SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos says only the refusal of some of his youngsters to follow instructions has prevented him swinging the selection axe for Saturday's crucial clash against Hawthorn at the SCG.
The Swans have lost their past two games by an average of more than 10 goals but they have made only one change to the team to face the Hawks, bringing in Trent Dennis-Lane for Brett Meredith.
In a rare public expression of frustration, Roos said he was bewildered that some of his talented young players had failed to take the opportunity to press their case for selection.
"As a senior coach, it surprises me that players can't work out that 'We just got beaten by 70, I might start doing what the development coaches are asking me to do' but sometimes it just doesn't happen," he said before training at the SCG on Thursday.
The Swans have lost their past two games by an average of more than 10 goals but they have made only one change to the team to face the Hawks, bringing in Trent Dennis-Lane for Brett Meredith.
In a rare public expression of frustration, Roos said he was bewildered that some of his talented young players had failed to take the opportunity to press their case for selection.
"As a senior coach, it surprises me that players can't work out that 'We just got beaten by 70, I might start doing what the development coaches are asking me to do' but sometimes it just doesn't happen," he said before training at the SCG on Thursday.
"Eventually, if it doesn't get through, they go and find something else to do.
"At the moment there are two or three guys that should be playing that just aren't, simply because of their own lack of performance and more specifically, they just don't want to do what we're asking them to do."
Despite constant inquiries from supporters, the outgoing Swans coach said he refused to relax his stance on players earning a game in the senior team.
"You get emails from people outside the club [saying] 'why aren't you playing this person, why aren't you playing that person?'" Roos said.
"I'm not going to hand out games. We've never done that as a footy club and I'm not going to start doing that with four games, and hopefully more, to go in my coaching career. That won't happen while I'm coaching."
Roos said he disagreed with the perception that the Swans' young players struggled to develop quickly because the AFL Canberra league was a weaker competition than the VFL, SANFL or WAFL.
He highlighted Swans rookie Nathan Gordon, who has just been promoted to the senior list in place of the retired Henry Playfair as an example of someone who took his opportunity.
"Nathan Gordon's a really good example. By weight of performance, he's now pushed his way on to the senior list because he tries as hard as he possibly can," Roos said.
"He runs as hard as he possibly can and he does the things we want our senior players to do in the seconds. Unfortunately for some of them, it doesn't get through."
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