SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos says there’s a different feeling around the club as it contemplates missing the finals for the first time in six years.
The Swans’ five-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night and Essendon’s surprise win against a previously unbeaten St Kilda means September action is little more than a pipedream.
But Roos said there was still plenty of excitement as the Swans reflected on their strong late-season form, driven by rapid improvement in their young players.
“Playing finals would have been nice with this group of players. We’re playing really well – that’s the frustrating thing, we’re playing fantastic footy at the moment – but we just haven’t won enough games to play finals,” Roos said on Monday.
“You love to play finals and be in the mix at the end of the year… but the excitement now stems from the fact that you’re starting guys’ careers.
“There’s genuine excitement within the group that we can’t wait for getting another pre-season into these guys and getting some consistency with our structures.
“You’ve got to remember that last year, we trained with Mick [O'Loughlin] and we trained with [Barry] Hall and next year they won’t be here. The excitement now is about 2010.”
Before the Swans turn their attention to next season, there’s the small matter of two more games to play against Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions to complete their campaign.
Roos was wary of his players slackening their standards against the Magpies on Sunday after honourable losses to premiership contenders St Kilda and Geelong.
“It’s a really important time for us as a club and we’re really getting out of the season what we want, so we don’t want to drop off in that regard,” he said.
“We want to make sure those young guys keep improving. We’ve had some really good contests in front of good crowds.
“The last two games against Geelong and St Kilda have been real finals-type games so they’re invaluable experience and we know against Collingwood that it will be the same.”
However, he conceded youngsters like Nick Smith, Jesse White and year 12 student Dan Hannebery could begin to show signs of fatigue in the coming fortnight.
At the other end of the Swans’ age scale, Roos said he expected Brett Kirk to play on in 2010, while Leo Barry is still likely to retire at season’s end, despite a successful senior return against Geelong.
Injury-plagued midfielder Jared Crouch is one of the experienced players yet to publicly indicate his intentions for 2010.
Roos said he was unsure of a number of his older players’ plans but he expected to find out soon.
“I’d suspect over the next week, the next two or three days, that we’ll hear from a couple of the others,” Roos said.
“Leo said last year that he was going to give it away [at the end of 2009]. I think after his year he’d be a bit frustrated but in terms of the other guys, I’m not sure.”
