Sydney Swans CEO Tom Harley has full faith in the club’s young squad as the opening bounce of its 2020 campaign draws closer.
When Richmond and Carlton open the 2020 season at the MCG next Thursday night, Sydney will have the second-youngest list in the league and the third-least experienced.
At the beginning of Round 1, the Swans’ average age will be just 23.54 and their games-played average only 55.6.
The make-up of Sydney’s list changed dramatically when the retirements of seasoned campaigners Jarrad McVeigh (325 AFL games), Kieren Jack (256), Heath Grundy (256) and Nick Smith (211) stripped the Swans of 1048 matches’ worth of experience at the end of the 2019 campaign.
But Harley is confident as the Swans steel themselves for a season-opening clash with the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval next Saturday, pointing out that a host of Sydney’s youngsters have already played plenty of footy together.
“We’ve got young very quickly. However the silver lining to that is the big jolt of that happened last year and we’re actually starting to develop some really good combined experience within our team,” Harley said on SEN SA show Kymbo and The Rooch.
“An example I might use is Tommy McCartin has just turned 20 but he’s played 34 games and 21 of those with Nick Blakey. Ollie Florent and Will Hayward have played a lot of footy together, and Isaac Heeney, Callum Mills and Tom Papley have played a lot of footy together.
“So yes, we are young and inexperienced, but we’ve got games into our players over the last couple of years.”
A moment to remember for Nick Blakey, his first goal on debut! #ProudlySydney pic.twitter.com/fTxstVdw79
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) March 23, 2019
Twenty-seven of Sydney’s 46 players have played less than 50 AFL games, although McCartin (34), Sam Naismith (28), Jordan Dawson (25) and Blakey (21), when fit, tend to be automatic members of the best 22.
Dawson played just five senior games over his first three seasons at the club but enjoyed a soaring rise in 2019, running out for 20 of a possible 22 matches and proving pivotal all over the ground.
The South Australian’s miserly one-on-one defending, expert reading of the play and pinpoint disposal made him a particular threat in Sydney’s new-look defence – and his stellar season culminated in him winning the club’s Most Improved award.
Harley believes the club’s list is in a position to thrive.
“We’re really excited about our list and we’re very confident that we’re ably led by our senior players, in particularly our co-captains Luke Parker, Dane Rampe and Josh Kennedy," Harley said.
“We’re not making excuses. We’ll measure ourselves against what we always have, which is absolute effort and being difficult and hard to play against.”
