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December 31, 2005
Farewell 2005 - Enter 2006
2005 - A year we won't forget
2006 - Onwards to Back to Back
Posted by robbieando at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
It Never Rains, But It Pours Player of the Year
This is a hard award to hand out considering that this was a Premiership season and the Swans line up during the season was so even thoughout the season. Players like Brett Kirk, Barry Hall, Adam Goodes, Tadhg Kennelly, Jude Bolton, Leo Barry and Craig Bolton all put forward strong claims for the award but at the end of the day it really was fought out by three players who's form and impact were the difference between the Swans winning the Premiership and being also ran's.
So when you look closely at those three players who made an impact during the season, Brett Kirk, Barry Hall and Craig Bolton you have to make the difficult decision which player is the worthy Premiership season Player of the Year and basically it comes down to not just form on the field, but also the form off it as a club leader.
So therefore this means that Craig Bolton the understated hero of the defence who week after week does a simular job to Leo Barry in taking opponents who outsize him. However while his role in the team is very important the lack of leadership to the level of Hall and Kirk mean he comes third is the Player of the Year awards.
So this therefore means that we have to split Hall and Kirk in search of the Player of the Year. The common person would 9 times out of 10 pick Premiership Captain, Barry Hall who lead the team from the front and threw his weight around. In a normal year he would be a shoe in for this award, but his 80 goals and spot in club history as the 4th Premiership Captain are only good enough for 2nd spot in the Player of the Year award.
This means the first ever It Never Rains, But It Pours Player of the Year award goes to Brett Kirk.
So your asking yourself why I've picked Brett Kirk as my Player of the Year, well it’s a tough one to explain but to be honest a decision that wasn't that hard to make. For me Brett Kirk’s ability to play above himself each and every week while leading the side from the front when not even the captain was inspiring to see and when given his chance as captain the 4 or 5 times he turn was up in the rotation policy he came to play and certainly lived up to the club image of a captain forged by Bob Skilton and Paul Kelly.
However the fact he took such key role in building the teamwork that was credited in winning the Premiership though his role in setting up the players groups known as "The Bloods". However as I stated above it was not just off the field where he made an impact in his leadership.
Just watching him bring the side together as a tight group, while 8 points down before the final quarter of Preliminary Final with his head held together with tape and a rugby helmet after taking an early blow to the head which cut him wide open. The fact he came back to play an important role was one thing, to inspire the side was another.
So therefore these qualities and his overall form make him the first ever “It Never Rains, But It Pours Player of the Year�.
Posted by robbieando at 02:01 PM | Comments (1)
December 30, 2005
2005 - The Year of the SWANS
Well here we are at the end of the first year of Swansblog.com and we are already basking in the glory of a premiership, which isn't too bad now is it. Anyway this post is just a quick note to say that I'll be updating the site in the next day or two with the Player of the Year being named, 2005 player report cards and a season in review article.
So stay tuned.
Posted by robbieando at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2005
2006 Full Player List and Numbers
The club has allocated the newly listed Sydney Swans players' their guernsey numbers for season 2006. The club has kept up with the retirement of the number 14 in honor of Paul Kelly and Bob Skilton, while number 11 will be rested for this season at the very least in honor of retired club captain Stuart Maxfield. Other than that no major changes other than Nick Malceski taking over Ben Fixter's number 9 jumper and Andrew Ericksen taking up the poisoned number 18 jumper last worn by Heath James.
Full List below:
1. Barry Hall (c)
2. Nick Davis
3. Jarrad McVeigh
4. Ben Mathews
5. Ryan O’Keefe
6. Craig Bolton
7. Josh Willoughby
8. David Spriggs
9. Nick Malceski
10. Paul Williams
12. Nic Fosdike
13. Adam Schneider
15. Stephen Doyle
16. Darren Jolly
17. Tadhg Kennelly
18. Andrew Ericksen
19. Michael O’Loughlin
20. Luke Ablett
21. Leo Barry (c)
22. Matthew Laidlaw
23. Paul Chambers
24. Jude Bolton
25. Ted Richards
26. Sean Dempster
27. Kristin Thornton
28. Jared Crouch
29. Jonathan Simpkin*
30. Lewis Roberts-Thomson
31. Brett Kirk (c)
32. Amon Buchanan
33. Jarred Moore
34. Ryan Brabazon
35. James Wall*
36. Tim Schmidt
37. Adam Goodes
38. Luke Vogels
39. Heath Grundy
40. Paul Currie*
41. Ed Barlow*
42. Paul Bevan
43. Stefan Garrubba*
44. Matthew Davis
45. Earl Shaw
46. Sam Rowe*
47. Simon Phillips*
48. Kieran Jack*
49. Adam Prior*
*denotes Rookie Listed Player
Posted by robbieando at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2005
Swans to be Lead to the Power of Three
The Swans have made the unprecedented move of naming three captains for next season, Premiership Captain Barry Hall, Captain Blood Brett Kirk and Grand Final Hero Leo Barry. In a way this move appears to allow each man to be captain of each secton of the ground that he petrol, be it Leo in defence to Kirk in the centre.
It's a another brave move by the Swans coaching staff in the captaincy area after last years rotational captaincy between Round 7 and 22 which saw 7 players rotate turns as club captain before the club made the decision to name Barry Hall as the club captain for the finals series and allowed him to go down in Club history as our fourth premiership captain.
Now I'm was never a fan of the idea of co-captains when St Kilda, Brisbane and Geelong took the step in the mid 90's and I can't say I've changed my view now the Swans have gone down this path, but if we could make the rotational captaincy work and win a flag in the process, I'm sure 3 co-captains can work for us just as well.
Heck sure beats Ben Mathews being due to be captain of the Grand Final under the rotational policy.
Posted by robbieando at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
Rookie Draft Selections
The following players were added to the Sydney Swans Rookie List. Most look like they will end up being one or two year top up players for our premiership defence in the ACTAFL. Only Stefan Garrubba was retained from our rookie this with Grundy, Vogels and Shaw getting the promotion to our senior list. Our picks were:
Pick 16 - Jonathan Simpkin
Club: Geelong Falcons
Age: 18
Hard-working midfielder from Colac.
Pick 32 - James Wall
Club: Calder Cannons
Age: 18
198cm, versatile key position tall with excellent running ability.
Pick 45 - Paul Currie
Club: Northern Knights
Age: 18
193cm, lean key forward with excellent endurance.
Pick 54 - Simon Phillips
Club: Sandringham Dragons
Age: 18
A small live-wire forward/midfield, plays with a lot of enthusiasm.
Pick 57 - Kieran Jack
Club: NSW-ACT Rams
Age: 18
A Sydney boy, son of legendary league player Garry Jack, hard-working, competitive small midfielder.
Pick 58 - Ed Barlow
Club: Oakleigh Chargers
Age: 18
194cm, very athletic, wing/halfback, originally from Bega but boarded in Melbourne and played for the Oakleigh Chargers.
Pick 59 - Adam Prior
Club: Murray Bushrangers
Age: 18 years old
189cm, strong marking forward from North Albury
Pick 60 - Sam Rowe
Club: Murray Bushrangers
Age: 18 years old
198cm, quick, developing key forward/back.
Posted by robbieando at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)