Former Sydney coach Paul Roos has hailed his successor John Longmire and says the Swans’ emerging youngsters are the reason the club has gone to another level this AFL season.
Sydney are off to a sizzling 5-0 start, second on the ladder on percentage behind West Coast, the only other unbeaten team in the competition.
The Swans’ premiership odds were slashed dramatically after their scintillating second-half display in a 37-point win over early-season favourites Hawthorn in Launceston on Sunday.
Roos, whose eight-and-a-half season tenure included two grand finals and one premiership in 2005, said the Swans were as good as any team in the competition.
Now head of the club’s academy, Roos sees a real strength in the flexibility of the team, with several players capable of playing different positions.
And the speedy development of several youngsters was another major factor in the team’s rise.
“Going into a season, you just don’t know how quickly your younger players are going to develop,” said Roos, who stood down at the end of the 2010 season.
“I think Joey Kennedy has developed into an elite midfielder, Craig Bird is having an exceptional season and you’ve got Luke Parker, who has come out of nowhere.
“Alex Johnson, Sam Reid, Dan Hannebery has continued his good form.
“The thing that struck me yesterday, the young players, their development has been exceptional and full credit to Horse (Longmire) and the development staff and all the coaches.
“It’s been a terrific effort to get that group up really quickly.”
While Roos continues to receive credit for helping to blood much of the young talent, he stressed Longmire had played a part in that while working as his assistant.
“He’s a terrific coach and I think, like some of the players, he’s starting to get recognition as well,” Roos said of Longmire.
“People are giving me credit, which is fine, but John was there with me anyway, so we both made decisions on drafting – we both developed players.
“It’s clearly his side and he’s a very, very good coach. He has got a good coaching staff and the players are playing exceptionally well.”
