NOW there's a big surprise. Can you believe that hardly anybody has tipped Sydney to make the final eight. What's that saying? Deja vu all over again.
A new season's about to start, but it's the same old tune we are hearing here in Sydney. The Swans are too slow, too old, don't have enough midfield stars, their game plan doesn't stack up any more, and their premiership window has been slammed shut. This is my eighth season at the club and I reckon I've heard those sorts of stories every year since I arrived.
We heard it last year, and the year before. We were supposed to win the wooden spoon when we won the flag. Even after we won the grand final in 2005, all we kept hearing was how lucky we were to win, and we were blessed because we had no injuries that season. Some even said we were the luckiest team ever to win a premiership.
Everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to voice it, and that's the case again this season. Someone mentioned the other day that only one of 21 newspaper tipsters in Melbourne could find a place for us in the eight, and I also hear a few ex-players and past coaches believe the club is on the slide in 2009. Look, each to their own, but one thing I can tell you is that stuff isn't any sort of motivation for us.
I won't say it's not annoying. It annoys me, that's for sure, because I look at it as people having a lack of respect for us, particularly some of those things that were said after 2005, but those things aren't going to fire you up to play better to prove people wrong.
When we started this whole Bloods culture and everything that goes with it, the No.1 priority was to get respect from opposition teams and opposition players. So that when they are playing the Swans they know they are going to be in for a hard day and they know what they are going to get every time they play us. And I think we have done that. It wasn't about what the media or ex-footballers were going to say.
We all know that, like all teams, you need some luck to go your way during a season, particularly with injuries. Sure we have a few older guys on our list, but if the older players can stay on the park and we can siphon a few younger players in, we will go all right this season. But it's also no secret that if a few of us fall over, it's going to be a battle.
If the Herald had asked me to select my top eight, I would have had Geelong and Hawthorn up there again, along with the other usual suspects. I think Carlton have got a really talented list, too, with young and enthusiastic players who work pretty hard and they will show a bit this year. But I also would have found a place for the Swans in the eight, however, that's because I'm on the inside seeing how well this pre-season has gone for the club.
It's probably been one of the toughest pre-seasons the guys have done in terms of running and conditioning. The interesting thing is how hungry all of us "old" guys are.
The first bounce can't come quick enough. It's been a long, hot summer and I guess every player is itching to get out there. As much as it's good to play practice games, there's nothing like round one. The intensity goes up, the big crowds turn up, and there's a real buzz you can feel.
At this stage I don't know if tomorrow night will be the start of my final season of footy. Time will tell, but I'm certainly not treating this as my last season, that's for sure. I think I've got a hell of a lot more to offer and that's why I wanted to extend my contract last year.
It's a massive season for me, there's no doubt about it, and how it pans out is going to swing the decision on my football future one way or the other. But I'm definitely not sitting here now thinking, "Gee, this is my last year and then that will be it, I'll move on and do something else". I still think I've got a hell of a lot to offer the Swans and AFL in general.
Let's get on with the real stuff.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...-the-real-stuff/2009/03/26/1237657073751.html
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I love Bazza and i agree completely with his feelings about how the media ALWAYS under rate the Swans.
A new season's about to start, but it's the same old tune we are hearing here in Sydney. The Swans are too slow, too old, don't have enough midfield stars, their game plan doesn't stack up any more, and their premiership window has been slammed shut. This is my eighth season at the club and I reckon I've heard those sorts of stories every year since I arrived.
We heard it last year, and the year before. We were supposed to win the wooden spoon when we won the flag. Even after we won the grand final in 2005, all we kept hearing was how lucky we were to win, and we were blessed because we had no injuries that season. Some even said we were the luckiest team ever to win a premiership.
Everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to voice it, and that's the case again this season. Someone mentioned the other day that only one of 21 newspaper tipsters in Melbourne could find a place for us in the eight, and I also hear a few ex-players and past coaches believe the club is on the slide in 2009. Look, each to their own, but one thing I can tell you is that stuff isn't any sort of motivation for us.
I won't say it's not annoying. It annoys me, that's for sure, because I look at it as people having a lack of respect for us, particularly some of those things that were said after 2005, but those things aren't going to fire you up to play better to prove people wrong.
When we started this whole Bloods culture and everything that goes with it, the No.1 priority was to get respect from opposition teams and opposition players. So that when they are playing the Swans they know they are going to be in for a hard day and they know what they are going to get every time they play us. And I think we have done that. It wasn't about what the media or ex-footballers were going to say.
We all know that, like all teams, you need some luck to go your way during a season, particularly with injuries. Sure we have a few older guys on our list, but if the older players can stay on the park and we can siphon a few younger players in, we will go all right this season. But it's also no secret that if a few of us fall over, it's going to be a battle.
If the Herald had asked me to select my top eight, I would have had Geelong and Hawthorn up there again, along with the other usual suspects. I think Carlton have got a really talented list, too, with young and enthusiastic players who work pretty hard and they will show a bit this year. But I also would have found a place for the Swans in the eight, however, that's because I'm on the inside seeing how well this pre-season has gone for the club.
It's probably been one of the toughest pre-seasons the guys have done in terms of running and conditioning. The interesting thing is how hungry all of us "old" guys are.
The first bounce can't come quick enough. It's been a long, hot summer and I guess every player is itching to get out there. As much as it's good to play practice games, there's nothing like round one. The intensity goes up, the big crowds turn up, and there's a real buzz you can feel.
At this stage I don't know if tomorrow night will be the start of my final season of footy. Time will tell, but I'm certainly not treating this as my last season, that's for sure. I think I've got a hell of a lot more to offer and that's why I wanted to extend my contract last year.
It's a massive season for me, there's no doubt about it, and how it pans out is going to swing the decision on my football future one way or the other. But I'm definitely not sitting here now thinking, "Gee, this is my last year and then that will be it, I'll move on and do something else". I still think I've got a hell of a lot to offer the Swans and AFL in general.
Let's get on with the real stuff.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...-the-real-stuff/2009/03/26/1237657073751.html
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I love Bazza and i agree completely with his feelings about how the media ALWAYS under rate the Swans.
