GVL preview | ‘Young and exciting’: Swans mentor looking forward to new campaign

INS: Bowen Calogero (Shepparton United), Joeve Cooper (Shepparton United), Zac Banch (Yarrawonga)

OUTS: Charlie Hill (Numurkah), Angus Harrington (Tallygaroopna), Ryan Pfeiffer, Tom Campbell (Shepparton East), Luke Moore, Jessie Finnen, Zac Alderton

The promising rebuild at Princess Park is set to continue this season for Shepparton Swans.

The off-season had the passing of the baton from champion clubman and coach Paul Hawke to one of the club’s favourite sons Andrew Riordan.

Supporters of the Swans can expect Riordan to continue on the valuable work done by his predecessor in the past couple of years.

Brett Warburton, who coached the Swans to a flag in 2014, and Rob Auld will help assist Riordan through his first season at the helm.

“We have a lot to thank Hawkey for after his work over the past few years,” Riordan said.

“He’s got us back from a pretty tough place and laid down the foundations for the future.

“I learned a lot from (him) and it’s been great to have both Brett and Rob help out as well.

“We know our rebuild won’t happen overnight. It will take some time, but there is a lot of excitement to what the future will bring.”

Once an easy-beat of the Goulburn Valley League a short time ago, the young Swans showed glimpses of what the future has in store for them during 2021.

Two wins and a handful of character-building close losses highlighted Hawke’s last season at the helm.

It has been a long process, but one that Riordan is keen to continue under his watch.

“We’ll look to play a similar style to what Hawkey brought in over the past few years,” Riordan said.

The Swans’ youth of yesteryear, Nathan Rachele, Ty Collison and Rylen Damianopoulos, mixed with the next slab of youngsters, Diesel Batey, Zac Clohesy, Steele Simpson and co should have the Swans’ faithful hopeful for the year ahead.

That group has risen through the ranks, while new additions Bowen Calogero (Shepparton United), Joeve Cooper (Shepparton United) and Zac Banch (Yarrawonga) have joined in the off-season.

All three new faces have experience in the Murray Bushrangers’ system, while Cooper is still on the Bushies’ under-19 list.

Banch will reunite with Batey and Calogero, two of his former Bushrangers teammates when he was a member of the junior program.

Riordan described teenage pair Calogero and Cooper as two “top-end talents” who will break through in the senior ranks.

When summing up his outfit, exciting was one of the key words Riordan used to describe his charges.

“We might lack a bit of experience, but we are a really young and exciting group,” he said.

“There is a good batch of players in that 20-22 age bracket.”

FINISHING RANGE: 8th–10th

The Swans have come from a long way back, but with the foundations of a strong rebuild in place and a bright future ahead expect them to take another step in the right direction this season. The departures of Alderton, Finnen and Hill will be a blow, but they have brought in three classy young guns. Expect the Swans to push sides again and pop up with some upset wins.

GAME CHANGER: BJ Squire — Each year it feels like a bit of a copy and paste job when writing about the game changer at the Swans, but the star midfielder is one of the competition’s best performers. Squire is renowned for his ability to cover the ground, gather disposals at ease and slice open opposition defences. Another club best-and-fairest under his belt last season cements his place as one of the finest to have donned the red and white.