Young gun James Rowbottom has vowed to “continue to rise” in season 2020 on the back of a glistening debut campaign in Sydney Swans colours.
Sydney recruited the powerful midfielder from the Oakleigh Chargers with pick 25 at the 2018 AFL Draft and he impacted from the get-go, making the jump to the AFL stage in Round 5, 2019 and finishing with 12 senior games in the bank.
And while it’s common for new draftees to begin their careers in the forward line, at half-back or on a wing before being gradually exposed to the midfield, Rowbottom took on plenty of minutes at the stoppages in his first season at the top level.
The 19-year-old is intent on using his outstanding 2019 campaign as a launchpad for season 2020.
“Hopefully I can pick up where I left off. Playing over the back-end of the year last year was really positive in my first year, and hopefully I can start Round 1 on a similar note and continue to rise in 2020,” Rowbottom told SwansTV.
“Throughout most of the pre-season I’ve played as an inside midfielder. I also played a bit on the wing on the weekend and then up forward as well, so I’m working on a number of areas of my game, but I’m mainly playing forward.
“We do a lot of video analysis during the week of the team coming up in terms of individual analysis and how the team likes to play as well. With a team like GWS they’ve got a lot of guns in the midfield, so you’ve got to keep on top of what they like to do and also look at what we can do to exploit them."
Rowbottom says he’ll relish the opportunity to test his might against the star Giants midfielders in Saturday’s Marsh Community Series clash at Blacktown International Sportspark.
Rowbottom, Oliver Florent, Nick Blakey and James Bell are among a host of young Swans expected to tackle extra midfield minutes this year.
Brett Kirk and Dean Cox oversaw the midfield department in Rowbottom’s debut 2019 campaign, before the football department underwent a shake-up ahead of the 2020 season.
McVeigh and Kennelly are now in charge of the midfield unit, Cox is working in on-field strategy and performance analysis, Kirk has a role in development and high performance and John Blakey has moved to defence.
Rounding out the panel of assistant coaches is Steve Johnson, who’s set to lead the forward line for a third-consecutive season.
Rowbottom says he’s enjoying learning off club greats McVeigh and Kennelly.
“I played with Macca last year and he’s no different as a coach to what he was like as a player. He’s still that really demanding and influential leader that he was as a player, and he’s been awesome to work under,” Kennelly said.
“And Tadhg as well – he obviously coached last year and he’s picked up where he left off. He’s unbelievable.
“Their understanding of the game and delivery of messages are really influential to the group.”
Sydney will play its second and final Marsh Community Series match against North Melbourne at Tasmania’s Kingston Twin Ovals on March 9.
