After missing Finals last season, many are predicting a bounce back from the Swans in 2026. The huge recruit of Charlie Curnow, and a fit Errol Gulden will go along way to making that happen. In Dean Cox’s second season at the helm, the Swans look to be playing a faster game style, this should make them an exciting watch. Fast footy on a small SCG should make for some great scoring. There’s plenty on offer Super Coach wise at Sydney this year, so I wanted to get to the official practice game before finishing this one.
The Lock
Errol Gulden ( Mid ) $566.600
Errol ticks a heap of boxes as a SC pick. Injury affected discount. Tick. Elite scoring, with a seemingly mainly outside role.Tick. Slated for more inside time. Tick. I could keep listing them, but this is getting boring. So let’s rewind a bit. In Guldens first 2 games of footy (2021) he scored 139 and 136. This was back when Buddy Franklin was still running around. Fast Forward 5 years and add Charlie Curnow to the story, and it looks like all the stars have aligned. Trust me this guy was 100% made for SC. Even with his early Bye, I can’t find many reasons to leave out Errol Gulden.
The Dark Horse
Isaac Heeney ( Mid ) $593.600
Heeney he will always be a SC enigma. If you’ve never played SC, or are new to the game, trust me when I tell you Heeney has been, over the journey, more than frustrating. Long story short, in 2024 Heeney finally got the midfield time we were so desperately waiting for, and went absolutely nuts. His first 4 scores of 2024 were – 136 -128- 148 – 165- if you missed him, your whole season was cooked. Heeney is a true Impact player with a great ceiling. In round 19 of last year Isaac scored a whopping 197. Certainly one to consider, if you can fit him in your Bye structure and Budget.
The Breakout
Nick Blakey ( Def ) $548.700
I know he has already technically “broken out ‘ I just think he might get to the next level in 2026 Also, I like this pick, so I wanted to write about him. It’s fun watching players that are easily identified and exciting to watch. “The lizard ” is all this and maybe just more. Nick spent a heap of last year patching “tall holes” in the Swans backline. He wasn’t really allowed to play his natural game, when the troops finally arrived , Nick took off post bye, when he averaged 111 ( 113 of the last 5 ).This type of scoring could mean he makes the jump into the elite Defender category. At just 2% owned he is a real point of difference as well. I’m such a sucker for a POD. 🙂
The Rookie
Jai Serong ( def ) $119.900
I was initially a bit skeptical of this pick. Sydney has a tendency to reward years of service and play the older more established guys. Watching Jai in person at the Community series game, I was quietly impressed. The wing role is not ideal, but he ran hard all afternoon in trying conditions, and found a bit of the ball. He even got forward and had a shot on goal. Honestly it was one of the worst shots on goal I’ve ever seen, but the conditions wouldn’t have helped. Fantasy Freako had him scoring 80 SC points for the game. Depending on your structure, I think Jai probably deserves at least a bench spot. I think his versatility should help him hold his spot long enough to make some cash.
Here’s some observations from the match with GWS. Grundy looks elite, but his main opponent was Madden who’s hardly played a game. Gulden came off early with an ankle, but it looks to just be precautionary. For GWS, Delana could get a small forward role after an impressive match, he had 14 touches and 6 tackles. Toby Green played a heap of midfield time, but it’s hard to fit him in a forward line with both Flanders and Pou on the same round 4 Bye. Oliver was everywhere, but turned the ball over a bit and although the role is secure, I’m unsure if he can regain Uber midfield status.
Let me know in the comments if you have any more questions about the Sydney Swans.
I’d also like to personally thank Brett Sprigg ( ABC commentator ) for organizing the tickets and joining me for the game.
How good to run into the great Neil Cordy. Legend !
Thanks for Reading FT.
Grundy’s scaled-down 115 from 58% TOG, was pretty decent on a rain soaked oval. Covered the ground well, made most stoppages and his jump is pretty good.
So far, I’ve got Big X and Tingles as my R1/R2, (Tingles excellent against Hawks duo), if X seems off with these Ruck rules, Grundy in for me.
Even big Max against Nank played like the new rules make zero impact on proven Ruck scorers…
Steverino
Grundy and English unfortunately both have the round 3 Bye. 🙁
So do Trac / Noah, Heeney, Gulden . How many can we start ?
I like them both, but English a bit cheaper.
Solid points FT for sure. I really want to fit NAS in now after the Saints game, so I’m going to need to look at cheaper Rucks, maybe DCam or the Unicorn to go with Tingles. Don’t think I’ve got the nuts to go McAndrew at R2 like I’m seeing a fair bit lately.
I’ve got Trac and Gulden too, might need to look a bit deeper at the early byes, I’m usually not good at checking my bye structure
No mention of Mills here, is it his history of injury? Slightly under-priced but finished last year pretty well.
Or is it just that bye round that’s the problem?
Hey Chillo.
Mills could certainly be an option this year. Shared the kick ins in the Com series game. Proven scorer with what seems like a friendly backline role. Along with Grundy it’s hard to fit them all in.
The early Bye does present some problems when looking at to many Swans players though.
Guldens career of annually posting almost 50% of scores below 100 and the early bye are very good reasons to not start him.
There’s a comment somewhere that breaks it down fully and its not an exciting read if you have him, even in his best year he had something like ten sub 100 including six sub 90 scores and 2-3 sub 80, it’s only the 2-4 monster scores each year that push his average over 100.
It’s great if you start him and he scores the big ones early but if he doesn’t you could easily drop 100k
David.
Guldens early career was almost entirely played on the wing, and we all know that can be starvation corner, and produce some low scores.
He has now played 100 games and the Coach has said that he will get more inside Midfield time this season.
I see him as a very interesting option, but no pick is for everyone, so if you prefer someone else go ahead, that’s the beauty of SC