Originally Posted by Rod_
+1. Retain at all costs.
+1. Retain at all costs.
I think the key way of retaining Stephen’s is to play him in the seniors. No top 5 pick from SA moves interstate to be someone’s else’s bench warmer.
You don’t play him you lose him back to SA for a 2nd round bargain pick.
I say play him ahead of mid age guys like Cunningham or Hewitt and find him a spot. The results will be better for the Swans long term.
Yes we need to re-sign Stephens. We don't want to be like GWS, stacked with talented youngsters and then seeing them go to interstate clubs over time.
Stephens is a must
we are playing shorter sharper movements right now but we will need to adapt and be flexible with our style of play.........stephens is the perfect running man build for either "Gaff" like gut running and or short and sharp triangle movements like we are doing right now
im sure it is an eye lash between players 22, 23, 24 right now to get in the team
"be tough, only when it gets tough"
We need a good transparent reserves season to help sort out where some of these guys are at. The few times I saw Stephens he looked, to me at least, like he hadn't adjusted to the speed of AFL.
I thought he was looking like he belonged last year, especially that last game against Geelong - definitely looked an AFL grade paper in that one.
Loose translation from the Latin is - I am tall, so I hit out.
If our current crop of youngsters continue as is, something will have to give come season's end. I can see the vultures circling around Stephens, Gould and Ling if they don't get much game time. Even Bell attracted interest from the Pies. As GWS has shown, you can't keep all your talented youngsters, especially the ones getting sporadic 1st team opportunities (Hately, Caldwell, Setterfield, Steele etc).
Agreed that Stephens and Gould are vulnerable to interstate raids. Having said that, the player bonds seem especially strong and the future bright. Why would a player seek to leave?
Go home factor, 1st team opportunity, money, premiership window, playing in local Port v Crows derby ( from 1st hand experience, atmosphere for that clash amazing - just short of GF) in no particular order.
So they get to regularly play senior AFL footy.....as much as they might love the club, their prime motivation is to play seniors. We have to give them hope that they have a future where this is possible at the Swans. If they can't see this, why would they want to stay? Their loyalty must rewarded unless the club see's no future in them......and if this is indeed the case, the club must free them to seek opportunity.
I envisage bright futures for both Stephens and Gould at the Swans so hopefully they get the chance to prove themselves worthy of realising this with us.....and soon. I'm sure they want to remain at the Swans and be part of what looks to be an exciting era ahead. On that score they would not want to leave but more importantly, they want to be playing at the top level with us.....not just supporting list depth and wasting their talent in the reserves comp.
Strong lists will always face these challenges as loyalty only goes so far when it remains unrewarded.
Gould is more of a worry than Stephens, given how undersized our backline is at the moment.
After today's result it could be we are not picking at the pointy end of the Mid Season Draft or the National Draft.
Our depth has very suddenly become good and lack of (touch wood) injuries makes it hard for contenders to break into the senior team. But it's a long brutal season, there will be opportunities.
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