Mick McGuane says Kieren Jack and Heath Grundy must retire in Sydney rebuild

Ultimately, every individual has a used-by-date. And with Sydney about to enter a rebuild, the time is now for the Swans to make some tough calls. MICK MCGUANE lays out what the club must do.

Ultimately, every individual has a used-by-date.

Successful teams eventually become victims of their own success and when it’s your turn, you come back to the field pretty quickly.

It looks like Sydney’s number has finally been called, and to have lasted as long as they have without being bitten by the AFL’s equalisation measures has been pure genius.

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The problem the Swans are facing is their new reality has hit them quicker than they could reasonably foresee.

They still have 14 players on their current list that played in the 2016 grand final, and it would have taken a brave judge to predict the Swans would be in a 1-5 scenario just two years and six games after nearly winning a flag at the MCG.

If we had crystal balls we’d all be geniuses, but sometimes you don’t realise you’re about to hit the wall until it’s too late.

The Sydney Swans are going to have to make some tough calls. Picture: Phil Hillyard

I understand the whys and the what ifs. But for the Swans it’s now up to the hows.

Namely, how do they turn it around?

After Hawthorn won the flag in 2015 they had to make some hard calls on some universally respected champions.

The intent was to identify some crunch decisions which could help bridge the rebuilding gap quickly so they could remain competitive. The challenge for Sydney is no different.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you thought the likes of Rampe, Smith, Lloyd, Jack, Mills, Grundy, McVeigh, Kennedy, Franklin, Parker, Papley, Heeney, Hewitt, Aliir and Jones might be still a couple of years away from reaching their limit as a core group.

But it’s obvious a changing of the guard is required.

To me Heath Grundy and Kieren Jack must be retired this season. Nick Smith is obviously out injured at the moment and he too is on his last legs aged 30.

Then you’ve got in my opinion, a potentially different case in Jarrad McVeigh at 34.

What does the future hold for Jarrad McVeigh? Picture: AAP Images

Based on his footy smarts we know he’s more than capable from what we’ve seen when he is on the park. His education on the ground with the young players — the way he sees it and how he instructs it — that could be enormously beneficial in a rebuild.

But you can’t carry the four of those guys because you won’t rejuvenate or re-energise as a team if you do.

The dilemma is they’ve all been unbelievable foot soldiers for the Swans over a long period of time. Sydney’s brand is conducive to competitive beasts like Jack, Kennedy and Parker who crash and bash for a living. But it wears you down over time.

John Longmire has concerns in all areas but no more critical than his side’s unhealthy reliance on Buddy Franklin to score. Franklin accounts for 25 per cent of their total team goals and if he doesn’t hit that mark (and he’s had another interrupted pre-season), Sydney quite simply don’t kick matchwinning scores.

What they’re really aching for is continuity in the forward six and more avenues to goal.

Lance Franklin still draws the bulk of the attention on the Sydney forward line. Picture: Getty Images

We know Hayward can play. Isaac Heeney should be used as a forward and relief mid. Ronke and Papley are opportunistic but not hitting the scoreboard enough. Sam Reid’s history shows he hasn’t been able to get on the park enough to help Bud.

Geelong recruit Daniel Menzel is yet to lace on a boot and could still be a month away from AFL football.

The Swans fielded the youngest side of any team last week at an average age of 23, with 14 players under 25. They have just six players who have played over 100 games and 10 who are less than 50 games into their careers.

Already they’re making a conscious decision to inject games into players who aren’t ready yet, in the hope they can find kids aligned to the famous Bloods culture.