This is an interesting article on the differing philosophies towards rebuilding...How Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles rebuilt top teams Paul Roos
From: Herald Sun
September 10, 2011 COLLINGWOOD, Geelong and St Kilda all have been - to use a common phrase in modern footy- in the premiership window for the past few seasons.
All three have played in grand finals between 2008-10, with many of their players at the prime of their careers.
Each club will soon be confronted by tricky questions about regenerating their playing list, and will learn from the lessons of the past decade.
Clubs generally go through cycles. The 2003 and 2004 premiers, Brisbane Lions and Port Adelaide, had a combined seven wins this year. Remarkably, the 2005 and 2006 premiers, Sydney and West Coast, have combined for 29 wins and a draw this season, and enter the finals in red-hot form.
The intrigue is not so much that they remain contenders while their predecessors languish at the bottom of the ladder with seemingly plenty of work before they feature again in September.
What interests me most is that the Eagles and Swans have taken such different paths.
To me, "rebuilding phases" and "premiership windows" are mythical terms. They are easily bandied about and often used as a cop-out.
Sure, star footballers don't play forever, and when they retire you don't have a storage unit that you can reach into for your next Michael Voss, Gavin Wanganeen, Ben Cousins or Michael O'Loughlin.
The salary cap and draft are also difficult to negotiate, so there are significant forces working against a sustained period of success or a quick renovation of your team.
But I have no doubt clubs use these reasons as an excuse for years of sustained poor performance.
There was a total of five points difference between the Swans and Eagles across the 2005-06 grand finals, so they were clearly two very even outfits.
Five years down the track, both teams are similarly placed going into the next three to four seasons.
Examine the squads of 25 they have named for today's games and you will see both contain eight names who played in the 2006 GF.
Both clubs have managed to fill two-thirds of their squad with new names: it's just they have used different philosophies, reflecting two vastly different markets.
In the years since, Sydney has mostly remained in the top half of the ladder (7th, 5th, 12th, 5th and 7th), while the Eagles have spent some time near the bottom (5th, 15th, 11th, 16th and 4th).
West Coast coach John Worsfold turned to youth and early draft picks to return to the promised land.
With priority picks and the trade of skipper Chris Judd, the Eagles have had eight top-20 draft picks, including four in the top eight. In the same period, the Swans have had one top-eight draft pick (Gary Rohan in 2009).
Judd's return to Victoria at the end of 2007 took Josh Kennedy to Perth, where he has become an integral part of the Eagles set-up.
At the trade table, the Swans have picked up Marty Mattner (for pick 28, 2007) and Rhyce Shaw (pick 46, 2008), as well as Shane Mumford (pick 28), Josh Kennedy (pick 39) and Ben McGlynn (pick 46) in 2009.
The first four have managed top-three finishes in the club champion award, while McGlynn has been an exceptional pick-up.
The draft v trade mentalities are the obvious difference, but there have been some similarities in the clubs' approaches in the past five years.
Both clubs have had fit and healthy experienced leaders: notably Andrew Embley, Darren Glass, Dean Cox and Adam Selwood in Perth; Adam Goodes, Ryan O'Keefe, Jude Bolton and Jarrad McVeigh in Sydney.
Both teams have impressive youngsters who look to have a decade at the top level ahead of them: Chris Masten, Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey, Jack Darling, Brad Ebert and Andrew Gaff (Eagles); Dan Hannebery, Sam Reid, Alex Johnson, Luke Parker, Gary Rohan and Craig Bird (Swans).
Regardless of how the Swans and Eagles fare in these finals, their list management has ensured they should stay competitive for years to come.
Paul Roos appears on Fox Sports 1's On The Couch at 8.30pm on Monday.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/how-sydney-swans-and-west-coast-eagles-rebuilt-top-teams/story-fn7si1vl-1226133524567
