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Coach Paul Roos was looking on the bright side after Sydney's first round Wizard Cup loss to Brisbane.
"Over-all it was terrific, I thought the kids were fantastic but they are kids and will make mistakes. But it was encouraging after half time when the talent was a bit more even and we actually outscored them 7.6 to 4.3." he said. "Out of the four quarters I thought the first was okay, the second quarter was disastrous in terms of the scoreboard, in the last quarter there was some really good signs and overall we were pretty pleased."
Roos acknowledged that the Swans' recent spate of injuries left the team severely depleted.
"We knew it would be difficult but it made it extremely difficult, however I thought Mark Powell, Adam Schneider and Scott Stevens at centre-half forward was terrific. Luke Ablett was really good and Sean Dempster did a couple of fantastic things in the last quarter. These fellows will now go to play in the Canberra competition and have a real lot of confidence going into the start of their AFL careers after lining up against Michael Voss and showing in the last quarter they can actually compete with some pretty fair talent," Roos said.
?When you go into the game with one ruckman and have Powell and Nicks at times playing the ruck it?s going to be difficult. Also, playing against some really good players we probably lacked a bit of composure at times which is only natural with the younger guys intimidated by some pretty hardened and really quality players. So hopefully they have learnt from it."
Young Swan Scott Stevens had 17 touches and took six marks against the Lions on Saturday night. He spent most of the match across half-forward, but also saw some time in defence, and was feeling very positive despite being knocked out of the Wizard Cup.
"Hopefully, it will be a big year and I can maintain that form," he said. "Hopefully I can be centre half-forward. That would be desirable for me, but I would need to put on a bit more weight to do that."
"We definitely expect to make the eight. We'll go into every match expecting to win. On the other side we'll have a very young squad, so we'll be a bit erratic because of that. But there is a firm belief among the boys that we'll make the eight."
Craig Bolton and Daryn Cresswell picked up injuries that will probably keep them out of next weekend's match against Carlton at Coffs Harbour. But on the plus side, Jared Crouch, Nick Davis, Leo Barry, Jason Saddington and Jason Ball are all off the official injury list:
Jarrad Sundqvist Groin 1 week
Amon Buchanan Ankle 4-6 weeks
Heath James Knee Indefinite
Michael O'Loughlin Knee 2-4 weeks
Craig Bolton Groin 1 week
Daryn Cresswell Calf cork 1 week
Brad Seymour Shoulder 2 weeks
Stephen Doyle Calf 2 weeks
"Over-all it was terrific, I thought the kids were fantastic but they are kids and will make mistakes. But it was encouraging after half time when the talent was a bit more even and we actually outscored them 7.6 to 4.3." he said. "Out of the four quarters I thought the first was okay, the second quarter was disastrous in terms of the scoreboard, in the last quarter there was some really good signs and overall we were pretty pleased."
Roos acknowledged that the Swans' recent spate of injuries left the team severely depleted.
"We knew it would be difficult but it made it extremely difficult, however I thought Mark Powell, Adam Schneider and Scott Stevens at centre-half forward was terrific. Luke Ablett was really good and Sean Dempster did a couple of fantastic things in the last quarter. These fellows will now go to play in the Canberra competition and have a real lot of confidence going into the start of their AFL careers after lining up against Michael Voss and showing in the last quarter they can actually compete with some pretty fair talent," Roos said.
?When you go into the game with one ruckman and have Powell and Nicks at times playing the ruck it?s going to be difficult. Also, playing against some really good players we probably lacked a bit of composure at times which is only natural with the younger guys intimidated by some pretty hardened and really quality players. So hopefully they have learnt from it."
Young Swan Scott Stevens had 17 touches and took six marks against the Lions on Saturday night. He spent most of the match across half-forward, but also saw some time in defence, and was feeling very positive despite being knocked out of the Wizard Cup.
"Hopefully, it will be a big year and I can maintain that form," he said. "Hopefully I can be centre half-forward. That would be desirable for me, but I would need to put on a bit more weight to do that."
"We definitely expect to make the eight. We'll go into every match expecting to win. On the other side we'll have a very young squad, so we'll be a bit erratic because of that. But there is a firm belief among the boys that we'll make the eight."
Craig Bolton and Daryn Cresswell picked up injuries that will probably keep them out of next weekend's match against Carlton at Coffs Harbour. But on the plus side, Jared Crouch, Nick Davis, Leo Barry, Jason Saddington and Jason Ball are all off the official injury list:
Jarrad Sundqvist Groin 1 week
Amon Buchanan Ankle 4-6 weeks
Heath James Knee Indefinite
Michael O'Loughlin Knee 2-4 weeks
Craig Bolton Groin 1 week
Daryn Cresswell Calf cork 1 week
Brad Seymour Shoulder 2 weeks
Stephen Doyle Calf 2 weeks