Past Matthew Ling - delisted 2021

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Matthew Ling

Matt Ling is lightning-quick and has a pinpoint left-foot kick. The problem is a torrid injury run prevented him from hitting his best over his first two seasons at the Sydney Swans. Serious toe and Achilles injuries limited the club’s top 2017 AFL Draft selection to just 16 NEAFL games across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Season 2020 is his time to shine.

Matthew Ling
DOB: 21 April 1999
DRAFT: 2017
RECRUITED FROM: St Mary's (Vic)/Geelong U18

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Matthew Ling | AFL

Follow Matthew Ling's progress through AFL
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It's the right decision. I don't think he had it regardless of injuries tbh. Stephens makes him redundant and even Stephens cant get a game.
 

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Heeney2Franklin said:
Man so sad barely got on the park and gone
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Most draftees fare similarly, most of them will never make it at AFL level. Amazingly it is rarely due to a lack of talent and usually due to injury / bad luck / covid / Gemini rising.
 
Heeney2Franklin said:
Is he gonna keep trying? wish him all the best in the future.
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If he is actually delisted, I can't see anyone else going for him. If he was tearing it up in the 2s, and we just didn't have a spot for him, there probably would be.

At 22, his best bet is trying to get a top-up gig or at a standalone club in the VFL, and getting on a run of good games. Try and get a mature age spot in a year or two. That's if he can do all of those things.
 
swansfan51 said:
Most draftees fare similarly, most of them will never make it at AFL level. Amazingly it is rarely due to a lack of talent and usually due to injury / bad luck / covid / Gemini rising.
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I actually think Ling had the talent, but injuries robbed him of his pace and then he lost confidence with his footskills.

Also stepping up from junior football to a full time training program can be very challenging and could cause injuries if your body isn't up to it.

A while ago I decided to try picking up my training load for an Olympics/ Commonwealth Games qualifying run. Lost 16 kilos, got fitter than I have ever been in my life but the body broke down on me (ligament strain in knee, multiple ankle sprains, body starting bruising up heavier after hits and ended out with a fractured elbow. More people than you expect can't cope with the load (it's almost a talent in itself).

I think Ling should be proud that he even made it to AFL out of the hundred of thousands of AFL players out there.
 
Bonz said:
I actually think Ling had the talent, but injuries robbed him of his pace and then he lost confidence with his footskills.

Also stepping up from junior football to a full time training program can be very challenging and could cause injuries if your body isn't up to it.

A while ago I decided to try picking up my training load for an Olympics/ Commonwealth Games qualifying run. Lost 16 kilos, got fitter than I have ever been in my life but the body broke down on me (ligament strain in knee, multiple ankle sprains, body starting bruising up heavier after hits and ended out with a fractured elbow. More people than you expect can't cope with the load (it's almost a talent in itself).

I think Ling should be proud that he even made it to AFL out of the hundred of thousands of AFL players out there.
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If the saying is that the best ability is availability then Ling's career panned out to no avail.
 
Slingshot Footy said:
If the saying is that the best ability is availability then Ling's career panned out to no avail.
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I think Luck, mental strength, effort, talent and body all play an equal part.

Ling has been shot down by body sadly.
 
Bonz said:
I actually think Ling had the talent, but injuries robbed him of his pace and then he lost confidence with his footskills.

Also stepping up from junior football to a full time training program can be very challenging and could cause injuries if your body isn't up to it.

A while ago I decided to try picking up my training load for an Olympics/ Commonwealth Games qualifying run. Lost 16 kilos, got fitter than I have ever been in my life but the body broke down on me (ligament strain in knee, multiple ankle sprains, body starting bruising up heavier after hits and ended out with a fractured elbow. More people than you expect can't cope with the load (it's almost a talent in itself).

I think Ling should be proud that he even made it to AFL out of the hundred of thousands of AFL players out there.
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This reminds me of an episode of the "Meters Gained" (I think) podcast a few years ago. They were discussing a spate of soft tissue injuries at Collingwood. I remember at the time it was a thing in the media and the Pies Board here on BF was blowing up about it.
There was a sports scientist interviewed on the podcast. I can't remember the details, but he analysed the Collingwood running patterns over a few seasons and said that the game plan had changed, so that meant that the running patterns had changed, and that led to soft tissue injuries. After a while the soft tissue injures abated as the players adjusted to the new patterns. It was very interesting.
I agree that the ability to absorb high physical workloads is a talent in itself, but equally, as with Collingwood, a change in the programme of highly fit athletes may cause injury.
 
Bad luck with injuries
Delisted
Meanwhile, the club has advised Kaiden Brand, Sam Gray, Matthew Ling and Malachy Carruthers that they will not be offered contracts with the club for 2022.
Ling has endured a torrid run with injuries since joining the Swans with pick 14 in the 2017 NAB AFL Draft.
He made his AFL debut in 2020 and featured in a total of four matches with the club.
www.sydneyswans.com.au

Swans quartet commit

The Sydney Swans have secured four key signatures, with forward Hayden McLean, midfielder Dylan Stephens and defenders Robbie Fox and Will Gould agreeing to terms on new deals with the club.
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au
 
Crust said:
This reminds me of an episode of the "Meters Gained" (I think) podcast a few years ago. They were discussing a spate of soft tissue injuries at Collingwood. I remember at the time it was a thing in the media and the Pies Board here on BF was blowing up about it.
There was a sports scientist interviewed on the podcast. I can't remember the details, but he analysed the Collingwood running patterns over a few seasons and said that the game plan had changed, so that meant that the running patterns had changed, and that led to soft tissue injuries. After a while the soft tissue injures abated as the players adjusted to the new patterns. It was very interesting.
I agree that the ability to absorb high physical workloads is a talent in itself, but equally, as with Collingwood, a change in the programme of highly fit athletes may cause injury.
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Off topic but that probably correlates to our relatively small injury list this year. With such an emphasis on uncontested marks and kicking it's no wonder we didn't incur so many soft tissue related injuries.
 

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Looking back at the 2017 draft and it's not too dissapointing for the Swans considering who else was available. Would certainly love to have Zac Bailey, Ed Richards, Brandon Starcevich, Tom De Koning or Sam Taylor amongst the ranks but you never know the behind the scenes stuff in regards to interviews and what not.

As always, I'm sure there were a few players on our radar but they might have been deemed a flight risk or had their own question marks. Got ourselves McCartin though so we can't complain too much :)
 
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Sorry to intrude on your board, but do you think Matthew would be worth considering at Geelong?
 
petrolium said:
Sorry to intrude on your board, but do you think Matthew would be worth considering at Geelong?
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Matthew Ling
DOB: 21 April 1999

Can't see him fitting in.
 
petrolium said:
Sorry to intrude on your board, but do you think Matthew would be worth considering at Geelong?
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Unlikely, injuries have really destroyed him as a player.

If he can build his body over a year or twos period though then there might be something there.
 
petrolium said:
Sorry to intrude on your board, but do you think Matthew would be worth considering at Geelong?
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I really wish Ling all the best, if you guys can grab him and make him a player that would be brilliant, but he smells of Thurlow
 
Bandit55 said:
Maybe for the VFL squad. He may go back to the GFL and work his way back into the system.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
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Why do we recruit medium defenders? They never work out for us.
Look at our team
Rampe-Mid
Blakey-Mid/Fwd
McInerney-Mid
Cunningham-Mid
Lloyd-Mid

Our Most successful Medium defenders are converted Mids.

Ling-Delisted
Carruthers-Delisted
Stoddart-delisted
 
rustycrate said:
Why do we recruit medium defenders? They never work out for us.
Look at our team
Rampe-Mid
Blakey-Mid/Fwd
McInerney-Mid
Cunningham-Mid
Lloyd-Mid

Our Most successful Medium defenders are converted Mids.

Ling-Delisted
Carruthers-Delisted
Stoddart-delisted
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Add Leonardis
Harry Marsh
Matthew Dick
Campbell Heath

Medium skinny running defenders are not our mojo.
 
petrolium said:
Sorry to intrude on your board, but do you think Matthew would be worth considering at Geelong?


Geelong could be a good fit, he just needs a decent run at it.
As for all the talk on injuries we may need to look at what they were.
He was out for nearly 2 years due to a toe operation, then a hamstring strain on his return from the toe operation due to not running for a lot of that time.
I think the only other issue was Syndesmosis mid this year. He has also had limited time to play VFL due to Covid for the last 2 years which made it hard to prove himself.
Would be great to see what he could do with a clear run.
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