Rhyce Shaw from Sydney and Leigh Montagna from St Kilda in action during the AFL Round 01 match between the St Kilda Saints and the Sydney Swans at the Docklands Stadium. Slattery Images
The Swans have made six straight finals series under Paul Roos and in that time have won an historic premiership and a runners up medal, while building a reputation as the most disciplined team since the Kangaroos in the 90s.
The last two years have been promising, with the blooding of several youngsters and the unearthing of talents such as Moore, Meredith, White, Bird and Jack, along with the exciting recruitment of Mattner and Shaw to compensate for the loss of Tadhg Kenelly and the wounded Leo Barry.
Local products, Paul Bevan and Jarad McVeigh, have taken their games to a new level.
But with an aging core group of premiership heroes in their 30s, and with a unpredictable future looming over their heads, surely the Swans need to play all their kids and trade off or give a tap on the shoulder to some of their champions to boost their draft stocks with the Gold Coast coming in.
It’s early days in the season, but from what I’ve seen, the Swans have been very inconsistent and lost games they should have won.
There’s a sense that there is a changing of the guard in terms of September regulars. The Swans haven’t played badly this season, but I believe that they will ultimately underperform.
It makes sense to bottom out for a couple years just to rise in three or four years time again and become a genuine contender instead of wasting everyone’s time.
Noone can question the Swans’ success. It has proved that they have been one of the great teams of this decade. But everyone has their time, and Sydney’s is here.
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