« Colless Honoured for Services to Football | Main | Swans Fully Fit, Firing and Readt to Go »
January 30, 2006
Swansblog.com 2006 Season Preview
What a difference 12 months makes, after all who would of guessed at this stage last year that our 2005 season would turn out the way it did. Personally, 4 months on I still can’t believe what transpired at the MCG on that last Saturday in September and during the rest of that magical run to make it there and I know I’m not alone in that train of though. Most Swans fans feel the same and I think most of us won’t understand the true meaning of what really has happened until we take the field in Round One as the defending premiers (still could believe those two words) and Round 2 when the Premiership flag is unveiled to the SCG crowd (even better in Round 3 for those of us living in Melbourne when we can unveil the flag under the noses of the club that tried to kill us off in 1992 and I have an un-wavering hatred for).
After 72 years we finally have the biggest monkey known to mankind off our back and we now have the honour and therefore pressure that goes with it of trying to back up last years success with yet another charge at the Premiership and therefore Back to Back Premierships for the first time in the club’s history. The question therefore is - Can we do it all again and if so how can we play even further beyond ourselves and keep the run of good luck without injuries going to keep ahead of the chasing pack which is sure to be even stronger than what we faced last year???
It’s certainly not going to be easy that’s for sure.
What certainly is going to be in our favour is the fact we will be bringing back 21 of the 22 players from the Premiership team (only the retirement of Jason Ball stopping us from bringing the full team back) and that we have a young core of players that are in a position to be able to step up into the senior side if the need arises and provide an impact that should see the Swans either further improve as a team or at the very least allow us to tread water and play to the same standard.
This therefore means the pressure is on Nick Malceski, Jarrad McVeigh, Jared Moore and Luke Vogels to deliver on the promise that they have so far shown at the senior level without cementing their spots. These are the player that so much relies upon if our super run of luck with injuries comes to an end.
So while many so called media “experts” will write of the Swans (many without even doing any “reasonable” research) mainly due to the fact they either think the Premiership win was a fluke or that our squad will be harmed by the amount of turnover of senior players such as Ball, Schauble, Maxfield, Nicks and Saddington, I believe that the Swans will proved the experts wrong for the fourth season in a row and in the process send a shockwave though the AFL with the club’s success with its new found draft policy which has seen us rebuild the squad without the need to tank in the manner which St Kilda did and has seen us restock on midfielders who should lead us into the future once the likes of Bolton, Kirk, Crouch and co retire.
The only major worry is the lack of a stand out replacement for the key positions once Barry, Magic and Hall retire in the next few years. Only LRT looks the business as a key position player and the rest of a depth in the area are guy either on the rookie list or having been promoted from it. Therefore the trading for Ted Richards and Paul Chambers might turn out to be master strokes, despite the paying over the odds in terms of draft picks.
Trading out of the first three round might seem like defeating the purpose of improving a clubs youth stocks, but with the Swans “Moneyball” style of drafting, put in place by Paul Roos and Andre Ireland it has opened the draft up for the Swans to take worthwhile punts on kids who’ll be given time to grow into senior players while at the same time getting the benefit of impact from the recruits who have senior experience and are able to fill a gap in the senior team for the short pursuit of glory ala Darren Jolly for a First Round draft pick, well over the odds for him, but well worth it in the end.
Anyway on to this season and the teams prospects of winning Back to Back Premiership and one has to say that despite been written off by all and sundry as per usual in favour of the more sexer teams of St Kilda (shit coaching) and West Coast (shit forwards), I think the Swans are in the box seat going into the season because the fact the normal pressure on reigning premiers won’t be as great because we have been written off already. Thus we can go about our business like we did last season and explode come September and “shock” the football world.
Our forward line will still be one of the best in the AFL, now with a Barry Hall who can see and our defence is still going to be as miserly as past seasons (we were second in points conceded last season, behind the Crows who conceded the least amount of points in a season ever) with Leo Barry and LRT certain to take their games to the next level (in fact I would go as far as saying LRT is on the cusp of greatness after his Grand Final effort). Nothing looks like it will change with only Doyle and Chambers to fight it out for the open spot in the ruck division to back up new number one ruckman Jolly (see what I mean by risk paying off).
Other changes I predict could see Malceski taking a greater role in the senior side to add some much needed height to a midfield that is very much on the short side. He could be a major impact player if given the match time because his skills appear to be among the best in the team and he seems to have the ability to not only burst though packs but also rack up possessions at will. If he does make the step up I predict that Ben Mathews and Paul Bevan will be looking over their shoulders in fear of losing their spot in the team. This fear could be worsened if Ted Richards is shoehorned into the senior team as is expected.
Overall I believe that this is going to be yet another fine season for Paul Roos’ boys and that a run at the Premiership and therefore going Back to Back is looking good. We just have to be able to show and prove to the AFL world that we can ride the bumps of an early season form slump and a run of injuries and suspension, oops we did all that last year didn’t we.
Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to prove them all wrong just for the sake of it now I guess.
Swansblog.com Ladder Prediction: 3rd
Swansblog.com Season Prediction: Premiers
Swansblog.com Best and Fairest Prediction: Adam Goodes
Swansblog.com Rookie Impact Player: Nick Malceski
Swansblog.com Leading Goalkicker: Barry Hall
Swansblog.com Target of abuse: Anyone in a Carlton jumper and umpires in particular Darren Goldspink
Swansblog.com Best 22
B: Craig Bolton Leo Barry (c) Jared Crouch
HB: Sean Dempster Lewis Roberts-Thomson Tadhg Kennelly
C: Nick Malceski Brett Kirk (c) Adam Goodes
HF: Ryan O’Keefe Barry Hall (c) Nick Davis
F: Adam Schneider Michael O’Loughlin Amon Buchanan
R: Darren Jolly Jude Bolton Paul Williams
Int: Ted Richards Stephen Doyle Luke Ablett Nic Fosdike
Emg: Paul Chambers Jarrad McVeigh Ben Mathews
Posted by robbieando at January 30, 2006 08:11 PM