jnrmac

Darren Jolly explains why the Swans have an amazing culture, why the Pies are building one and (my take away) why Colin Sylvia will never make it. Our leadership at the club has been so poor for many years. 12 CEOs in 10 years, fractured facilities, poor on-field leaders, low demand for excellence and senior players who have one good year to win a Bluey and then effectively stop playing (yes Brad, Aaron and Brent). A lot of it has been said in parts on other threads but this is worth reading as Jolls has seen first hand a crap club (us) and two amazing clubs. Makes me think that the decision to appoint Trengove and Grimes as Captains in an inspired one albeit we are having big difficulties in year 1 with personal form and on-field performance. Our culture needs overhauling from the ground up and a clean break with the past mediocrity was absolutely necessary. Interesting take on Stewart Maxwell as Captain and the culture that followed from O'Keefe, Goodes and of course Kirk. Worth reading. As for Colin Sylvia those that read this and still think Col will make it should re-read article. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/hard-lessons-learnt-as-teams-create-a-culture-20120814-246tq.html

Blease looks as though he is finally getting some of the required level of fitness and defensive skills (altho didn't see weekend game). With well documented injuries he has taken time. Gys is in pretty much the same boat I reckon. Has skills and this wonderful capacity that doesn't exist in many of our other players - ability to win his own ball often. But has carried a lot of injury and doesn't have an AFL body. I have high hopes for both and wouldn't call either of them a wasted pick at this point. Cook I am on the fence. I have seen him play and think he has the smarts and skills. Clearly doesn't have an AFL body yet. SO why play him?? Why not stick him in the gym and say put on 10kg of muscle. Some players can't put on weight when the aerobic training starts so might as well send him to the gym.

Wow what an ignorant post. So why not split it into two. One for players nominated before round 8 who can win the award. And others nominated after who can feel good about themselves but have virtually no chance of winning. Breathtaking statement about players not being eligible to win but at least they can feel good. My Godfather. This bit takes the cake "If a player hasn't been nominated before round 8 then they haven't been doing enough to be outstanding". What if they are injured? What if they are young age? If you know anything about the history of this award its all about potential. The fact that it has morphed over the years to a best first year player award has meant it has changed completely. And not for the better I say. Its now like a Brownlow for 1st year players. Simply, every player who is nominated should be eligible. The fact that they have no chance is a disgrace.

History says otherwise. Only two players have ever won after being nominated after round 8.

I am a huge critic of the umpires BUT I will say that in their defence the speed of the game compared to VFL is massive. This means they are invariably in the wrong position most of the time. In the VFL this is significantly less so. But the goons at HQ have stuffed our game big time. It's basketball on steroids and we are the poorer because of it.

Glad its sinking in. Plenty of players have performed well in the Bluey without playing full seasons. Nowhere did I say he was expected to win it. His performances are well below par for a so called 'elite' player. It makes me ill the way people on this site refer to him as elite. He is so far from it its a joke. I think you are the one with rocks. He is lazy, selfish and has a shocking work ethic. The world is full of talented people with the same probelm. Its why some people become stars and others never get there. Not only will Sylvia never get there with that attitude but it has and will continue to tarnish the culture of the club we want to create. We will be better off without him

This injury argument is complete [censored]. Go and look at the stats and games played. He has played plenty of games. The club doesn't rate him. Check out he B&F results or don't you like facts?? A fit Sylvia is NOT our best player. A fit Sylvia with a footy brain and some dedicated commitment COULD be our best polayer. He is far from it, You are right about he last statement. We haven't. And won't. Sylvia will get a first round pick from a finals contender. Zero doubt about that.

Stupid award these days. A player nominated beyond round 8 has virtually zero hope of winning. It used to be all about potential now its about what a player does for the whole year. How can someone nominated in Rd 23 for his first game win it?? Its impossible. Another AFL bastardised joke. Nonetheless Well done Sam for taking your medicine, working hard on your game and putting in a great few weeks. A tough pre-season awaits but you have the ability to make it big time if you work hard.

Might have saved Travis Johnstone...

What utter bulldust. If you deliberately lose a game it doesn't matter what the 'reward' is. That is plain stupid. There is also betting to consider, The AFL has danced with the devil on this. They accept money from bookies and must take the consequences.

Two points: 1. you are harsh on Beamer. Not my favourite player and form has fallen away dramatically but by most measures has been a good pick up even at that pick. You need to have context in these debates which is where a lot of people fail. We had just lost Scott Thompson - we needed a tough onballer. Moloney fitted the bill but has not reached the heights of Thompson. A lot worse picks than him. 2. The rebuild of 2000 to 2004 is solely the result of the squealing curly headed rat Gutnick. Stuffed us for years with our two years of missing first round picks. Don't get the love for him here. Nearly killed us. Combine that with our GF appearance in 2000 AND the new football deal of $780m when Freo was throwing huge money at Woewodin and the Wiz and we were in a giant hole. We didn't trade well but circumstances were difficult at that time. Context......hmmmm.

Most sensible thing you have ever said. Its so bleeding obvious. How long will it take for recruiters to work this one out. Of recent recruits only Strauss appears to be capable of kicking this way.

Sylvia has a higher trade value than Brock McLean to a contending team.

It is another AFL debacle

Clearly none of us know who would be willing to come to us but I for one would trade him for Travis Boak any day of the week if you want an example. You will get an honest performance week in week out, He is not as talented as Col but he is there every week putting in. Edit: Just had a look at the Swans trading. They have demonstarted there are plenty of ordinary players out there who are prepared to work hard to a team game plan. They are much more valuable than a Sylvia. They have got players that were deemed NQR or slightly unloved at their original clubs and turned them into a solid team unit. PLayers like Everitt, McGlynn, Mattner, Mumford, Seaby, Spangher, Walsh, Shaw, Richards and Kennedy. Two of these are bona fide stars - Mumford and Kennedy. Even an ordinary player like Roberts-Thompson plays a good team role. That is what Neeld is trying to do. Get everyone to play a role. And if you can't do it you won't last long. Col has shown some improvement before the last two weeks but then he does the classic let down with two ordinary performances.

The bit you don't seem to get is that we will NEVER be a contender when we have players who refuse to play as a team or play to a team game plan. Its like Carlton and Fevola. Sylvia is bone lazy. He has talent to burn and every now and then thrills us all but he is incapable of change it would seem. His laziness spreads to everyone else. If you are trying to play a zone for example it relies on everyone doing their bit. One hole and the attacking team will cut through it easily. Pretty soon everyone says stuff it why bother. Its the same as midfielders who refuse to play 'both ways' and run hard when we don't have possession. Watch Dane Beams to see how a good player does it. Sylvia never does it consistently which is why he is rated so poorly by the club and why he has to be traded away. Moloney is pretty similar although is trying hard to change. Not sure he has the capacity to run hard enough though, And BTW when trading you have to give something away to get something. Sylvia is one of our few that could get something at the trade table.

And wasn't one after the siren??

I could not give a flying about the rest of the comp. The season is over as far as I am concerned. Would be happy to see 37 drawn games.

Obviously my opinion about him being gone but I am definitely in the trade Sylvia camp. He has some currency outside the club. As for telling him to do the things you suggest he has been told 1000 times. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed our Col. His B&F finishes tell you exactly what the club think of him. 8 years and not once inside the top 5. A disgrace for someone of his talent.

That is where you are so wrong,. And no amount of your banging on will change the situation. Hell of a lot better at what?? Refusing to run and give second efforts? His attitude affects everyone. If he does't chase, someone else has to. He is gone.

One bad game?? are you for real?? 3 possessions to half time last week. NEVER finished inside the top 5 in our b&f in 8 seasons. Lazy lazy lazy. Must go. He is a cancer. No wonder our culture is shiite when we have lazy senior players who won't chase, and give second efforts. What must younger players think after watching him?? Oh if he doesn't run why should I.... Can't go quick enough for mine.

A coach has essentially two choices. He can either try to coach the group he has at his disposal - that is their strengths and weaknesses. ie: I have a team of tall players therefore I will devise a game plan around that. OR he can try to teach a game plan to a group that doesn't have the skill to carry it out. ie: we need to run and spread and we need hard bodies that won't get pushed off the ball in a contested situation. Neeld has tried to teach a game plan to a group not up to the task of carrying it out. He obviously believes his game plan is the way to go. And if the article is true will try to turn the list over to get the cattle to carry out his game plan.

Who says we are following the "moneyball plan"?? God I am sick of this reference. Most people have no idea what it means and the club has never articulated that is what they are doing. We don't have a shortage of money ATM which is why the Oakland A's couldn't compete with the Yankees. if you believe what you read we are chasing Cloke on big bucks, we are raising funds to have ago at some free agents and we got Clark on big bickies last year. We have plenty of room in our salary cap. That is the opposite of the Moneyball strategy. Neeld simply wants to recruit players that can play to his game plan. Its that simple. He has demonstrated by his actions that he doesn't like Bate, Morton or Gys but likes players like Jetta, Magner and Bail. That's the first part. the next part is getting players who can run and spread, deliver the footy and not turn it over. BTW I havent seen the stats from last week but isn't it amazing how we can hit targets against teams like GC when there is no pressure?? Yet when we are pressured we are hopeless and have massive amounts of turnovers.....

The good teams at the moment have players who are prepared to play roles. Look at the Pies. Anyone coming in to that side knows exactly what role they have. Even Simon Buckley gets a game there! Neeld is trying to build a team where players play roles and can rely on what their teamates will do. Your workplace example might raise bells for you but its not a true team performance and is wrong to compare it with such. If players don't do their roles they get dropped or ultimately de-listed. I have no problem with that. The buck stops with the coach and if you were in charge you would do the same thing. Baileys problem was that he was coaching to instructions and never had complete autonomy over the decisions. At least that's what the aftermath of 186 and the Andrews report says to me. Neeld won't die wondering and I am very happy about that. As for your bolded comment above. FFS what is that about??

Highly unusual at this stage of the season to bring a young talented guy in for one week and drop him. My tea leaves tell me its either a massive rocket or Neeld's seen enough.