Rohan, the Swans’ top pick in the 2009 national draft, has come on more quickly than the coaching staff even hoped for.
They had given him a challenge - see how you go chasing around Irish superstar Tadhg Kennelly.
In a clear sign that Rohan has as much fierce competitive spirit as he does talent, he did his utmost to keep Tadhg under wraps. It wasn’t easy, and Kennelly again showed he is back to his best running off the half-back line.
But Rohan gained plenty of confidence from knowing he was far from disgraced against the 2005 premiership player.
After the match, Roos said he was rapt with the showing of several of the younger brigade, and praised the club’s development staff for getting the new boys on track in such a short time.
“Some of the young guys have picked it up nice and quickly which is really important. It’s a credit to our development staff, that they can get them here in the space of a month to six weeks and can actually have them ready to play against seasoned blokes like Kirky and Goodesy and Jude Bolton,’’ Roos said.
While the experienced players were the standouts during the hour long practice match, played on a scorching day in Sydney (see John Longmire’s top 10), Roos said the young players had taken some really positive steps.
Lewis Jetta kicked what many considered to be the goal of the day and Byron Sumner was lively until he suffered a slight corked thigh and had to leave the field.
“It’s exciting to see those young players touch the footy,’’ Roos said. “Bryon Sumner did well early and Lewis Jetta and Sam Reid and Trent Dennis-Lane, for all those guys it was really impressive.
“And for Gary Rohan to play on Tadhg and get a bit of the footy, because Tadhg is such a good player, it was a good effort from him.’’
However with so many fit senior players on the list this year, Roos cautioned that most of the new breed were still some way from playing senior footy.
“It is pretty early. The positive from today is we’ve seen those young guys are a bit more advanced than I thought they’d be when they first arrived, and when you see them playing against those older blokes, they don’t look out of place.
“But there is another level up to the pre-season cup and another level up to an AFL game so it is good they can compete favourably at that level but there is still a fair way to go before they play senior footy.’’
Roos said Craig Bolton, Rhyce Shaw and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, who are training but still on rehabilitation programs, were the only senior players likely to miss the pre-season cup game against Carlton at Blacktown on February 20.
