Most of it's been said, but thought I'd add my 2 cents' worth on the original post.
There are others I could mention, but my #1 'big year' guy for 2007 apart from the above list, is Jarred Moore. Very cruel to get an injury just as he was cementing his spot in the side in 2006. Sydney already had so many goddamn midfield prospects, and despite the departure of Williams, Spriggs and little Willo, it hasn't got any less crowded in 2007 bearing in mind the promotion of Simpkin, DOK as a first-round draft pick, and Luke Brennan as a ready-to-play mature rookie. Moore again needs to fight his way through the ruck to take advantage of whatever minimal opportunities might be available.
Big fan of Dempster, and he's played more games by the age of 23 than most youngsters who arrive at the Swans. Creativity is a question mark, but not everyone needs to be Goodes. I don't think he's a Keneally replacement; others are being groomed for that role. I also don't think he needs to have a fixed role in the team. He can play on the opposition's 2nd/3rd forward against some teams, or can push up to wing or the forward line against others. He's fast, well-built, an excellent mark, a penetrating kick, and (with a few notable exceptions in a flat mid-stretch of 2006) rarely gets beaten by his man.
Apart from being a good overhead mark for his size, doesn't have an obvious attribute that makes him stand out. He's desperate and will scrag & tackle all day, but that alone isn't enough at the top level. That said, Brett Kirk (1999) and Amon Buchanan (2003) also didn't have an obvious attribute that made them stand out. Bevan certainly needs to take a step up, as they did, to secure his future.
I think he'll stick around, and I think that the Swans will be happy to have him stick around, despite the likelihood he'll again play a single-figure number of games in 2007. Sure, he's a depth player who could be more; but judging by his performance in Perth 2006 he doesn't currently have the fitness base to do more than play off the bench. Sydney plucked him from obscurity in country footy, so I don't think he'd simply walk in the hope that one of the other 15 clubs would pick him up. Given the limited depth in KPPs, I can't see Sydney wanting to dump or trade him, either.
No problems with his ability. The longer he spends on the park, the better he looks. The real issues are whether Roos is prepared to go with a 3-ruck team, and of course the perennial Doyle problem: injuries. History says that he's more likely to end his career in the Heath James way (the chronically injured tend to stay chronically injured). But we have ourselves a quality, underrated 2nd/3rd ruck if he, like our World Cup team, can prove history wrong.
After a concerningly mediocre first half of the year, took off and played some of the best games of his career in the latter stages of the minor round, albeit he didn't continue that form into the finals. I can't help but agree with you, in the sense that of all of the 'automatic selection' players in the Swans' squad who are under 25, I would nominate NOG as the one least likely to make it to 150 games. Hope he can prove me wrong. I'd like him a lot more if he could stop getting caught holding the ball by just accepting the tackle.
Not much point debating this one. He's not going to change his style or abilities. Ben Mathews could continue playing at roughly the level he's at now, for at least another 3 or 4 years. Purely a selection decision of how long Roos and the selection committee value his style of player over the best alternative in the 2s. Has anyone announced the 'leadership group' for 2007 yet?
Haven't seen enough of the 2s to really comment. I know that he's a huge possession accumulator in Canberra; but on his limited firsts gametime, has looked like the proverbial vanilla midfielder to date.
Sydney have plenty of 'tweeners': Dempster, CBolt, ROK, Keneally, arguably Vogels, arguably MOL, plus Leo Barry is shorter than a tweener. Nothing wrong with that of itself; you just want the blokes who can do the job for the team. Richards has proved that he can be that guy. An absolute revelation in the latter part of the year. I think he played too many good games, topped with an extraordinary 2nd half in the grannie, not to continue strong form into 2007.
Having stuck with him when he was absolute crap, I think it's a pretty safe bet that the Swans will stick with him through more minor form fluctuations. Needs to establish himself as a leader in defence, though, as Leo heads towards the end of his career. Has come a long way, but has a lot still to do.
Everitt is a model of consistency-- he described 2006 as a shocker for him, but his ruck stats (in the games he played) were actually good. Purely an injury issue. Mature players who can't get on the park, get very old very fast. Plus his position creates problems for at least one of Doyle and Grundy: if Roos decides to play 3 rucks, that'll be because Everitt will be asked to to play forward a fair bit. Which in turn will leave Heath Grundy nowhere.
There are others I could mention, but my #1 'big year' guy for 2007 apart from the above list, is Jarred Moore. Very cruel to get an injury just as he was cementing his spot in the side in 2006. Sydney already had so many goddamn midfield prospects, and despite the departure of Williams, Spriggs and little Willo, it hasn't got any less crowded in 2007 bearing in mind the promotion of Simpkin, DOK as a first-round draft pick, and Luke Brennan as a ready-to-play mature rookie. Moore again needs to fight his way through the ruck to take advantage of whatever minimal opportunities might be available.
