Well, if you'd told me at the beginning of the season that we'd finish 16th, I would have been pretty disappointed. But given the disruptions to the season with injuries and COVID, and given the games we have gotten into youngsters and the promise they have shown, and given the exciting gamestyle we appear to be evolving towards, that's not how I feel. I feel upbeat. And I feel grateful to have pick 3 and the possibility of picking up a top draft pick plus Campbell plus Gulden.
Some of the players that I think made important strides this year:
James Rowbottom - fabulous player, gonna be a good one for us for a long time
Justin 'The Nut' McInerney (indulge me) - very exciting with his speed and dare and kicking
Sam Wicks - may never have gotten a chance to show his worth at the level but for all the disruptions. Whatever his future holds, he's shown what he can do. Bit the same for
James Bell.
Jordan Dawson - improved again on last year. So versatile. So damaging.
Tommy McCartin - has shown he has another string to his bow. A number of us, myself included, tipped him to possibly work out as a KPD from the day he was drafted.
Dylan Stephens - has only just arrived but has shown enough to convince me he has a long future in the game (and hopefully with us).
Tom Papley - at least in the first half of the season, he took his game to another level.
Robbie Fox - had a great year for a journeyman. I'm not sure how long he will stay in the best 22 but he deserved his place this season and I don't think he'll be cut.
I don't know about making strides, but
Lloyd,
Harry C and
Rampe played as well as they ever have (before Rampe kamikazed into a goal post to save a goal and broke his hand).
Mills was also reliable and led well.
Will Hayward started poorly but grew as he was thrown into more different roles and has become a more versatile and valuable player in my view.
Olly Florent started well but had just a middling season in my view. I would like to see more from him going forward.
Hewett was reliable and important until he was ruled out by injury. It was good to see
Blakey getting time in the midfield in the back half of the year. He got more involved and was able to put his speed and footskills to good use.
Parker and JPK were solid, but appear past their best.
Sinclair did ok. So did
Colin O'Riordan.
Melican returned to form.
Aliir was mercurial.
Sam Reid was disappointing.
McLean tried hard.
Thurlow and
Clarke may have saved themselves from delisting.
Ronke has gone backward.
Saw this pretty thin season wrap for us on SEN:
What WorkedThe Swans continued the AFL’s quietest rebuild by getting games into their young core of players, aided by spots opened due to injuries to Lance Franklin (0 games) and Isaac Heeney (6), while Dane Rampe and Josh Kennedy (11 and 12 respectively) also missed blocks of games.
James Rowbottom and Nick Blakey in the second half of the season spent more time in the midfield, and Rampe’s injury led to Tom McCartin spending time in defence, where he looked more than comfortable.
Game style wise the Swans took the ball aggressively through the corridor, and their pressure around the ball stood up for the majority of the season.
What Didn’t WorkWhile their pressure was good, the Swans were reactive to their opponents, losing clearances and contested Possession in all but five games.
A byproduct of this was the Swans won the inside 50 count only three times in 17 games, ranking 13th for inside 50s generated and 16th for marks inside F50.
Tom Papley started the season in brilliant form as a small forward before a flat spot. In the final game of the season against the Cats he kicked 2.5 from 17 disposals and was an ever-present threat to the elite Cats defenders.
The Swans still need to find their preferred forward mix for the post-Franklin era, whether that involved McCartin, Blakey or a recruit from another club such as Joe Daniher.
Pre-Season FocusStoppage work and developing a sustainable forward half game to generate repeat entries, and take the heat off the back 6.
Way Too Early 2021 Forecast12th-16th
What does everyone else think?
Bookmarks