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24th April 2004, 04:31 PM
Unsung heroes back up the magnificent seven
April 24 2004
by Jeff Wells
Sydney played like a premiership team against the Kangaroos last weekend. But if they do go all the way this season, how will the team be remembered in 2014?
So, as an exercise in judging the standing of the Swans team, I wrote down the names of players I thought would be certain to get a game with any other team, excluding Brisbane.
By my count, the Swans have a magnificent seven who would walk into almost any side.
There's Barry Hall, who ranges like a wild buffalo around his kicking distance, and opens defences like sardine cans. Adam Goodes, the best athlete in football. Brett Kirk, the best tagger. Kickstart runners Stuart Maxfield, Paul Williams and Jared Crouch in his jet-propelled blue boots. The fearless halfback springboard Leo Barry.
There would be a case too, for three more. Ben Mathews, who plays with an anonymous ferocity that sometimes only registers in the stats. Nick Davis, a special talent on the forward line. And coach Paul Roos talks of superb young Irish athlete Tadhg Kennelly, who has produced some devastating moments, as some kind of future All Planet.
These are the Swans' big stars. But every winning side needs its share of unsung heroes. The sort of players that even aficionados, looking back at premiership teams of the past, will scratch their heads and say: "who were those guys again?".
Their contributions get lost in time, but a winning team cannot knit without them.
We're talking about the hard-nosed pros who put in week after week -- Jason Ball, Craig and Jude Bolton, Nic Fosdike, Andrew Schauble and the rejuvenated Jason Saddington.
And there are the inductees -- the one-time no names who have been smoked into the team when most fans thought they were spearcarriers at the most, never certain to make it.
Roos did it with the tough little defender Ben Fixter two seasons ago, before he was injured. He is ready to return. Craig Bolton was a Brisbane reject who has proved unflappable and invaluable in defence.
Kennelly was a gamble who turned into an triumph. Nobody was quite sure what Ryan O'Keefe was -- a little short and a little slow, he has been turned into a valuable long-kicking threat on the forward line.
Adam Schneider emerged from nowhere as an explosive small forward pushing his way up into the elite list. The perenially injured ruckman Stephen Doyle showed last week just how important he can be as a relief to Ball, who will allow Goodes to rampage up forward.
Top recruit Jarrad McVeigh has some growing to do but has already shown the silky skills of a future matchwinner.
Another battler who could have been squashed by a series of injuries -- 11 hamstring tears -- is Heath James, suddenly playing tough mobile fullback when we thought we would never find a replacement for Andrew Dunkley.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson, the big colt, is suddenly handling the ball with confidence. And some kid named Paul Bevan has forced his way into the team, pumped with the sort of courage that a young Paul Kelly once had. Who knows what is hidden in the rest of the list.
Sydney ended up with more than 100 handballs more than the Kangaroos as they surged down Manuka Oval in waves. They were lightning fast and intricate exchanges -- and the no-names were right in the thick of it, as if born to it.
But Roos says the big question hanging over Sydney -- who he still believes lacks the talent of Brisbane -- is whether his team could improve this year with no big buys.
The key was in the pre-season training between November and February, when all the skills work was done. Once the season starts it is mostly about retaining fitness.
And the chorus line would not have fitted in unless there was a democracy at the club. There are no cliques and no prima donnas. Any newcomer who finds himself training alongside Goodes or Hall is treated as an equal. He might even be invited to dinner that night. He will find himself flatting with a senior player -- learning the big city.
"Almost all of them have come from somewhere else and had to adjust -- it forms a bond between them." says Roos.
Roos says he learned discipline from his first coach, Robert Walls, and tactics from his last, Rodney Eade.
But his personal style is at its most potent behind closed doors. There's no humiliating players in front of others. Everyone from Hall down to the youngest kid is expected to improve, and gets the plan one-on-one.
April 24 2004
by Jeff Wells
Sydney played like a premiership team against the Kangaroos last weekend. But if they do go all the way this season, how will the team be remembered in 2014?
So, as an exercise in judging the standing of the Swans team, I wrote down the names of players I thought would be certain to get a game with any other team, excluding Brisbane.
By my count, the Swans have a magnificent seven who would walk into almost any side.
There's Barry Hall, who ranges like a wild buffalo around his kicking distance, and opens defences like sardine cans. Adam Goodes, the best athlete in football. Brett Kirk, the best tagger. Kickstart runners Stuart Maxfield, Paul Williams and Jared Crouch in his jet-propelled blue boots. The fearless halfback springboard Leo Barry.
There would be a case too, for three more. Ben Mathews, who plays with an anonymous ferocity that sometimes only registers in the stats. Nick Davis, a special talent on the forward line. And coach Paul Roos talks of superb young Irish athlete Tadhg Kennelly, who has produced some devastating moments, as some kind of future All Planet.
These are the Swans' big stars. But every winning side needs its share of unsung heroes. The sort of players that even aficionados, looking back at premiership teams of the past, will scratch their heads and say: "who were those guys again?".
Their contributions get lost in time, but a winning team cannot knit without them.
We're talking about the hard-nosed pros who put in week after week -- Jason Ball, Craig and Jude Bolton, Nic Fosdike, Andrew Schauble and the rejuvenated Jason Saddington.
And there are the inductees -- the one-time no names who have been smoked into the team when most fans thought they were spearcarriers at the most, never certain to make it.
Roos did it with the tough little defender Ben Fixter two seasons ago, before he was injured. He is ready to return. Craig Bolton was a Brisbane reject who has proved unflappable and invaluable in defence.
Kennelly was a gamble who turned into an triumph. Nobody was quite sure what Ryan O'Keefe was -- a little short and a little slow, he has been turned into a valuable long-kicking threat on the forward line.
Adam Schneider emerged from nowhere as an explosive small forward pushing his way up into the elite list. The perenially injured ruckman Stephen Doyle showed last week just how important he can be as a relief to Ball, who will allow Goodes to rampage up forward.
Top recruit Jarrad McVeigh has some growing to do but has already shown the silky skills of a future matchwinner.
Another battler who could have been squashed by a series of injuries -- 11 hamstring tears -- is Heath James, suddenly playing tough mobile fullback when we thought we would never find a replacement for Andrew Dunkley.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson, the big colt, is suddenly handling the ball with confidence. And some kid named Paul Bevan has forced his way into the team, pumped with the sort of courage that a young Paul Kelly once had. Who knows what is hidden in the rest of the list.
Sydney ended up with more than 100 handballs more than the Kangaroos as they surged down Manuka Oval in waves. They were lightning fast and intricate exchanges -- and the no-names were right in the thick of it, as if born to it.
But Roos says the big question hanging over Sydney -- who he still believes lacks the talent of Brisbane -- is whether his team could improve this year with no big buys.
The key was in the pre-season training between November and February, when all the skills work was done. Once the season starts it is mostly about retaining fitness.
And the chorus line would not have fitted in unless there was a democracy at the club. There are no cliques and no prima donnas. Any newcomer who finds himself training alongside Goodes or Hall is treated as an equal. He might even be invited to dinner that night. He will find himself flatting with a senior player -- learning the big city.
"Almost all of them have come from somewhere else and had to adjust -- it forms a bond between them." says Roos.
Roos says he learned discipline from his first coach, Robert Walls, and tactics from his last, Rodney Eade.
But his personal style is at its most potent behind closed doors. There's no humiliating players in front of others. Everyone from Hall down to the youngest kid is expected to improve, and gets the plan one-on-one.