In short I am going with 10wins for 2020 which in my opinion is not a trajectory that is acceptable. We should have done everything we could to provide the Swans with the best opportunity to be up at 12wins plus via a compliment of experience brought in like the swans wanted to do with Moore, Langdon and Vandenberg end of 2018.
It appears we have gone with an internal focus for 2020 and that concerns me re success at the Swans vs other teams that have been rebuilding on the run and much much higher on the ladder then us....We don’t appear to be providing ourselves the best opportunity in 2020 to rise up and be a top 8 team where any team needs to be to have a finals appearance.
We won 8 games last season. Only 8 with minimal 2020 strategy response that is in alignment with a top8 finish.
Other teams will also have similar organic / internal development just like us so that nets off in the main. GWS and the Pies will go to the next level after getting thru a season with so many injured. West Coast with kelly will be an incredible addition.
Hawks will move up a couple wins and bombers with a JD and Fantasia injury free can add two more wins from 12 to 14 wins.
I was looking thru our team list yest to see where the gaps are in comparison to the top teams. Ie we were 15th on the ladder and a very young team now that 4 veterans have retired (smith, Grundy, macca and jack)
In any sport a team having a large % of high level decision makers means so much to performing and winning week in week out. We had that luxury with the 4 players listed above for over a decade and now they are gone. Hence when they didn’t get to play much in 2019 and two of them out totally we struggled and came 15th. That combined with such a young team hurt us.
Whether it was at training or game day great decision makers influence the defence and attack tremendously. When a great decision maker gets the ball you just know to get on your bike and put in the extra effort because the reward for gut running is so high. Macca a great example of how composed our transitions looked when he was involved.
BACKLINE:
I thought we developed and matured fairly well for a backline developing on the run. Our defence held fairly well against such terrible clearance work in the midfield.
We have now seen the first season for many years where our backline was very different in the way we exited. Dawson, Rampe, AA and Lloyd truly became players that controlled our transitions. Dawson and Rampe in particular enabled our backline and midfield to truly be effective in transition. These two boys got the hall a lot more and made it much less predictable for the opposition and much more predictable for our boys to run off them. Dawson also somewhat showed the signs of being a very good cut off defender shared with Mills. This was a serious gap for us at the Swans and we identified tom langdon as a recruit. We appear to have this covered now given dawson rise and rise. McCartin and reid swing roles are important through out a season.
MIDFIELD:
I must admit there are Indv players in our midfield I enjoy watching but when I comes to clearance and the speed of exit from the contest we are miles off a Richmond, Collingwood, geelong, west coast etc. kineear and another swans coach in the post season videos said we need more speed thru the inside mids. Yeah we do !!!
Ollie has been discussed aswell as JB to help with this deficit. Our inside mids not being able to break like the top teams can is a problem and a big contribution to coming 15th on the ladder and only 8wins. Can anyone else see the answer to this problem for 2020 ? I can’t and I don’t see the two boys above sustaining a season like the top team fast inside mids. Our solutions appear to be more medium only g hey internal development which is a grave mistake I feel by our list management. Maybe Lewis Taylor can help and reinvent himself and so to paps with more of a midfield rotation each Rowbottom has been more talked about for a wing spot. Serious concern with limited solutions presented.
Lastly though our ruckman re clearances. I really enjoyed the inclusion and flexibility of Hayden McLean to our squad and the 4 games he had After minimal pre season and knee injury. For peanuts we got a guy who can help our depth and help us continue our structures when injuries strike. But at 197cm he is not a first choice ruckman. Naismith big if. Sinkers tries hard but doesn’t not help our clearances sadly. Knoll May do a pykethis is a season away It appears minimum if at all ?? We have spent little in this area re dollars and we are one of the worst in clearances?? So why haven’t we fixed this problem ??????
FOWARDS:
In summary if our midfield can clear at 50/50 I feel that our forward line rotation is seriously competitive. Concern is still buddy at 33yrs and his soft tissue issues for 2020 and 2021.
Buddy
Reid
Hayward
Paps
Heeney
Blakey
McCartin
Rowbottom
Taylor
Dawson (minimal) more a HBF given our lack of cut defenders / transition playmakers off HBF
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Originally Posted by Roadrunner
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