TOPIC:

2014 was a year that Swans were expected to be wooden spooners as well but the team gelled from the start of the season and there was a definite chemistry between the older and younger players as well which then translated into early wins and a growth in confidence and it went on from there. Also in 2014 Swans did have guys like Davis, Boekhurst, Conor Blakely, Broad and Geappean amongst others who were pretty decent footballers I would have thought.

our player losses this year were not replaced from within or outside the club, Crowley going was out of our control and too much faith was put in Newman by the coach.
the coach couldnt get the best out of situations with Elari, Jukes and Cary and all played reserves or left.
young players coming through need to have a core of senior players to help them out and we didnt have that, too much was left to Riggio and Faulkner in the middle.
the coach also needs to work out a functioning forward line, too many times this year we struggled to kick goals and Cary when he played was up on the wing calling for the footy and then had nobody to kick to.
as poor a season of footy from the players and coaches I have seen, Harding dishes that up again and he will be gone, for a full-time paid coach the club is not getting value for money.

BH go ask your midfield coach Malaxos why EF midfield in 2015 didnt make the finals mate....not good enough I would presume...but hey Judgey got it wrong only human I guess.......as for Strnadica and Zurhaar?......I guess they werent perceived good enough or not ready by Wiley.....who from memory is perceived to be an experienced development coach with decades of development experience.....me personally I reckon Strnadica could of adjusted to WAFL league like Logue, Waterman and SPP did......but we will never know......

I like you BH enjoy seeing youngsters getting a go......just interested in SD fans assessment of whether this years side is younger and as inexperienced compared to your 14 n 15 sides.....because from memory in those seasons SD blooded lots of youngsters......some as you mentioned have even left the club since......plus even you said yourself you were frustrated with the failure of your lower to middle tier boys to kick on this year when required

...are they exposed too young perhaps?....they show initial flashes of potential.....then cant replicate that further down the track......I would love to see EF promote more colts boys, but history shows when they do they fail to play finals......eg Swallow x2,Clark, Masten, Palmer, Ryder, Kennedy, Fasolo and Cripps in yester years......and last year when EF played a few and came 2nd last......none of the EF colts 2010 flag team played league that year.....and a few of them have gone on for pretty good careers at WAFL n AFL level.......interesting how different clubs do things I guess.

Freeze we have been promoting Colts aged boys to senior footy for as long as I have been following Swans if not longer (Phil Narkle was only 16 or 17 when he debuted in the 70s) this year 4 played League (Logue, Clarke, Stewart, Cipro) many others from last years Colts group also got a game but probably similar numbers give or take to other years bar the outstanding crop of 2008 who took us all the way to a WAFL GF where 13 of the 22 that took the field that day were still teenagers many of whom were still eligible to play for the Colts that year like Naitanui, Notte, Yarran, Banfield, Wolfenden, Pearce, Garlett.
As Mike & MO have already documented this year we lost a few to injury, no improvement in many, then others left on the eve or during the year, on top of the losses of Davis, Broad, Geappen from 15 and the others from the previous years like Blakely, Hughes, Lobb, Cameron, Boekhorst that haven't been replaced and it adds up to a year like we had where we were barely even competitive.


Unfortunately what this year has proved in the WAFL is if you are doing the right thing in giving your local zone juniors every opportunity to play WAFL League footy you won't be up to it which is a disastrous result for the WAFC you would think as everyone will continue to go down the path of the likes of a Subiaco who recruit willy nilly at the expense of their home grown boys because it gives them continued success....not sure in this economic climate and sporting landscape all WAFL clubs can or should head down that path but the WAFC do nothing to encourage, support and REWARD those that fulfil their OWN supposed charter?!

Final post from me on this

Harding has had a mixed season by any standards. Some rather expansive comments pre-season about the capacity of the team and certain players in the team (particularly underplaying the loss of Davis and the potential influence of Newman) came back to bite him in the bum. I wondered if the players had stopped listening to him at times during the season as they didn’t seem to be playing to a plan in some games and they seemed afraid of taking risks. Some selection decisions were confusing to me as guys like Alby Dean and Warwick Wilson were dropped after bad games but others were persisted with even if they were not contributing much over a number of weeks.

On the positive side, Greg introduced a number of young players who are going to be long term players for the club and he remained upbeat and positive despite the mounting losses. He kept up his blog to the members all year which I appreciated and was always trying to point out any plusses in a game without sugar coating anything.

Having said that every coach has his use by date and Harding will be going into his 7th year in 2017. The club will need to see considerable improvement next year from the group for him to get another contract.

However, supporters also need to be patient and take a longer term view as well because there are a significant number of players now at the club who have played less than 20 games and it will take time for these guys to find their feet, so we are talking a 2 – 3 year plan here by which stage a lot of these players will have played over 50 games and with any luck we will then be looking at being a premiership contender again.

Swans were so far behind everyone else in the competition this year and they will have to work hard over summer to try and catch up in the skills area. If they can add a little more experience along with Ellard over summer and have a reasonable run with injuries I would think we will have a lot more than 2 wins next year. Hope so anyway!

Thanks to all the Swans posters on this site for sharing the pain in 2016. Hope it will be a more pleasant discussion in 2017.

Over and out

good job Mike

MO when you say SD were missing their senior core players how many games do you define as being crucially "missing"..10 plus?...because surely majority of SD 25 yr plus senior boys played a decent number of games for SD this year?.....yeah a few missed 4 - 5 games along the way.....but all of them, bar Blight and Blakely, played doubled figures in terms of games surely?.....isn't more the case SD mid tier boys, the ones who debuted in 2014/2015 didn't kick on like they should have, resulting in a lot of newbies getting a game or two here and there this year....

to be honest our season is finished and i have no interest in debating with an East Freo supporter who is only here to be a troll about who was and wasnt injured.
I am sure there is a debate to be had about your own season on your own board.

Yep fair due MO.....it has been a long season for you fella......no need to explain MO......as Mikeh said .....over and out

MarkOlsen wrote: to be honest our season is finished and i have no interest in debating with an East Freo supporter who is only here to be a troll about who was and wasnt injured.
I am sure there is a debate to be had about your own season on your own board.

Why would freezin want to do that MO? Freezin discussing East Freo; a very radical idea indeed.

Perhaps we might need freezin's own topic on the Swans' board to sate his need to comment on Swans' matters. Perhaps we could get freezin jnr's input as a legitimate Swans' supporter.