TOPIC:

what are your thoughts on the reasons behind SD's demise this year mike?... is it injuries, a cyclical thing, Harding not getting the message through, all of the above? I see your colts are doing ok so hopefully for your sake there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Like any massive drop, I think its been a combination of a number of factors. We lost our best player to Gold Coast in the preseason draft, Ryan Crowley was taken by Essendon, Our number 1 ruckman did his knee in the first bounce of the season, there were other long term injuries to senior players and a serious illness to one of our big men. From there it just all seemed to go downhill similar to Freo's season.

Having said that I think a lot of the wounds have been self inflicted with some strange selection decisions, the loss of some very promising players who just walked away from the club ( e.g Levi Ridley and Dylan Nelson) poor disposal and decision making ( by some experienced player as well). I also don't think our guys have been as fit as other teams. As MO said I think the problems are not going to be solved by the addition of a couple of ex AFL players and there needs to be a reassessment of who are the players who can take the club forward and what needs to be done to get them more competitive with the rest of the WAFL. Hardings contract has been extended till the end of 2017, but I would think we would need to see a considerable improvement next year for him to keep the job any longer than that. On the positive side he has got a good group of young players to work with who have had a taste of the big time this year.

fair enough...besides Crowley, are there any other players in the AFL system who might be de-listed and originated from SD that could potentially came back? maybe Clancee Pearce, Chris Yarran for instance?

David Ellard already confirmed, Clancee Pearce, Jamie Bennell and Chris Yarran could all be possibilities depending on their AFL situation. Not sure if Ryan Davis would come back if he was delisted by Gold Coast but from what I can see he has been going OK.

if you can get some or all of those guys it will make a difference. speaking from a Subi perspective losing Shane Yarran, Boland, Deluca, Menegola plus a few others at the end of last year has been offset to some extent by the arrival of Cockie and Broughton. Both Subi products who've had a real impact.

BC wrote: if you can get some or all of those guys it will make a difference. speaking from a Subi perspective losing Shane Yarran, Boland, Deluca, Menegola plus a few others at the end of last year has been offset to some extent by the arrival of Cockie and Broughton. Both Subi products who've had a real impact.

Matt Priddis is 31 now just wondering how many AFL years he has left. Would be great to slot him into our midfield alongside fridge and horse.

mikeh wrote: Like any massive drop, I think its been a combination of a number of factors. We lost our best player to Gold Coast in the preseason draft, Ryan Crowley was taken by Essendon, Our number 1 ruckman did his knee in the first bounce of the season, there were other long term injuries to senior players and a serious illness to one of our big men. From there it just all seemed to go downhill similar to Freo's season.

Having said that I think a lot of the wounds have been self inflicted with some strange selection decisions, the loss of some very promising players who just walked away from the club ( e.g Levi Ridley and Dylan Nelson) poor disposal and decision making ( by some experienced player as well). I also don't think our guys have been as fit as other teams. As MO said I think the problems are not going to be solved by the addition of a couple of ex AFL players and there needs to be a reassessment of who are the players who can take the club forward and what needs to be done to get them more competitive with the rest of the WAFL. Hardings contract has been extended till the end of 2017, but I would think we would need to see a considerable improvement next year for him to keep the job any longer than that. On the positive side he has got a good group of young players to work with who have had a taste of the big time this year.

I will preface my comments with what should be a statement of the obvious, that I like all Swans' supporters and members have been disappointed with our season. There does need to be a bit of a reality check as to what we could have expected to achieve this year. We finished 6th last year and virtually recruited no-one, we lost quality players of the ilk of R Davis and have been devastated with injuries from the first bounce of the season. Therefore, it would be unrealistic for us to have expected a successful season. And yes some of our more experienced players have not had the best of years. Yes our skills haven't been great and our efforts have been lacking. As I said it has not been a good year. What I won't concede is that the likes of Coniglio, Burnham and the late addition of Whitsed into that company are the reason we have won only two games this year.

Will the influx of Crowley and Ellard make a significant impact per se? The answer is probably not to the extent of us pushing to finish in the top 3 next season. What it might do is provide a catalyst for the entire group to work for team and club success.

Whilst there has not been the best of seasons there are some positives to come out of the season if you want to look for them. Firstly, if one took an historical look at out colts' teams, this years' colts' team has continued a period of great success and augurs well for a return to more lofty heights. Whilst the ressies will not make the finals, in a season of injuries and departures etc the ressies have performed reasonably well especially when compared to what in essence the Peel League team has done in winning one game for the season in the ressies. We have blooded a number of players this year that will again hopefully provide greater depth in the 2017 season.

BC wrote: just trying to get a bit of conversation going mike given its just your good self, BH and MO who post on the SD thread these days...which reminds me...what's happened to my very good friend 42?

To be perfectly frank BC I have got to the point thst I am well and truly over the inane comments that masquerade as banter from some posters on this site. What is worse is that when I had previously been told that the end of the WAFL would occur in the very near future, I didn't believe it. However, from what I have seen of the appalling crowds from round 1 this season and it has nothing to do with our form this year nor the wet weather, it is difficult to believe that the WAFL can survive. The crowds have been shocking from the start of the season and there is no reason to believe that there will be an improvement next year. In fact given the propensity of Channel 7 in concert with the WAFC to prostitute the WAFL competition through its host club alignment, absurd scheduling of matches, it is quite conceivable that the WAFL competion will fold by 2020.

Unfortunately, we have a WAFC that would serve the WAFL competition better if they were re-located to the other side of Pluto.

Talking about things you didnt beleive and now do, how didmyour prediction of swans not winning tne wooden spoon as opposed to mine saying they would go swan?

Re the Wafl, a major review is going on at mo, as I have repeated stated the comp as we know it will not survive in it s current form , thats a given, its about financial viabllity ,and very few clubs will be viable going forward in their current form.

You are so right Grassy...spend those millions on grass roots footy which will fix so many of the issues the game will face over coming years...always thought international expansion ideas were only there to justify international junkets from the AFL's hierarchy...any wonder why the players are pushing harder for a bigger slice of the pie