bing181

... if only.

One of our problems, and often cited in getting rid of Bruce, Junior etc., is the absence of off-field leadership from experienced players. No matter how many coaches we have, they don't/can't bring that. Dawes does - in spades. Doesn't justify in itself a huge salary, so yes, it's essential that he plays. Hopefully this will sort out his niggles, and get him ready for a solid year next year. An important player for us, makes the whole forward setup look different, and he's a great example to players like Hogan, Fitzpatrick, Howe etc. as to what they need to be doing on the field.

Good luck with that.

Not sure why people keep suggesting we delist contracted players. Not possible. Equally, not sure how people can suggest we trade contracted-player-X. Trade period is nearly 2 weeks in, presumably we've been floating all the possible no-longer-required's already. Unless there are some takers over the last 24 hours or so, the likes of Byrnes, Bail, Tapscott, Blease, Pederson, Jamar etc. will be with us next year. As per earlier in the thread, only possible delistings are Nicho, Jetta and Taggert. Think it'll come down to: - who might be available in the PSD. - whether or not we feel we need to upgrade Clisby at this stage - who might be available at pick 57. Hard to imagine we'd use this pick unless we had someone in mind, but would imagine this would be our last live pick in any case. Perhaps we'll only need to open up 3 positions: Picks 9, 40 and either pick 57 or PSD, which would take the 3 spots we currently have available.

Given our tie-up with NT, hardly surprising.

Don't disagree, but it's easier to get good picks coming in when you're trading good players out: Dawes last year, Shaw and Thomas this year ... got good picks/trades out all of those.

Fix it? Of course not. Improve it? Definitely.

I think that we're all loving the direction of the club. Well, mostly.

Cross isn't going to keep Terlich out of the side, they're entirely different positions. Not helping your case there at all. As for the rest, i've never understood this argument. Collingwood need to drop Swan, Pendlebury, Beames etc., because they're stopping younger players getting a game? And people complain about our lack of development. They need to earn it, and do what Cross has done - learn to work hard and get the most out of themselves. Easier said than done when you're being gifted games in a third-rate midfield.

I think they just might have.

You would think so. Given that, hard to understand why MFC would put an article about him on our site. He'll be playing somewhere else next year.

Late bloomer? Never too late to pull on the boots.

Great news. Was hoping we'd get him, as much as anything because of his professionalism and attitude to training. What must Nathan Jones be feeling with these additions to the midfield ... he no longer has to carry the entire load.

I'm not sure where this comes from, but it seems to come up every so often. He had already done a lot before joining the Swans: David Misson is the Physical Performance Manager of the Sydney Swans. Prior to that he was Fitness Advisor for the Australian Cricket Team and he is a former nationally-ranked track and field athlete and former NSW 400m Hurdles Champion. David has also worked with the Wallabies, Tennis Australia, NSW Institute of Sport, Sydney Swifts Netball Team, the Brumbies and the Waratahs. (http://ptplus.station175.com/pdfs/Interviews/Interview_DavidMisson.pdf) His father is Frank Misson, who played cricket for NSW and 5 tests for Australia in the early 60's.

Word on the AFL site that one way or another, the Adams/Shaw deal will go through. So we can almost certainly cross that possibility off the list.

He's out of rehab, that's all that matters. He has plenty of time to build for next season.

Could be some life in this thread yet: Paige Cardona ‏@Paigeos_Hotpies32m Well, Collingwood just sent a big "[censored] you" to GWS since trading pick 11 to West Coast. Its either a straight swap now, take it or leave it If GWS plays hard, and refuses to do the Shaw/Adams swap, any interest in attempting to land Adams with Pick 9? Knowing that if it all falls apart, and he walks to the PSD, we'd have first bite. FWIW, looking at that WCE/Pies trade, as well as ours (2 for 9), it seems fairly clear that after Boyd, there are 10 - 12 players who clubs seem to rank fairly evenly. So, pick 2, pick 9, pick 6, even pick 11 all seem to have about the same value. As such, pick 9 could have some decent currency - if we wanted to use it.

Then another reason to stay away from him. He's had two chances at two clubs, and failed at both, that should tell you something.

One way or another, every player in the AFL has injury histories.

You must know something the rest of us don't.

Still pretty raw. (Agree on the talent.)

Excellent news, but could be some disappointment in the Jones household. We won't be getting Zac Jones now. Well, unless he slips to pick 40 ...

How can we lose someone we didn't have?

Not to mention, new head of commercial operations only started on the 14th.

Another good example is Jan Ulrich. Stopped from riding (withdrawn from TDF) in July 2005, but wasn't charged until 2012. Big wheel keeps on turning ....