Originally Posted by
Swans2021
The collective media seem to be displaying their usual pessimistic view of the Swans' chances this year, even more so than in previous years. Most of them can't see past the bright AFL lights of Melbourne, so they'll swallow the cool-aid of Melbourne clubs, glance at the stats and continue to underestimate us. The collective view seems to be that i) we don't have the firepower forward and ii) our list is too young (or too old depending on the journo).
The former has been addressed. 2018 was a pretty tough year for our forward line. Our 2nd tall was the youngest player in the comp and Buddy was playing injured. We had a depleted midfield and ruck which cost us qualiyty inside 50s. Yet we still ended up just a kick away from a top 4 finish. This year we've got a fully fit Buddy, a fit Reid, added Menzel (when he's fit), Blakey and Sinclair may play more as a forward. We also have more experience in our young forwards this year. Hayward being the real stand out for mine.
The latter view is probably just a confusion of lazy journalism. While we do have a few older players who might have been largely replaced by a 26-28yr old crop by now, had we not been banned from trading for a period, we've had three years of list renewal and the new players, while mainly under 24 years old, are far more experienced on average than their peers in other teams. The key fact the footy columnists are missing is that we not only had the 2nd most players debut over the last 3 years but more importantly we got the most games of all into our debutants. Guys like Hayward, Papley, Ronke, McCartin and Florent didn't spend years on the fringe or in the NEAFL. They had their development fast-tracked. They played large blocks of contiguous games alongside polished veterans like McVeigh, Jack, Smith, Grundy, Buddy and Kennedy where they received continuous feedback (and some pointing) on all aspects of their game, surrounded by experienced leadership on the field. Hayward and Papley may have been playing just 5 years in total but they've gained 100 games of quality experience between them in that time. Florent had more games in two years than Jones had in three. McCartin got almost as many games in his first year as Clarke got in three years at North. Hayward almost as many games in two as Thurlow got in five years at Geelong. Heeney is less than a season off his first 100 games at only 22.
The media commentators might think a guy like Roarke Smith could pick up Isaac Heeney when he goes forward. After all, they're a similar age, debuted the same year and there's just 5cm height difference between them. Of course Beveridge will look a little closer than skin deep.
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