Is Sydney for real?

[Grand Uncle Horace]

They will be one hell of a quick rebuild, and unfortunately for teams like North, they have done it via their academy which they don't have an equivalent of.

They had Thomas while giving nothing to Tas. Their rubbish list management is down to that squalid mob. Minimum 600 kids have gone through the Bloods Academy. We have 4 1st Rounders. Wicks scraped on to the Rookie list and Gulden went pick 32!

For North, Snake_Baker and others was Blakey's third preference behind the Bloods and the Lions.

 

[Cleric]

They had Thomas while giving nothing to Tas. Their rubbish list management is down to that squalid mob. Minimum 600 kids have gone through the Bloods Academy. We have 4 1st Rounders. Wicks scraped on to the Rookie list and Gulden went pick 32!

For North, Snake_Baker and others was Blakey's third preference behind the Bloods and the Lions.

Sure North are shit, but don't discount how much your academy has helped you rebuild.
Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden, Campbell, Naismith etc will make up the backbone of your teams next finals push. Its a free kick.
Don't worry, the AFL arnt going to take it away from you, but teams like North don't have that same ability as you do.

 

[deflated]

To add to the assessment, people are ignoring our injury list, which is the shortest it has been I n years and nothing like last year when we had about 10 of our starting 22 out.

We do have some handy depth players we can bring in to have a shot, like this Franklin kid, not to mention Rowbottom, Stephens and maybe Ling. But being able to play your best 22 is a luxury not many clubs get to enjoy.

Once the injuries start to hit, the performance will drop a bit. Should still play a couple of finals games I hope.

Knock on wood and all that but Rampe's health determines how this season goes for the Swans, there is no way for us to replace what he adds to the back 6. McCartin is looking solid but needs another 50 games back there before he starts to reduce Rampe's responsibilities.

Hickey and Parker are the same to a lesser extent in the middle, JPK can't be the sole veteran leading the kids.

 

[Wolfgang West]

Me? I hardly know they exist let alone be critical of them..

Probably need to get out of Sleepy Hollow then. Whole wide world at there.

 

[Roobs321]

They look really super, will rebuild a little quicker than anticipated, the youth even more electric than it already seemed.

Seasons lately looking increasingly competitive. North is the only team that looks well off the pace for now. Some teams you'd normally pen in for a 9-12 will struggle to get there nowadays.

 

[The Gong]

I thought this thread was going to be about whether the Swans were just foxing last year.

If so, brilliant work. They fooled me. I thought they were trash. And in a world of pain for years to come.

I was wrong.

Then you weren't paying attention

 

[JackFlash]

Probably need to get out of Sleepy Hollow then. Whole wide world at there.

Missing the point, i don't care about the Sydney Swans, i have no real interest in them other than as a football fan. The only time they really enter my pysche is when Geelong play them. The question was "Is Sydney for reall" ? Is having an answer to that from a footballing perspective cancelled?

 

[HeeneyIsAGun]

Agreed. I think there will be a significant drop in performance around mid-way through the year. As good as the young guys are most first and second year recruits can't run out an entire season as their bodies are not yet developed enough to cope with the punishment.

The reason that may not be as important this year (or at least for our side) is that the STYLE of game is not as punishing as in previous years. The "punishment" is nothing like it was in 2005 and 2012 when we last won the flag. Indeed our game style is not as much "running" as you would expect. Check out the stats, and you will see we were well down on our averages for metres run by foot, and a lot less than Richmond's.

The beauty of this style (fast handball and precise fast kicks, with fewer stoppages and rolling mauls) is that it is a lot more sustainable for a season. As long as the team has the mental experience across the board to ensure good decision making and effort to back each other up, there is no reason why the 1st and 2nd year players cant contribute each game for a full year. Their skills wont disappear overnight, they just have to remain calm and focused each game as they have so far in the first three.

 

[maskmcgee]

Richmond are finished. Sydney showed everyone how to beat them, Hardwick tried everything but couldn't stop them.

 

[Angus Young]

If Sydney beat the Bombers well next week.... look out

 

[Sea fog]

Swans will play finals. Sydney is lucky though that whether they finish high or low, they have ace academy kids coming through. They definitely have a free kick which the rest of the competition does not have. Maybe the draft should be scrapped and we go back to zones which have to be developed so that all teams are on a more even starting point.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Swans will play finals. Sydney is lucky though that whether they finish high or low, they have ace academy kids coming through. They definitely have a free kick which the rest of the competition does not have. Maybe the draft should be scrapped and we go back to zones which have to be developed so that all teams are on a more even starting point.

Haha imagine WA/SA having bidding priority and VIC being based on zones again are you sure you know what your asking for?? you think Sydney taking 1 or 2 academy picks a year is rough wait till you see Eagles taking 6-7 top picks every season.

What im trying to say is the talent coming through the Sydney academy absolutely pales in comparison to what WA/SA produce.

 

[mattpolo8]

Pre round 1 I had us 12th-16th. Now? I think we will play finals. We will have some losses where we might expect to win, and we will roll through rotations all season. We have some depth now which we haven't had for some time.

I think we have a W next week, and the 2 after that. I don't thnk thats getting ahead of ourselves as they are 3 games we should win. Round 8 v Geelong will be massive in the context of "Are Sydney flag contenders".

 

[Zevon]

Can see the kids slowing down considerably at some point; injuries permitting we could well make finals but round 3 is still a little early to judge. Think we’ll win a few we’re not expected to win and lose a few we’re not expected to lose. I’m loving what I’ve seen from a 2022-2027 point of view though. Exciting times ahead.

Also love the game style we’re playing. Successful Swans sides of the past have not been flush with raw talent and had to rely on that combative, contested, often low-scoring style with a million stoppages. It’s a nice change to be one of the entertaining sides and have the rest of the league talking about your team being great to watch

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Pre round 1 I had us 12th-16th. Now? I think we will play finals. We will have some losses where we might expect to win, and we will roll through rotations all season. We have some depth now which we haven't had for some time.

I think we have a W next week, and the 2 after that. I don't thnk thats getting ahead of ourselves as they are 3 games we should win. Round 8 v Geelong will be massive in the context of "Are Sydney flag contenders".

By round 10 we will know for sure, there is still a pretty decent senior core who know what it takes.

 

[Daka]

Richmond are finished. Sydney showed everyone how to beat them, Hardwick tried everything but couldn't stop them.

It's 1 game mate...

 

[ep2018]

If Sydney beat the Bombers well next week.... look out

Got a weird feeling Essendon might roll them.

 

[Sportsmad93]

After the teams they have beat, I'd say top 4. Imagine if Franklin recaptures his form this year.

 

[J_Moore]

Swans will play finals. Sydney is lucky though that whether they finish high or low, they have ace academy kids coming through. They definitely have a free kick which the rest of the competition does not have. Maybe the draft should be scrapped and we go back to zones which have to be developed so that all teams are on a more even starting point.

A recruiting system that treats all clubs the same will always have the big Vic clubs on top, and the QLD teams on the bottom.

 

[Chuckie357]

I think they might be more articulate than the OP

 

[Maddhew]

The youngsters look physically developed enough to not suffer mid-season burn out. They certainly didn't look like boys against men on the weekend.

The challenge will come if opposition coaches devise a game plan that nullfies ours. We will become the hunted very quickly, thats the challenge.

 

[Number37]

The youngsters look physically developed enough to not suffer mid-season burn out. They certainly didn't look like boys against men on the weekend.

The challenge will come if opposition coaches devise a game plan that nullfies ours. We will become the hunted very quickly, thats the challenge.

Every team zones.
If you have good enough foot skills you can carve up a zone system.
Teams will have to go to man-on-man.
The Swans kids go better than OK winning their own ball...how will oppo teams go playing a style that isn't their usual zone system?

 

[Superstar swan]

A team with 4 teenagers in it is not meant to thrash the reigning premiers at home. Swans very lucky to draft the way they did. Very rarely do u draft a single player who has an immediate impact let alone 3 at once

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Look at the Swans' upcoming matches:

R4: Essendon (SCG)
R5: GWS (SCG)
R6: GC (Metricon)

That's three sides who I think probably won't play finals. I still expect a response from GWS at some stage. You could see them digging in against the Swans and winning a scrap.

So no guarantees but if the Swans start 6-0 they're very likely playing finals. You could probably pencil them in if it's 5-1.

That said, there's a tougher run after that:

R7: Geelong (h)
R8: Melbourne (a)
R9: Collingwood (h)
R10: Fremantle (a)

We'll know if they're legit after that. Could easily drop back to 5-5 or 6-4. If the Swans finish in the bottom half of the eight, that would still be a great result and that's probably where they'll land.