Give me a Dan Hannebery at pick 29/pick 30,
or an Alex Johnson at pick 57 over your top 10 draft picks anyday.


The Swans know how to recruit hard-at-it footballers every year and don't need top 10 picks and look at them now.
Far better recruiting and far better at knowing how to recruit footballers who will put their body on the line and play hard at it footy.

You talk about midfielders? Now they have another one coming through from pick 21- Jed Lamb.

Their recruiting staff and knowledge of recruiting is top shelf and they prove it year after year.

I think the Swans' development might have something to do with it, too.

..yeah sorry, meant Hogey.. ..and yeah, not sure if it was their 1st rounder, or their 1st compo which came directly after.. ..and didn't they also get barry as part of it..??.. ..and yeah, he'd have gone 1 or 2 last season, but looking at him now [albeit with a touch more development] he's miles ahead of Boyd and a clear #1..

..i think dee's were clever, i think dogs missed the boat.. ..they'd have been pretty close to matching the offer.. ..ditto GC as well actually.. ..if anything this could be why they're asking for so much for 'boyd' this year.. ..last year i reckon GWS had more chance to get a trade for 1 or 2 seasoned players that address their needs, such as ruck, kpd, or hard strong bodied mid.. ..surely watching the way hogans come on this year, is making some at GWS question the wisdom of trading such a possible gun out in Boyd, considering they HAD to trade hogan last year and now perhaps are thinking they undersold him..

..i agree that we're in a funny position, and its not purely talent either.. ..i think our list has potential that its attitude/culture are not allowing it to fully reach.. ..some smart list management could make or break us.. ..will be interesting to see how we go, considering all the public bluster regarding off-season movements..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

How are Dan O'Keeffe, Lewis Johnston and Patrick Veszpremi travelling?

Tommy Walsh sounds like a win too.

Jetta couldn't win his own ball if everyone on the field fell dead.

I think you will find that the whole Swans Football Club has something to do with it and it goes back to when Paul Roos started as coach.

There current position hasn't happened by accident. Paul Roos is probably the most outstanding football brain of our time. His ability to assess people, see a need and plan for the long term future is as good as anyone I have seen in sport or business. It's a pity that he seems to be shackled in his role as a football commentator.

Roos and the Swans have a very clear philosophy in regards to recruitment and what is needed. He doesn't recruit ruckman with early picks and doesn't recruit small forwards at all.

The "core" of the list is made up of pure word working midfielders. His opinion is that midfielders can become small forwards but not the other way around. The enables them to have massive rotation numbers through the ball and all over the ground.

The weekend was a classic example. Richmond threw everything they had at the Swans and the Swans just wore them down with hard work and numbers.

Through the middle they had Hanneberry, McGlynn, K.Jack, B.Jack, McVeigh, Kennedy, Parker, Bolton, Mitchell, Bird, O'Keefe, Lamb who can ALL spend significant time on ball allowing them to work at their maximum for longer. That's not including Smith who has the engine of a mid.

Look at our side on the weekend. Murphy, McLean, Judd, Carrazzo, Gibbs, Curnow, Cachia, Lucas, Robinson.

That's 12 Genuine midfielders vs 9 Genuine midfielders and one or two of ours are debatable. That is a massive difference all over the ground. The ability to get more numbers to a contest and to keep running and make space is what wins most games of football.

Geelong don't have any pure small forwards and neither do Hawthorn and their Ruckman were either drafted later or recruited when ready.

The club needs to acknowledge this and deal with it now. No more flankers, no more small forwards just pure hardworking mids that can use the ball.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

It's not hard is it Psych?

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Interesting that a lot of the Swans players reckon Horse is a better coach

I totally agree we must recruit middys with strong bodies (now) .Opposite of lucas ,players that have a bit of speed.I also love swannetts game plan i have been saying all year.

Most impressive "team" I have ever seen.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

I find it intersting to find that Rodney Eade's contribution to turning the Sydney Swans around as a club is often overlooked by people. When Eade took over in 1996 he took them straight to a grand final and then had the swans playing in Finals for 4 of the 5 full seasons he coached at the club. This was a club that when he took over had won the wooden spoon in 3 of the 4 previous seasons.

In my opinion if you want to look at who started the swans on their current path it was Eade, Roos came in and took advantage of the hard work done before him and continued the development and took the club to another level. Longmire has kept them on that same path since.

The thing that can taken from this is that turning a club around in this era isn't something that happens overnight, the swans have taken almost 20 years to get to where they are now. We need to at some stage take a long term view in regards to development, we need to set ourselves upon the right path and be prepared to stick to it .

It definitely started under Eade. People forget what a shock it was for them to make the 96 GF. Paul Kelly and Stuey Maxfield set the template for the bloods culture. The coach and player leaders would both have a role.

We don't appear to have the people of that calibre playing for us. Do you expect Betts, Gibbs and Murphy to create this kind of culture? Every player drones on about "Juddy brought so much professionalism to the club, in what we eat, how we prepare" like a mantra, but he hasn't changed the culture of the team much at all. It's left up to the coach to make it happen.

Don't forget Ron Barassi's contribution, he may have been past it tactically, but he instigated major changes in the clubs culture, that laid the foundations of turning it into a footy club rather than an interstate experiment.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

_________________
WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

[/quote

Which premiership aren't they counting.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

..it's for us, i call prophecy..!!..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Geelong are the best recruiters (with the aid of fortuitous father/son picks), Sydney has the best culture. It would be premature to site Sydney as the 'be all and end all' in list management.

Of course we need tough and skilful midfielders but to concentrate (almost?) exclusively on them would be short-sighted and closer to what caused our list problems in the first place than it is to a correction or cure.

When do we need these players to be ready and how deep do you go in the draft before you start to get midfielders who are no better than those we already have? A lot can happen between 'now' and when most of the new draft picks are ready to have the desired impact. Talls take longer to develop, too, and we have to start sometime.

_________________
Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Hawthorn hang on and win the flag last year, this discussion is guaranteed to be about recruiting Dal Santo, Cooney and Sylvia as per the Hawthorn model instead of "raid the draft".

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

The only DEFINITES I see staying are:

Henderson
Gibbs
Murphy
Kruezer
Judd
Graham
Tuohy
McInnes
Bootsma
Walker
Waite
Simpson
Menzel

The rest have question marks over whether they will be kept, delisted, traded or retired.

Not a great reflection on our recruiting, development & coaching over the past 5-6 years. Actually it's downright embarrassing.

No more speculative selections and players must show endurance, good skills and a strong work ethic.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Can't see us letting Jamo go either and it was interesting that MM singled out Betts and Yarran as being horrible last night when asked about the 3 amigos. I think Garlett stays as well - heading for 50 goals helps...