New Sydney Swans VFL coach Damian Truslove will bring a wealth of experience to the red and white as he takes the reins of the club's development program in 2023.

Having experience at Carlton, Richmond, and GWS, Truslove has crafted his trade as a coach for over 15 years and is a widely respected mentor who is able to build strong relationships with players and staff.

Get to know Damian as we chat through his first few weeks at the club, and what he hopes to achieve next season and beyond.

1. Welcome to the club Damian, what have you made of your time at the Sydney Swans so far?

It's been really exciting to join the Swans. All the staff and players have been very welcoming.

They are all very genuine and it's helped me really enjoy my time. I feel like I've been here for a couple of years because everyone has made me feel so welcome.

The players are so driven so it's a really exciting time to be part of the club.

2. What would you say your strengths are as a coach?

I'm a relationships coach, so I like to build strong relationships with the players.

I believe that once you have that strong bond with them, then you're able to develop the players and improve them as much as possible.

Ultimately, we want to see as many VFL players as possible work their way into the AFL program, and then we want them to stay in that system for a long period of time.

3. How much pride do you take in fostering young talent and seeing them forge careers in the AFL?

This is what i'm really passionate about.

I like to see guys develop over time and once they get their opportunity in the AFL, we want them to stay in the team.

We just need to make sure that they're ready once they do get that opportunity and have all the attributes that's required to keep their spot.

If you can get five to six debutants that can hold their own at AFL level, that's really exciting.

4. What are you hoping to achieve in season 2023?

For me, I just want to develop the really exciting young talent that we have here at the club.

i want them to be ready to play in the AFL so when the opportunity comes they can hold their own and play good footy.

We want them to help the AFL team to succeed. Just as importantly, we want our VFL team to play finals footy.

5. Talk us through the excitement surrounding our VFL squad for next year?

We've been lucky enough to retain most of the VFL players from last year such as Jake Bartholomaeus, Harry Morrison, Will Collis, and Nic Shipley, and we have managed to bring in some new players also that is super exciting for the club.

I'm really happy with the group we have, and importantly we have four players from the QBE Sydney Swans Academy that will come into the VFL system. 

It's s a really young AFL and VFL list so working with all those young players to help them improve is really exciting. All of them are training well and jumping out of their skin.

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