I know many of our supporters are frustrated and down on Jesse White, but can anyone actually see him being our full forward in our next premiership side?
We've got some great young forward talent, but it really just needs time to develop. Jesse is no different. He's a massive kid, but needs to develop a mean streak, similar to Sav Rocca in his early years at Collingwood. It took him 4-5 years to develop into a pack-crasing monster.
Sam Reid looks the goods. He's got all the skills we need, just needs to add 10kg of muscle and few more preseasons should give him a Nick Riewoldt-type tank. If not Rooey, then at least a Josh Kennedy tank.
Lewis Johnston looks good as a third tall, plus TDL can develop further, we all know what Benny the Jet is capable of. Would love to see all of Jesse, LJ, Reidy, TDL and Ben starting in our forward 50 next season, once some of the younger blokes develop. We aren't kicking bagfuls at the moment, but we're certainly building!
This (without trades and drafting) would be my ideal Best 22 come Round 1, 2012:
F: TDL, Jesse White, Jed Lamb
HF: Ben McGlynn, Sam Reid, Ryan O'Keefe
C: Gary Rohan, Kieren Jack, Adam Goodes
HB: Nick Malceski, Alex Johnson, Rhyce Shaw
FB: Ted Richards, Heath Grundy, Nick Smith
Foll: Shane Mumford, Josh Kennedy, Daniel Hannebery
I/C: Jude Bolton, Jarrad McVeigh, Tadhg Kennelly
Sub: Lewis Jetta
That team gives us a chance to beat any team in the competition. Rotate Goodes through the midfield. His set shots let him down and he's at his best when cut loose and free to roam. Ryan O'Keefe is a very strong mark, so can play a link-up man. Got some elder statesmen on the bench because we all know the Swans are about veteran leadership and continuity. I know I left out the likes of LRT, Craig Bird, Paul Bevan, Brett Meredith, Marty Mattner, Jarred Moore, Mark Seaby and Mike Pyke, but that is really just a testament to our depth at the moment, which is surprisingly good, considering we haven't had a draft pick higher than 6th in so many seasons.
One thing I've noticed this year is our defense is a high quality again, but we are extremely inefficient going inside 50. With a few more years in Jesse and Sam, I think we'll have our pillars up forward and excellent building blocks to put players around those two.
So basically what I'm saying is I'm very excited for the future and hoping we can build a premiership-contending team that will play in at least one Grand Final by 2016.
Your thoughts?
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