South Adelaide recruit James Rose reflects on Sydney Swans career ahead of new SANFL beginning
James Rose’s brutal assessment of his own AFL career may surprise you. The former Sydney Swan says he wants to shake perceptions about him as he joins South Adelaide.
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Ask James Rose if his delisting from the Sydney Swans was justified and his answer may surprise you.
“I would have made the same decision, if I was Sydney,” Rose says.
It is a brutal assessment of his own five-year career at the Swans, which came to an end this season after 14 games in the red and white, but also a sign of maturity.
By Rose’s own admission he was “pretty naive” and “a selfish little person” when he arrived at Sydney in late 2014 after the club picked him at No. 37 in the national draft.
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Now on return home to SA, Rose will continue his football journey at South Adelaide in 2020.
The 23-year-old feels he is capable of making a bigger impact in the AFL than what he did while in the Harbour City and “would love another crack”.
He also hopes to answer questions about his defensive capabilities while being deployed mainly in the midfield at the Panthers.
“It got hard to shake the perception that I created for myself early days in Sydney,” says Rose, who has also taken on a car sales job at club sponsor Southern Volkswagen.
“I’ll be the first person to admit I could not defend to save myself early days, I didn’t even know what it was.
“I think I’m a completely different player now to what some people perceive me as.”
Rose had the football world at his feet in 2015 when he burst onto the scene with three goals in a quarter on debut for the Swans.
But he was unable to cement a spot in coach John Longmuir’s side with season-high games tallies of just five in 2016 and 2019.
“Obviously I would have loved to stay for a bit longer but, in terms of what they did for my headspace and maturity, I’m really thankful and wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Rose says.
Rose, a graduate of Scotch College, came through the ranks at Sturt but opted against returning to the Double Blues.
“I came back to Adelaide with a pretty open mind,” he says.
“I spoke with Sturt, Norwood and South but I instantly clicked with ‘Boof’ (Panthers coach Jarrad Wright).
“I liked his vision, he’s a real family man and he’s been in the game a long while.
“Their pitch to me was just so clear and it’s exactly how I want to play my football.”
Rose says he has been impressed with the Panthers in his first few weeks at the club and believes the mix of old and young talent at South has it in good stead for a return to September action in 2020.