The wife and I will be visiting Sydney from the US the week of the opener. We're interested in attending, but having a hard time figuring out how to purchase tickets. The membership aspect has me a bit confused.

Are single tickets available? Or is a membership required?

Hi All,

Anyone have a generic members password which can be used to access the per-sale starting tomorrow (Dec 5)?

Cheers

D.

Decided to start playing a season of AFL 23 to get me pumped for next year. Even then, playing opening round against Melbourne, we start 24 points down before coming back to win by 21.

Seriously, can't get away from the slow starts! Hope it's not an omen!

I came across this blog a week ago following up on draft stuff. With the big news I will start with a post as INTRO + GENERAL COMMENTS.

Really appreciate lots of good stuff being posted – extra background info and good perspectives.

INTRO

As a kid I was a saints fan – at HS for the 1966 win. (Forever grateful to Alan Jeans).

But we moved to Sydney. Way before the Swans came. It was such an awful sahara desert of nothingness for footy then. When the swans came we started to go to a few games – just to see footy. It took about 3 games for all of us to just switch – there and then.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Apologies for not putting these into all the relevant threads. This is a one-off. Please bear with me.

JL LEGACY

Syd 2005  -Forever grateful to Paul Roos. (as a player as well!!)

syd 2012 – Forever grateful to Horse.

I’m not in the camp of those who want to diss on lost grand finals. Looks like most you are the same.

2014 – put your hand up if you foresaw Hawks will come out and thug/bash their way to victory.

2016 – put your hand up if you don’t believe in THE FOOTBALL GODS. (ie Tom X the no 1 drft tall who only played ONE brilliant game – goes down injured in 3^(rd) qtr instead of Buddy. We win and the footy gods are crying). Maybe you also don’t believe in the miracle of 2005 final against Geelong.

2022- I’m in the camp of – we were just not ready.

2024. It’s still too raw. But we’re in such good shape to climb the mountain.

I really appreciate the poster who pointed out – just looking at Prelims – the record is 5 out of six. Wow. Generally speaking Prelims are more often EPIC, wheras GF often crash and burn – it’s the nature of the beast.

And we look forward.

THE DRAFT

Personally my gut feel about the draft overall – there were only 4 players to die for – Smilie Tauru Langford Travalgia. After that there were quite a few good options for most clubs – depending on how the cards fall. I think Sydneys picks were mostly steady as she goes typical swans style. Except for the 2 pick – a doozy. It was useful to see the intel that Richmond rated him as well. Still, there were quite a few alternatives to him. To come off Ned needs to be a bit micky O + a bit james hird.

 I didn’t see anybody comment on the recruiting guys saying “ we wanted a difference in ATHLETIC PROFILE in the fwds / def” .  I’m guessing they meant more emphasis on ROBUST as a metric.

Not sure how you can pick that in 18 yr olds – but hey – does that mean we’ll pick Flanders over Dylan or weddle over konstanty next time?

POSITIONAL CHANGES.

The absolute must do – Blakey to wing / some midfield. Such a weapon.

OK  who replaces him in defence ? Just do it. Whatever. Can Bice cover this? can Snell step up? Do it.

JJ should be used more often as midfield tagger rather than def fwd. For the GF I was thinking they should have started Parker on Zorko, JJ on McCluggage. Sure he can take the likes of Whitfield – but in that GWS final he was more effective when switched to the midfield corresponding with our fightback.

What to do with Braeden C. A good player a bit in positional no-mans land. Not quite a gun midfielder sort of ok as a forward – but there are other player options. Suggest back pocket stopper but with a licence to run off his man. Sure his kicking won’t be as fully utilised but still fills a team need.

Still have faith in Logan Mcd. Keep him fwd. Good to see the comment that Will G has some fwd ability – that could be a way to ease him into the game.

Caedyn is a gun – get him going in the MF asap.

THE CHAD. I think it will primarily come down to his relationship with Dean Cox. More team success will help.

One of Sydney’s fresh faces stole the show as the Dean Cox era got underway less than 24 hours after John Longmire stepped down as coach. LACHLAN MCKIRDY was there.

The Dean Cox era officially began at the Sydney Swans on Wednesday morning with players put through their paces in sweltering conditions at Moore Park.It was the second session of the week for the club’s first to fourth-year players, with several of their high-profile stars also returning to get stuck into pre-season.Callum Mills was a vocal figure, balancing a combination of match play drills with his own running and conditioning to the side of the main group. The Sydney skipper will have a point to prove in 2025 after missing so much of last season’s campaign but he looks as fit as he ever has and well conditioned to start next year strongly.

Brodie Grundy was another sweating it out in his pre-second season at the Swans. The ruckman focused on endurance as he joined in on the taxing full-field shuttle runs the players were put through.

Lined up across the goalsquare, there was a sense that Sydney’s strength and conditioning staff wanted to set a standard for the summer ahead. With the temperature surpassing 30 degrees already at 9.30am, they ran in groups to the other set of goalposts and back.The key message was to make sure they responded positively. “Body language” was repeatedly shouted at the players during their breaks between sprints: “You can be tired, but you can’t look tired.”

Another group of more senior players stood to the side working on their ball skills – Lewis Melican, Robbie Fox, James Jordon and Sam Wicks. The quartet looked sharp by hand and eager to rip into the new campaign.But as Cox observed much of the session from a distance, watching on in his new position for the first time, the eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the new faces at the club.First-round draft pick Jesse Dattoli is an impressive size for a small forward and already has plenty of size. That should put him in a good position to make a case for selection if he is in the frame come February.

Riak Andrew bolted up the draft following an impressive second half of the season for Dandenong and there is certainly plenty of upside. He is still considered a raw talent, but around an experienced Swans defence that will include the likes of Dane Rampe and Tom McCartin, he should develop well.However, Riley Bice is the standout name among the new recruits. The 24-year-old is fresh off a premiership campaign with Werribee and the Swans are under no illusion that he could play in the opening round against Hawthorn if required.There’s still a long way to go before the first ball is bounced for Cox as a head coach, but it’s easy to see that he’s inherited a young and hungry squad from John Longmire ready to make amends for their grand final disappointment.

PLAYERS WHO IMPRESSED

WILL GREEN - The young ruckman didn’t play an AFL game in his first season on the Swans’ list but looks primed for a big impact in 2025. He’ll love that a fellow ruckman is now his head coach, but it’s his ball use that stands out for a big man. He regularly hit targets lace-out and was also leading some of the shuttle runs. Sydney has been patient with the 19-year-old but it looks like it should pay off.

RILEY BICE - The 24-year-old’s left foot is a thing of beauty. He has instantly struck up a bond with his new teammates and was finding targets easily. He should finally get his long-awaited chance to play AFL in 2025 and force some tough selection decisions.

JESSE DATTOLI - The searing heat didn’t both the young Victorian, leading several of the later shuttle runs and working tirelessly in some of the team drills. Dattoli arrives at the club with more size than some of the previous young forwards at the Swans have had and that should put him in good stead for his first year in the AFL.

COREY WARNER - After winning the club’s first two-kilometre time trial on Monday, Warner looks lean and ready to become more than just a fringe player. His pressure off the ball was noticeable and his decision-making in low-intensity match simulations looked improved.

PATRICK SNELL - The young defender is another who looks ready to step up to the AFL if required in 2025. Snell has bulked up considerably and will be looking to standout given the arrival of several other defenders in the draft such as Bice and Andrew.

https://x.com/tommorris32/status/1861173259372503421

Probably the right call. The club needed a circuit breaker after another GF humiliation.

Horse has been a great coach and leader.