Sydney Swans have a noticeable age gap in their list caused by Lance Franklin trade ban

Sydney Swans might only now be experiencing the full impact of the brutal trade ban they were slapped with by the AFL over their recruitment of Lance Franklin. Here’s why.

Mind the gap.

It’s the saying you hear when you step off the tube in London, but for Sydney Swans fans it’s the missing link in the chain threatening their aspirations for another premiership.

As the Swans walk out onto Marvel Stadium this afternoon fighting for their 2019 survival against Carlton, they’re battling to overcome not just a regulation form slump, but arguably, the brutal lasting effects of the infamous Lance Franklin trade ban.

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Lance Franklin has been brilliant for Sydney, but it’s come at a cost. Picture. Phil Hillyard

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The Swans roster for this year features 30 players under the age of 24, a stunning lack of experience which accounts for a whopping 70 per cent of their entire list.

Of the handful of more seasoned professionals in their squad, several are now on the wrong side of 30 and beyond their prime years.

Spread out across the field, there are no more than two Swans aged 24 and above covering any one positional area - meaning the kids are everywhere you look.

As far as gaps go, it’s not quite the Sydney Heads, but the lack of middle-aged generals (players between 24-30) is wide enough to be sounding alarm bells for the Swans’ hope of keeping their extraordinary record of finals consistency alive.

When the Swans pulled off the coup of the century in poaching Franklin out of the grasps of the GWS Giants, the AFL reacted angrily and slapped Sydney with a two-year trade ban.

Young and old: Nick Blakey and Lance Frankling embrace after a goal. Picture: AAP

The decision was labelled a “disgrace” by Swans Chairman Andrew Pridham, but perhaps it’s only now four years on that the full effect of having their entire roster management production line extraordinarily shut down is being realised.

In the opening two rounds, the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide have exposed both Sydney’s lack of experience in some areas, and their slowness in others.

Former Collingwood Premiership great, respected Melbourne media pundit and now The Daily Telegraph columnist Mick McGuane says what happened to the Swans was unjust, and that the dearth of players aged 24 to 30 would be having a serious impact.

“If you are looking for a players’ peak at AFL level for sustained excellence, your years are probably between 22 and 28. That’s the embodiment of a successful list,” says McGuane.

“You’re at your healthiest, your strongest, your fittest and you’ve started to get 80-100 games under your belt.

“It’s no coincidence that when the Swans were up and going it was the prime for guys like Josh Kennedy and Kieran Jack, Dan Hannebery and Tom Mitchell when he was there. Buddy was in his prime when he arrived, Ted Richards was playing when he was in Sydney at that age.

“I didn’t like (the ban at the time). I thought it smacked of inequality within a competition that is trying to even up the competition. I’m all about fair play and I didn’t think there was anything untoward that Sydney Swans were doing to penalise them to that extent.”

Josh Kennedy has been one of the best Swans of the past decade. Picture: AFL Media/Getty Images

The Swans previously had benefited greatly from players like Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn, Ted Richards, Craig Bolton, Barry Hall and Shane Mumford who had cut their teeth at other clubs and then come to Sydney looking for a fresh opportunity.

But since the trade ban, Sydney have had to virtually start from scratch with all their players and try to manufacture AFL experience on the run.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachalan told The Daily Telegraph in an interview last month that he had no regrets about punishing Sydney so harshly.

“I think it was a decision taken at the time. It’s a long time ago. The reasons were clear because it involved COLA (cost of living allowance) and the way that was executed,” said McLachlan.

“I just think that it was a decision for a specific reasons and it was a long time ago.”

West Coast and Fremantle’s trading tactic is to target West Australians. Several Melbourne clubs have also preyed on the go-home factor.

Sydney and GWS don’t have that luxury – with Giant Phil Davis (born in Canberra, but really raised in South Australia) the only NSW/ACT player who has been traded back home.