Sydney coach John Longmire is a big fan of the new AFLX tournament after the Swans named their first squad for the event to take place at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
The Swans named a squad of 20 on Wednesday, with Dane Rampe, Jake Lloyd, Sam Reid and Nick Smith the most senior players to feature.
Many clubs have kept their stars away from AFLX this weekend and Longmire said there was a logical reason for that, especially for those teams that played in the finals.
He said the fact that the majority of his list didn’t start training until early December, and many of his veterans were on modified programs until January, meant he couldn’t risk them in the shortened format.
Instead, the Swans will have a solid training session on Saturday morning to continue their preparation for the season proper.
“The challenge is that when your senior group starts on December 4, the older guys need to train really hard on Saturday rather than play a couple of shorter games,” Longmire said.
“You have to be mindful that we play two games of to 10-minute halves, so the players might only get 15 minutes of game time in.
“But all those issues and little bumps can be worked through and we can manage that.”
While the new format is yet to officially kick off, Longmire has thrown his support behind it.
He said AFLX was the perfect way to attract younger people to the game, especially in New South Wales and Queensland, where the rugby codes were dominant, and Aussie rules grounds were hard to come by.
Most grounds in Sydney are under council rule and are shut down at the first sight of rain during winter, a source of massive frustration for local clubs.
The Swans recently trained on artificial turf in Sydney and are looking into doing more of that in the future, given they have no access to the SCG over summer because of the cricket.
“I think AFLX is a good concept and anything new is worth trialling, particularly in the northern markets where there’s not as many ovals,” Longmire said.
“You need to be able to trial these games that appeal to kids and are suitable for facilities that are more available in the northern markets.”
Stars Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy, Isaac Heeney are among those missing for the AFLX tournament, but could return when in next week’s scratch match against Greater Western Sydney.
The Swans will play the Giants next Friday, with details of the game yet to be finalised.
“It’s great for us because they’re a quality team and the good thing about having two teams in Sydney is that they’re in our backyard,” Longmire said.
“We get a good hit out and there’s nothing like playing against [a good] opposition.
“Once round one starts you’re competing against each other fiercely, but at the moment both clubs are about the preparation.”
