New arrivals settling in
Assistant coach Peter Berbakov gives us the lowdown on the Swans' newest arrivals...
Ruckmen Mark Seaby and Shane Mumford and midfielders Ben McGlynn and Josh Kennedy arrived during the October trade period and all four have made a good first impression.
However, former Geelong ruckman Mumford has been the early standout.
“Shane has been showing himself to be a good athlete - very quick off the mark, he’s got good conditioning for a big fella and watching him in the skills sessions, he looks like he’ll be a real bonus for us,” Berbakov said.
Kennedy (hip) and Seaby (ankle) have been restricted slightly as they continue to recover from off-season surgery but Berbakov said both were close to joining the full group.
“They’ve still be able to do a lot of long distance stuff without doing some of the shorter, sharper stuff,” he said.
“They’re not coming in off doing nothing so they’ll be able to hit the ground running.”
Similarly, McGlynn’s workload has been limited by a slight hamstring problem but Berbakov said he had impressed in his efforts.
At the other end of the experience scale, prospective recruit Daniel Bradshaw has been able to join in the bulk of running and skills work.
Berbakov said the former Brisbane Lions forward would increase his workload if and when he officially became a Swan in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft in December.
“Being an older player, we can afford to take our time with him,” he said of Bradshaw.
“He’s had a lot of pre-seasons to get some good conditioning and he won’t take long to get up to speed. He’s just being cotton-woolled at this stage.”
With 12 players departing the club in the past 12 months, Berbakov said there was definitely a different atmosphere as the Swans hit the training track.
“I think it just invigorates everyone,” he said.
“The boys are going to have a bit of a get-together to welcome in the new players and that’s going to be a side of our pre-season as well.
“Getting everyone used to each other and all their idiosyncrasies will be really important.
“We’ll be trying to get them as much game time and training together so they know each other pretty well by we hit the pre-season games and round one.”