I'm posting this purely to see if RWO is still online.....no posts for 5 days. Every time I come on there's nothing....I know it's Xmas but it seems unusual. Here goes....
Post edit: Yep, still going! Hope everyone had a great Xmas!
I'm posting this purely to see if RWO is still online.....no posts for 5 days. Every time I come on there's nothing....I know it's Xmas but it seems unusual. Here goes....
Post edit: Yep, still going! Hope everyone had a great Xmas!
I also wondered the thing, glad to see someone else had the same thought.
Yes, and happy new year to you.Originally Posted by stevoswan
I'm posting this purely to see if RWO is still online.....no posts for 5 days. Every time I come on there's nothing....I know it's Xmas but it seems unusual. Here goes....
Post edit: Yep, still going! Hope everyone had a great Xmas!
I was vaguely working up to write an optimistic post on our season's prospects, just to get discussion going again, but so far, lethargy has got the better of me.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all! Lets hope our boys have an excellent and uninterrupted pre-season.
I'm actually quite interested in how we go in the preseason. I think we're due for one where everything goes smoothly? If things go faultlessly, we could finish much higher up the ladder, than many people think.
By faultlessly, the main thing that I'm thinking of, is Buddy getting through fit and rearing to go. A season of him, at say 90% of his old capacity, would go a long way, to turning close defeats into close victories. I'm also hoping to see some of the younger players develop significantly. For instance, Stephens and McInerney already have huge tanks, and they both get to plenty of contests. But if they can add a bit more strength, then they should be more able to exert defensive pressure or win fifty/fifty balls. Which could see them well on the way to becoming elite footballers.
On the other hand, if youngsters like Blakey and McLean could develop more of a tank, then they should become very dangerous attacking threats. I actually think McLean might surprise a few people. In both his seasons, he had an extended injury break early, and only really started to hit form later in the year. Injury free; we might all be wondering how he slipped through the draft.
I'm also curious about our VFL squad. As in: will we see the resurrection of a few ex-players, who were unlucky to be delisted? Or will we be going for other club's discards: like Paddy McCartin? Or will we be concentrating on ex-academy players? Though of course, we could go for a combination of all three?
Will we be able to train normally with Covid around Sydney or will we have to go into a bubble somewhere.
I can see the work experience kid has started updating the player profiles. The departed are gone and the newbies are there without numbers (released), photos or bios. Gray and Fox have lost their numbers and photos but amazingly their old bios are still there.
In answer to your query about the make-up of our VFL squad, our Head of Football said in a recent webinar that the team would have a NSW focus. He mentioned ex-Swans Academy players as being part of it in addition to squad players. So I don't think too many interstate players will be in the team.
Ta. Which I quite like the idea of. That is, the more local players who come through the academy and end up making the grade, the better it should be for us in the long term. Though I do vaguely recall somebody putting McCartin's name forward, as being likely to be in the VFL squad? It may have been Kinnear Beetson?
This may be the wrong thread but does the name Isaiah Olsen ring a bell with anyone? I read an article written by Brandon Jack a couple of months back on the AFL Swans website in the Academy section telling the story of his close friendship with Errol Guldon. Evidently he and Errol became footy mates and close friends on the rise through the Academy age group ranks. I don't remember Isaiah being chosen for any under age representative teams so probably not likely to follow Errol and make it as a Swan? A player of similar size and attributes as Errol.
I think he played a bit for our academy side, both in 2019 and the games against GWS last season. He may have also played as a toppie in the NEAFL, in 2019? Generally played small forward. Quite talented when he got the ball, but I don't think he got it enough, to be really considered as a draftee.
I was about to post something pretty similar. I have a sneaky feeling he might even have played a couple of NEAFL games in his U16 year.
He's one I expect to be in the U19/development squad, though I don't know if that works the same going forward, given the U18 comp is now an U19 comp. Maybe more spots are available than in prior years, especially with scope to have another NEAFL support squad (that I expect may be a year or two older, on average).
I agree with you that Olsen probably didn't get enough of the ball to stamp himself as an AFL prospect, though I would make (and have made) a similar observation about Sheather at U18 and NEAFL level - some good stuff, some very good stuff, but generally not enough of it. I guess the smaller you are, the more you have to demonstrate you can already do in order to win a list spot.
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