You know the moment in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when the turtles infiltrate the Shredder’s junkyard and Donatello says, “The perimeter’s quiet” and Leonardo says, “Yeah, a little too quiet”?
Besides loving this moment in my childhood, it reminds me of the Sydney Swans – all is quiet, a little too quiet.
Three things I have learnt watching football for the last 10 years are: Don’t hold my breath for a Richmond premiership; don’t expect a Richmond coach to last longer than five years, and write off Geelong and Sydney at your own peril.
Oddly, in Sydney the storm came before the current calm. The storm in this case was the Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin storm and all eyes will be on the big forward entering season 2013.
But since the storm, all is ‘too quiet’ in Sydney.
What’s the perfect balance for the Swans forward line?
Kurt Tippett kicked 35 goals in 12 games; he’s a monster and demands two defenders every time it is kicked to him.
Adam Goodes is playing closer to goal as the years go by and still loves to push up the ground if he has gone quiet. Does that remind anybody of a former Hawthorn player?
Does Sam Reid have room up forward when Buddy is around or does he go back to where he played his junior football in defence, and is there enough room for Gary Rohan who looked good coming back from injury?
Last season the Swans had 15 goal kickers who kicked 10-plus goals; they have enough firepower to blow teams apart. They’ll find a system, it’ll just be interesting to see what that is.
Mike Pyke pushed for All-Australian last season and will give his team a target around the ground.
Josh Kennedy, Daniel Hannebery, Keiran Jack and Ryan O’Keefe are all inside beasts (they all averaged above 25 touches a game except for O’Keefe, at 23), they were ranked first in clearances, contested possessions and tackles.
Jarrad McVeigh is as good a small utility as there is in the comp. The reigning best and fairest winner can kick goals as a midfielder or sweep across half-back in a quarterback role.
If there is one knock on the midfield it can be the lack of pace. Lewis Jetta was sorely missed by the Swans throughout last season and the Swans will benefit from his speed.
Luke Parker, Tom Mitchell and Craig Bird would start in the middle for most clubs.
But the balancing act isn’t only in the forward line.
Ted Richards can hold down opposition forwards and Heath Grundy is one of the first picked every week. Lewis Roberts-Thompson is available and if there isn’t enough room for Sam Reid up forward, he will more than fit in defensively.
Their creative attack from defence starts with Nick Malceski, who was the leading rebounder from defensive 50 in the league, and Rhyce Shaw’s return from LARS surgery looks promising.
Nick Smith and Dane Rampe are defensive rocks.
They play slow; it’ll be a war of attrition. But if they want to go head-to-head with anybody, it seems they now can.
Balance is the key, this group are experienced, it’s just a matter of how long it takes to unify.
We’ll know more after week five just how good the Swans will be in 2014, where they have a tough draw. But the balancing act could take a little longer to figure out.
They’ll go deep into September and I’m not counting them out as premiers, this is just where I find them finishing on the ladder.
Back to that great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scene, Donatello takes out two soldiers single-handedly and says to Leonardo, “Well that was easy”, to which Leonardo replies, “Yeah a little too easy.”
If the Sydney Swans can get the balancing act right and find their perfect line-up, they could be saying the same thing come season’s end.
Lad-View: third
Individual Predictions
Best and Fairest: Keiran Jack
Goal Kicking Award: Kurt Tippett
In The Hot Seat For 2014: Hhmmmm
Player You Need to Watch In 2014: Tom Mitchell
Things Most Looking Forward To Seeing In 2014: Buddy versus The Hawks!
Novelty Blog Award: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
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