The Sydney Swans kicked off their 2018 AFL Premiership campaign in gusto, lead brilliantly from the front by superstar Lance Franklin.
Eight goals for the game, five in the first half, set the Swans well on their way to a 29-point victory, battling a dogged Eagles outfit that did their best to win their first match at their brand new home ground.
Isaac Heeney, Luke Parker and Jake Lloyd set the tone for the Swans, while Callum Sinclair and Dean Towers battled well in the ruck.
With a battered and beaten Owen Wilson shrinking in the rear-view mirror and no repeat of the Swans awful 2017 start, the Swans can bask in the glow of their hard fought victory.
More importantly, with three crucial players missing and barely a forward line to speak of, to be lead so brilliantly by Franklin is not only a testament to the player, but speaks volumes for the coaching staff.
When highly respected and experienced Swans coaches Stephen Taubert, Josh Francou, Stuart Dew and Henry Playfair moved on at the end of last season, there certainly was a degree of concern ahead of 2018.
But astute recruiting, not just through the draft – as the Swans are well known and regarded for – but for the exceptional captures of Steve Johnson and Dean Cox, as well as the promotion of Rhyce Shaw to the senior squad, quashed those fears.
Unlike Fremantle’s shocking start to 2016, sinking without a trace having the minor premiership the season before, the Swans have kicked off their 2018 campaign in style.
Longmire, never one to blame others for his panels’ mistakes, and always delegating to those he should, may have learned from Ross Lyon’s stark admission at the close of the 2016 season.
“It’s too late by then. You can’t recover from a poor summer. A few things had gone wrong. I did delegate and it was the right thing to do, but because I did delegate so much I wanted to be respectful to my team and I didn’t intervene.
“We were over-coaching, talking too long and training lost its intensity. I stepped back and wasn’t talking enough about effort and fitness as much and for the players it was confusing.”
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
While the Swans 2017 campaign certainly shared similarities with the Dockers dismal 2016 start, the coaching panel never lost faith, even after the Round 6 Carlton debacle.
They never discussed rebuild, never talked finals, future premierships, lamented issues in training and game plan development during the pre-season – they owned their problem.
What followed was one of the most remarkable seasons by any football club in the history of the AFL, setting a number of regular season and finals records along the way.
When the curtains fell in 2017, it wasn’t to abject failure or bitter disappointment, it was to pride and belief in the team.
Fitness of key players goes a long way in the modern game, especially your best players, play makers and game breakers, because without those players fit, the next tier players often struggle.
The Swans have once again adapted to the minor changes in the game and Richmonds’ premiership success.
It’s unlikely that we’ll see repeats of Round 3 versus Collingwood last season, with the players completely oblivious to mid-week rule changes.
In years past, stifling defensive play and ability to absorb pressure has been the Swans bread-and-butter, but on Sunday night, we witnessed a more aggressive and offensive team take the points.
Perhaps its the evolution of the game, fresh injection of new ideas, or having your best players fit and available, or a combination of all three.
Whatever it is, the Swans won’t be repeating Fremantle’s shocking start to 2016.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
This is a bit of a weird premise for an article. I'm not sure what the parallels are? Of course, it'd be nice to have Buddy and a couple of top 5-equivalent draft picks out of the bargain basement while you're contending to cushion your ride, but that's not for everybody.
Ironmonger
Guest
I winder if Dean Cox will pull the boots on when we need a back-up ruck...I'm sure he'd still be a ripper...
anon
Roar Pro
Fremantle have been a mediocre side since the halfway point of 2015. They were the oldest team in the league and clearly ran out of puff in that second half of 2015. Barely made it to the finish line at round 22. Most astute observers could see that their premiership window ended then and there. They weren't going to be a better team in 2016 given that the Lyon game plan had been found wanting in 2015 and they were losing a key defender in McPharlin. Lyon has been using that cop-out of a rebuild (or rewire, restump, etc) when it suits his agenda, but the truth is he still can't decide whether his team is rebuilding or not despite his premiership window closing firmly shut three years ago come the halfway point of this season. Despite Fremantle being uncompetitive over the past two season, despite their premiership window shutting in 2015, the Fremantle team that was rolled out in round 1 was actually an older team than their Port Adelaide opposition. If the rebuild hasn't started in earnest, then this is maybe one of the most mis-managed rebuilds we have seen in recent times to be nearly 2 years down the track from when your premiership window shut with the oldest team in the league, and still playing fringe veterans who won't be in the team when the next premiership window opens. If the rebuild has started in earnest, then you have to question what the hell they are doing. The questions over Ross Lyon was whether he could develop a list, and whether he could adapt his game plan. You'd have to say based on what we've seen from him in this rebuild, the answers are he can't do either. And we've seen if you don't get the rebuild right, you can spend 1-2 decades in the wilderness like a Melbourne or Carlton. If you get it right like Sydney in 2016, Hawthorn 2017, Fremantle 2009, you can be a finals contender again in short order.