Sydney Swans unveil a trio of potential stars
John Longmire is building a team for the future and will blood three potential stars in the first-round clash with Brisbane.
If there has been managing of expectations among Swans fans in recent years then round one could be seen as an attempt to nurture the flames of a brighter future as the club unveils a trio of potential stars.
Sydney will blood three players in round one against a formidable Brisbane outfit on Saturday — the first time the club has sent that many first-gamers out at once since Paul Kelly, Brad Tunbridge and Shane Fell ran out in round one of 1990.
Exciting 18-year-old forward Logan McDonald was picked fourth in last year’s national draft — some thought he would go earlier — and will be unveiled in a forward line with high expectation of what he could become in future years.
He is tall (196cms), a strong mark, capable of kicking goals from outside 50m, and will be a focus of fans looking for the long-term replacement for Buddy Franklin (don’t ask, trained Saturday, who knows when or if he will be back).
Sydney also had pick five and used it to select talented playmaker Braeden Campbell, a 19-year-old from Sydney’s Pennant Hills who has been nurtured in the Swans Academy but was also on Hawthorn’s shopping list.
The debuts don’t stop there, with another academy graduate Errol Gulden, 19, named in the team. The Cats were also interested in this midfielder who has impressive speed and endurance, but Sydney were keen to ensure he did not leave town.
Ruckman Tom Hickey has been around for a while but will play his first game on Saturday night for his new club. The 201cm ruckman has played 102 games with Gold Coast, St Kilda and the Eagles.
“We are confident about the next generation we’ve got coming through, the three boys we picked up in the draft last year have had a fair bit of game time over the pre-season and they will be exposed at different times and hopefully learn a bit about the caper as well,” coach John Longmire said.
“We are confident that not only have we added some depth with our draftees, but some real quality and we are really pleased with how those guys are going.”
Expectations are low after a season where the club finished 16th, but got good miles into another batch of young players, still Longmire says you have to aim for a top eight finish.
“The aim is (that) every year,” he told The Australian. “I would be disappointed if anyone didn’t have aspirations to be playing at the pointy end of the year every year.
“The reality is we have got a fair way to go, we won five games last year, whilst we are confident which way we are going as far as the younger players coming in, but we still have a fair leap to make and that’s the gap.
“Over the last few years we’ve played an enormous amount of young players, we’ve not only played them we’ve played them in a significant amount of games, from Tom McCartin right through, even before that: Oliver Florent and Will Hayward, James Rowbottom, Nick Blakey, and at the back end of last year Justin McInerny played a bit of footy.”
It has been an article of faith that the Swans could not finish outside the eight for fear of losing what many assumed was a fickle fan base. With most of 2020 played in another state it was impossible to judge the impact on live crowds, but Longmire believes the team will take its supporters with them on a journey.
“I think fans want to see winners absolutely, but they like to see teams having a go, having a crack,” he said. “If we go out there and give our all, hopefully the result takes care of itself and if it doesn’t hopefully our supporters see improvement, they see hope and they see us going the right way and see the next generation of Swans players coming through.”
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