for me was Glenelg won the SANFL Premiership. My health deteriorated in 2023 to the stage of having a very painful tumor in the bile duct & my anchylosing spondylosis became more intense. I became a very grumpy Old Man lol.

I am hoping 2024 will be a far better year. We have the potential to have a premiership year and if we don't at least get to the last dance we should be changing direction. i am extremely positive. I think we can win it and look forward to seeing our new line up and what it will look like. Unlike many Swans fans I am really excited about our forward line. I think it is the most talented in the AFL by far. I watched the Richmond match where Amartey got injured. Before the injury happened he was on fire & could have kicked 5 or 6 that day. After he went off the gasp was obvious. Richmond managed to get back into the game until the last quarter when we blew them away. Amartey, McDonald & McLean are exciting young forwards. I am hoping Logan signs on early in the year. If Joel can get fitter & more endurance, take his marks on the lead, Logan can continue on with his form but go one step more & Hayden can just take one more mark/quarter we will be the team with best group of key forwards in the game. Then we still have Jack Buller in the wings. Wow.

I am also excited about the supporting cast. Heens, Paps, Wicks (he has a role & played it very well last year), Will, Parker resting a lot more will be a huge unit if we can get the ball out of the centre quickly. Rebound half back quickly too. a lot of people knock Will but he plays an important role in our side and is often that guy who breaks a defensive threat by marking the random kick out of there. He also takes out the most dangerous medium defender & sometimes talls. He made Stewart redundant against Cats by manning him up. We should have won that by 8 goals, just dreadful kicking for goal & some hack kicks out of defence killed us. Will can also kick a bag. He showed that a couple of times last year. He needs to kick straighter, 75% goal ratio would be good. He has plenty of shots averaging over 45 career scores. But that does not take into account his dreadful run in front of goal when he could not even hit the point post. Heens, too needs to get better in front of the sticks. He has such a good technique but sometimes a lazy leg, he swings it. Both are capable of kicking in the mid to late 40's in goals with a good midfield peppering them with great delivery. Paps is Paps. He is always going to be a great goal sneak. Wicks is that defensive forward but I don't think he gets enough ball. Last year averaging 7.8 disposals, he kicked only 10.7 for his 15 games but did average 3.9 tackles but did not take a contested mark for the season. His spot has got to be doubtful. I would expect a defensive forward to average about 5 tackles/game. He gets far too little ball & that means he does not create enough turnovers. He is a high forward who had 11 goal assists for the whole season, I would have thought he needed to do better there. Who do we bring in Hall-Kahan is no longer with us. Konstanty would have to have a very good pre-season to replace him. Magor too, although the coaches seem to see him at half back. I don't know why, when he was a prolific goal kicker at junior level. Jordan might come in on a HFF as that defensive forward. He has played HB & wing, is really quick & has good awareness. He can also kick goals. But I have a feeling he is the Stephens replacement. Another option is Campbell. I would love to see him on the HFF as he can kick goals from 60 metres without even trying. Not only that his defensive work is sensational. Good luck if you are a running back trying to get a kick on him, he's mean.

The midfield will be very different. With Grundy & Adams coming in, reminiscent of Willo 2001 & Jolly 2005, joining us before the 2005 Premiership. All the young guys are developing & as they get a year older they will develop even more. Rowbottom is very hard inside. Warner is the runner, Adams the breaker, Paps is another runner/breaker, Gulden, see ball get ball & deliverer, Campbell the tackler & runner/deliverer. Mills is the general in there & tough in and under player who can take Bont & Cripps. Jordan will probably take a wing. Macca on the other wing. Sheldrick & Roberts will develop under the more experienced guys. They are both exciting prospects & if they stick with us WILL play in premierships. I had a look at Corey Warner in several of the games he played. Sometimes he got caught out of position, mainly playing forward of the ball. But in the back half or on the wing he was actually really good. If he is allowed to approach the ball and run off he is very fast and delivers really well. There is a future for him I think. Of the other potential mids/wingers Mitchell is a work in progress, he is really hard at it though & could be a Wayne Henwood type. It is too early to even talk about Cleary or Indi Kirk as they have not completed a full pre-season yet. But the potential is there. As for the ruck division. We have a very full team of rucks. If Grundy can regain his 2018 form he will be sensational. I thought in several matches where Gawn did not play that he was incredible. But of course they wasted him. It was a stupid move all round. Ladhams is capable of stuff. But he is volatile too. He gets injured just looking at a contest too. Green is an unknown but gee, he has the talent. Under Cox he will excel as I think Lachy McAndrew has last season. He did not disgrace himself on debut. He will improve even more this year. Lots of promise in the ruck division.

The backs. Rampe is finished playing on the tall forwards. The way they umpire the game & the energy it takes are just against him at his age. He is no longer needed to play tall on monsters like Hawkins. We now have Hamling, Francis, McCartin, Melican, Arnold, Edwards & Snell. Edwards looked a real monster when he came back to Pre-Season training. He has spent lots of hours in the gym. I am impressed with his off season work. I thought Francis improved more as the season wore on. He could improve some decision making but the ingredients are there. Melican is still a solid back. The games he did play he was pretty good all up. Started slowly but I thought the longer he played the better he got. Arnold is the David Dench cum Alex Rance style FB. Not saying he is as good as them but the potential is there. Tommy McCartin has already showed what he can do & I think he will go to another level again this year. That leaves the new boy, Snell. He is an unknown & we will know more after pre-season games. Those around them are pretty good too. Rampe, Fox, Lloyd, Ollie, Blakey, Harry. I think Jake Lloyd is undervalued by most Swans fans. He is the most consistent back in the competition. He is incredibly courageous, skillful & extremely fit. The fittest player in the side due to his own training regime which is another level above. He has been training for this since he was a kid. Ramps will enjoy not having to play on the talls but he might just Get Toby, Charlie, Lachie and Isaac as the season unfolds. Foxy will also benefit from not having to play on monsters. He could take thosesmall/medium forwards, like Elliot, Rioli, Bolton, Bailey, McAdam or Pickett, Hill. This frees up Ollie, Blakey & Lloydy (had to do the ie thing) to run the ball. Vickery, Magor, maybe Mitchell, corey Warner, Jordan, McInerney as back up at HB.

I think we are pretty well rounded now. We had far too many onballers before with very few defenders to take the slack. Now we have a bunch of both key forwards & key defenders.

We have some big guys with footy smarts. I think Hayden McLean has a huge footy IQ & so do Amartey & Mcdonald. Gulden is a star & the smartest footballer in the AFL. Paplwy is cleaver. We have many clever players, Blakey is exceptional. Ollie too. But now we need to get tough.

[Velour&Ruffles]

happy New Year everyone. 2023 is a year I just want to forget. It was not good from a footy point of view with us having far too many injuries. The only bright light for me was Glenelg won the SANFL Premiership. My health deteriorated in 2023 to the stage of having a very painful tumor in the bile duct & my anchylosing spondylosis became more intense. I became a very grumpy Old Man lol.

I am hoping 2024 will be a far better year. We have the potential to have a premiership year and if we don't at least get to the last dance we should be changing direction. i am extremely positive. I think we can win it and look forward to seeing our new line up and what it will look like. Unlike many Swans fans I am really excited about our forward line. I think it is the most talented in the AFL by far. I watched the Richmond match where Amartey got injured. Before the injury happened he was on fire & could have kicked 5 or 6 that day. After he went off the gasp was obvious. Richmond managed to get back into the game until the last quarter when we blew them away. Amartey, McDonald & McLean are exciting young forwards. I am hoping Logan signs on early in the year. If Joel can get fitter & more endurance, take his marks on the lead, Logan can continue on with his form but go one step more & Hayden can just take one more mark/quarter we will be the team with best group of key forwards in the game. Then we still have Jack Buller in the wings. Wow.

I am also excited about the supporting cast. Heens, Paps, Wicks (he has a role & played it very well last year), Will, Parker resting a lot more will be a huge unit if we can get the ball out of the centre quickly. Rebound half back quickly too. a lot of people knock Will but he plays an important role in our side and is often that guy who breaks a defensive threat by marking the random kick out of there. He also takes out the most dangerous medium defender & sometimes talls. He made Stewart redundant against Cats by manning him up. We should have won that by 8 goals, just dreadful kicking for goal & some hack kicks out of defence killed us. Will can also kick a bag. He showed that a couple of times last year. He needs to kick straighter, 75% goal ratio would be good. He has plenty of shots averaging over 45 career scores. But that does not take into account his dreadful run in front of goal when he could not even hit the point post. Heens, too needs to get better in front of the sticks. He has such a good technique but sometimes a lazy leg, he swings it. Both are capable of kicking in the mid to late 40's in goals with a good midfield peppering them with great delivery. Paps is Paps. He is always going to be a great goal sneak. Wicks is that defensive forward but I don't think he gets enough ball. Last year averaging 7.8 disposals, he kicked only 10.7 for his 15 games but did average 3.9 tackles but did not take a contested mark for the season. His spot has got to be doubtful. I would expect a defensive forward to average about 5 tackles/game. He gets far too little ball & that means he does not create enough turnovers. He is a high forward who had 11 goal assists for the whole season, I would have thought he needed to do better there. Who do we bring in Hall-Kahan is no longer with us. Konstanty would have to have a very good pre-season to replace him. Magor too, although the coaches seem to see him at half back. I don't know why, when he was a prolific goal kicker at junior level. Jordan might come in on a HFF as that defensive forward. He has played HB & wing, is really quick & has good awareness. He can also kick goals. But I have a feeling he is the Stephens replacement. Another option is Campbell. I would love to see him on the HFF as he can kick goals from 60 metres without even trying. Not only that his defensive work is sensational. Good luck if you are a running back trying to get a kick on him, he's mean.

The midfield will be very different. With Grundy & Adams coming in, reminiscent of Willo 2001 & Jolly 2005, joining us before the 2005 Premiership. All the young guys are developing & as they get a year older they will develop even more. Rowbottom is very hard inside. Warner is the runner, Adams the breaker, Paps is another runner/breaker, Gulden, see ball get ball & deliverer, Campbell the tackler & runner/deliverer. Mills is the general in there & tough in and under player who can take Bont & Cripps. Jordan will probably take a wing. Macca on the other wing. Sheldrick & Roberts will develop under the more experienced guys. They are both exciting prospects & if they stick with us WILL play in premierships. I had a look at Corey Warner in several of the games he played. Sometimes he got caught out of position, mainly playing forward of the ball. But in the back half or on the wing he was actually really good. If he is allowed to approach the ball and run off he is very fast and delivers really well. There is a future for him I think. Of the other potential mids/wingers Mitchell is a work in progress, he is really hard at it though & could be a Wayne Henwood type. It is too early to even talk about Cleary or Indi Kirk as they have not completed a full pre-season yet. But the potential is there. As for the ruck division. We have a very full team of rucks. If Grundy can regain his 2018 form he will be sensational. I thought in several matches where Gawn did not play that he was incredible. But of course they wasted him. It was a stupid move all round. Ladhams is capable of stuff. But he is volatile too. He gets injured just looking at a contest too. Green is an unknown but gee, he has the talent. Under Cox he will excel as I think Lachy McAndrew has last season. He did not disgrace himself on debut. He will improve even more this year. Lots of promise in the ruck division.

The backs. Rampe is finished playing on the tall forwards. The way they umpire the game & the energy it takes are just against him at his age. He is no longer needed to play tall on monsters like Hawkins. We now have Hamling, Francis, McCartin, Melican, Arnold, Edwards & Snell. Edwards looked a real monster when he came back to Pre-Season training. He has spent lots of hours in the gym. I am impressed with his off season work. I thought Francis improved more as the season wore on. He could improve some decision making but the ingredients are there. Melican is still a solid back. The games he did play he was pretty good all up. Started slowly but I thought the longer he played the better he got. Arnold is the David Dench cum Alex Rance style FB. Not saying he is as good as them but the potential is there. Tommy McCartin has already showed what he can do & I think he will go to another level again this year. That leaves the new boy, Snell. He is an unknown & we will know more after pre-season games. Those around them are pretty good too. Rampe, Fox, Lloyd, Ollie, Blakey, Harry. I think Jake Lloyd is undervalued by most Swans fans. He is the most consistent back in the competition. He is incredibly courageous, skillful & extremely fit. The fittest player in the side due to his own training regime which is another level above. He has been training for this since he was a kid. Ramps will enjoy not having to play on the talls but he might just Get Toby, Charlie, Lachie and Isaac as the season unfolds. Foxy will also benefit from not having to play on monsters. He could take thosesmall/medium forwards, like Elliot, Rioli, Bolton, Bailey, McAdam or Pickett, Hill. This frees up Ollie, Blakey & Lloydy (had to do the ie thing) to run the ball. Vickery, Magor, maybe Mitchell, corey Warner, Jordan, McInerney as back up at HB.

I think we are pretty well rounded now. We had far too many onballers before with very few defenders to take the slack. Now we have a bunch of both key forwards & key defenders.

We have some big guys with footy smarts. I think Hayden McLean has a huge footy IQ & so do Amartey & Mcdonald. Gulden is a star & the smartest footballer in the AFL. Paplwy is cleaver. We have many clever players, Blakey is exceptional. Ollie too. But now we need to get tough.

Great post. I agree with most of it. I think there is much reason to be optimistic about this year, and to expect a finish appreciably higher than last year. I have extremely high hopes for our midfield - add Grundy, Adams and Sheldrick (effectively a newbie, who looked ready to explode last year and looks like a beast now) and it's a whole new ballgame out of the middle. And the middle has been our Achilles Heel for several years. Our overall team success has basically been achieved despite our midfield performance, rather than because of it.

My only major disagreement - not sure about the comparison of Mitchell to Henwood. With respect, "The Moose" Henwood was a bullocking battering-ram of a key position player. If he ever played as a mid/wing it was by accident.

Sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope they improve as much as we both expect the Swans' fortunes to do.

[wolftone57]

Great post. I agree with most of it. I think there is much reason to be optimistic about this year, and to expect a finish appreciably higher than last year. I have extremely high hopes for our midfield - add Grundy, Adams and Sheldrick (effectively a newbie, who looked ready to explode last year and looks like a beast now) and it's a whole new ballgame out of the middle. And the middle has been our Achilles Heel for several years. Our overall team success has basically been achieved despite our midfield performance, rather than because of it.

My only major disagreement - not sure about the comparison of Mitchell to Henwood. With respect, "The Moose" Henwood was a bullocking battering-ram of a key position player. If he ever played as a mid/wing it was by accident.

Sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope they improve as much as we both expect the Swans' fortunes to do.

I want to thank you for your concern. I am most grateful.

I only compared Mitchell to Moose as they both seem to have had that get ball at all costs and bugger who's in the way attitude. He is probably more like Mitch Robinson. i will be interested to see how far Mitchell goes. He lacks some of the skills of the other guys but has a lot of intensity. By the way my SMOKIE FOR DEBUT; Will Edwards. This kid has put in the extras over summer. I think he will go a long way this year.

You are right, Sheldrick was just getting going when injury struck. He beat up Horne-Francis at U18 level & I don't see why he can't beat anyone if that is the case. our midfield will be boosted by three trades, Grundy, Adams & Jordan.

I want to see a little of Scott Gowans approach. Why not US? Let's score baby (mind you that is more Austin Powers). Attack, Attack, defend, attack. Attack the player, the ball, attack the game & eff the umpire, just go for it.

[dejavoodoo44]

I want to thank you for your concern. I am most grateful.

I only compared Mitchell to Moose as they both seem to have had that get ball at all costs and bugger who's in the way attitude. He is probably more like Mitch Robinson. i will be interested to see how far Mitchell goes. He lacks some of the skills of the other guys but has a lot of intensity. By the way my SMOKIE FOR DEBUT; Will Edwards. This kid has put in the extras over summer. I think he will go a long way this year.

You are right, Sheldrick was just getting going when injury struck. He beat up Horne-Francis at U18 level & I don't see why he can't beat anyone if that is the case. our midfield will be boosted by three trades, Grundy, Adams & Jordan.

I want to see a little of Scott Gowans approach. Why not US? Let's score baby (mind you that is more Austin Powers). Attack, Attack, defend, attack. Attack the player, the ball, attack the game & eff the umpire, just go for it.

I also agree with much of your longer post. I'm certainly optimistic about the upcoming season. To the extent that I'll probably be disappointed if we don't finish at least top four. With the handy off-season recruiting and the natural improvement of our younger players, we should be able to get plenty of the ball and then hurt the opposition once we have it.

I'm perhaps not quite as confident as you are about our young tall forwards, but it’s probably the area that I'm most interested in seeing develop. That is, I'm keen to see what sort of partnership McDonald, Amartey and McLean can establish, and whether one, two or all three of them can become genuine stars; rather than just potential stars. I'm reasonably confident, but it's a big step up. Helping them, will be the service that they get from Gulden, Campbell, McInerney, Blakey, Florent, etc.

I also hope that your health improves.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I havent started a post for a while

felt a little foreign to be honest and then i was reminded by key words and too generic ................ so came back here to see if it fits?


Happy New Year everyone........always love the banter and analysis of our beloved Swans

Ok lets go early on predictions.....if you feel daring

I must say there is something about Patrick !!!!

Patrick Snell | AFL

He just looks intense, athletic and ready to rock.........im not saying year 1 of his time at the Swans...............but watch out year 2.

HIs height weight kicking and ex forward now backline man at 194cm and a strong build could be ready to take on a role like AJ in his intro Swans?

any other random ideas ladies and gents on what could be a surprise for 2024/2025 ?

I mean everyone loves to say how early they were on predicting the unexpected

[wolftone57]

I havent started a post for a while

felt a little foreign to be honest and then i was reminded by key words and too generic ................ so came back here to see if it fits?


Happy New Year everyone........always love the banter and analysis of our beloved Swans

Ok lets go early on predictions.....if you feel daring

I must say there is something about Patrick !!!!

Patrick Snell | AFL

He just looks intense, athletic and ready to rock.........im not saying year 1 of his time at the Swans...............but watch out year 2.

HIs height weight kicking and ex forward now backline man at 194cm and a strong build could be ready to take on a role like AJ in his intro Swans?

any other random ideas ladies and gents on what could be a surprise for 2024/2025 ?

I mean everyone loves to say how early they were on predicting the unexpected

Yes. Will Edwards. He has come back looking like Dolph Lundgren. Looks bigger, fitter & keener.

[wolftone57]

A bit of angst here in Melbourne about Round 1, 2024 featuring 4 games only and - shock, horror - none of those games are in Melbourne!

A lot of people still don't seem to know what the A in AFL stands for.

There are reasons they don't.

The AFL has it's roots firmly planted in the VFL & it reminds us constantly of that. The 150 years is another reminder of that as the AFL has only been operating for 33 years.

The AFL insists on keeping 10 teams in Victoria. Why? When that is never viable. Because then they have control. The clubs have to approve all measures before they go to the board. If you have 10 Victorian clubs & 8 Interstate clubs you are always going to get pro Victorian measures through

All management, Grand Finals, Events are controlled or perpetrated in Victoria even if they take place elsewhere

Not all decisions of the AFL are for purely financial reasons like they try to portray when allocating matches, finals etc. In fact there was one year where an Interstate team won the right to a home final but the game was played at the MCG, where their crowd would have been far less that their opponents.

The Board of Commissioners is always made up of more Victorians than any other mix, 5 Victorian/3 Interstate.

basically, the AFL is just the VFl in an overcoat

[wolftone57]

The fixture is now out:

AFL Fixtures and Results - AFL.com.au

Decent looking draw, but some tough double ups as to be expected. No new or interesting grounds with the exception of Mt Barker during AFL sponsored massive profit gouging weekend aka Gather Round.

Can't say I'm overly keen on the 4pm starts on Sunday afternoons for MCG games either. Probably still just doable as a return day trip from Canberra, but making it quite tight for last flights. Small matter I know haha.

I think that is a pretty good draw. Not easy but not the hardest either. I mean, we could have gotten; Pies, lions, Dees, port & Carlton

[Ruck'n'Roll]

HB Meyers on Mongrel Punt has posted a Swans preview https://themongrelpunt.com/afl-seaso...eason-preview/
Interesting comments on Logan/Buddy and Heeney - sees Mensa and McLean as competing.

[barry]

happy New Year everyone. 2023 is a year I just want to forget. It was not good from a footy point of view with us having far too many injuries. The only bright light for me was Glenelg won the SANFL Premiership. My health deteriorated in 2023 to the stage of having a very painful tumor in the bile duct & my anchylosing spondylosis became more intense. I became a very grumpy Old Man lol.

I am hoping 2024 will be a far better year. .

Thanks for sharing wolftone. I'm am also old, and have also acquired some tumors which will likely mean 2024 is my last.

But on a positive, the swans are a very good chance to win the flag, as are the giants, so it will be a great year to follow footy for a Sydney sider.

All the best.

[Sandridge]

Thanks for sharing wolftone. I'm am also old, and have also acquired some tumors which will likely mean 2024 is my last.

But on a positive, the swans are a very good chance to win the flag, as are the giants, so it will be a great year to follow footy for a Sydney sider.

All the best.

Keep fighting, barry and wolftone! RWO needs you and your passion!

[Dow]

Best of luck with your fight !

[i'm-uninformed2]

Thanks for sharing wolftone. I'm am also old, and have also acquired some tumors which will likely mean 2024 is my last.

But on a positive, the swans are a very good chance to win the flag, as are the giants, so it will be a great year to follow footy for a Sydney sider.

All the best.

Genuine best wishes to both of you, and thanks for sharing.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Yes. Will Edwards. He has come back looking like Dolph Lundgren. Looks bigger, fitter & keener.

Edwards intrigues me. He looks like he has a lot of assets - height, strength, closing speed (one of the best assets a defender needs, but not clear yet whether he’s got the right amount for AFL, an instinct to play to his limitations) - and I really liked the fact that he kept improving over the course of the year. It’s all you can ask for from someone who essentially is a project player, but suggests a good work ethic, capacity to learn fast and that the underlying skills are good. He’d be a great plus for the side as a true 200cm defender if he makes it.

I’ve only watched him once live however and would be keen to hear from those that do on the gaps he has to close to make it, and whether they think he can.