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It appears to be the end of an era for Sydney, but coach Paul Roos isn’t certain they need to reach ground zero before becoming an AFL force again.
The Swans’ elimination from the finals at the hands of the Western Bulldogs in their semi-final at the MCG last night drew to a close the club’s sixth successive finals campaign.
With key players Barry Hall, Brett Kirk, Leo Barry and Michael O’Loughlin all in their 30s, and Peter Everitt and Ben Mathews already retired, the Swans must now confront their next strategy forward.
Clubs in similar positions in recent years have shed older players and drafted heavily on youth, but Sydney’s dilemma is ensuring their fan-base does not diminish if rebuilding takes time.
Roos indicated the Swans would again trade for ready-made players, complemented with new blood through drafting.
“We’re in a little bit of a different position in Sydney, but I think we’ve had a lot of success with guys like Spida (Everitt) and (Darren) Jolly and (Ted) Richards (from other clubs),” he said.
“We’ll continue that formula of taking young kids, which we took three last year in (Craig) Bird, (Patrick) Veszpremi and (Brett) Meredith, and that’s really important to go to the draft as well.
“But equally we’ve done a really good job of getting players from other clubs who have contributed significantly to our team.
“So it will be a combination of that again this year and then we’ll try to keep on improving.”
Sydney’s short-term recruiting worked in winning the 2005 premiership, but they appear to have fallen off the pace three years on.
But Roos was unsure whether the Swans would sacrifice results by focusing on young players, as he did not like the idea of having to freefall before rebuilding could begin.
“What you’ve got to be careful of too is you don’t want to go down just for the sake of going down, I think you can also make that mistake,” he said.
“I said a couple of weeks ago that Carlton and Hawthorn are (who) everyone’s watching.
“If they win a premiership in the next two-to-four years then you’re going to have a race to 15th and 16th (for draft picks, which benefited the previously struggling Hawks and Blues), which mightn’t be great for the competition.
“We’re already starting to see that a little bit towards the back end of the season with teams that are obviously (out of contention) … start to put players in for operations and that sort of thing.”
Roos identified the midfield as the area where the Swans would aim to strengthen during the trade period and draft.
He also expected to be coaching the club next year, following speculation this might be the time to bow out personally.
Everitt’s form this season was hampered through a limited pre-season, following knee surgery.
“After my operation through the pre-season it was always going to be a tough ask to come back and play good footy and I really struggled throughout the year,” the ruckman said.
“Being 34 you really do require just the (kilometres) in the legs over the pre-season.
“Not being able to do that really put me behind the eight-ball.
“To play 12 or 13 games towards the end of the year was good, but it was no surprise the form wasn’t the greatest.”
Everitt said he had been honoured to play with Sydney, after stints at St Kilda and Hawthorn, while Roos rated him an oustanding contributor at Sydney, helping younger players and embracing the culture.
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