Five trade targets for EVERY AFL club: Sydney Swans

Some key defenders, an inside onballer and a young ruck make Sydney’s wish list.

STAFF WRITER | August 24, 2023 - 3:06pm

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As the Sydney Swans return to finals, most of the season was filled with doubt on whether they would return after a year fuelled with injury, setbacks and poor performances that had the Swans ruled out of any chance to return for another shot at glory.

An up-and-down year was the narrative for the Swans but the focus shifts to the business end of the season as Sydney looks to make a deep finals run.

Now with retirements looking to change the Swans' list demographic, who could be possible targets on their radar that could have them back to their dominating best?

Here are our five trade targets that the Swans could bring to the Harbour City.

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1. Adam Tomlinson

At 30 years old, Tomlinson has become a fringe player for the Demons struggling to burst into the senior side on a more consistent basis.

So far in 2023, he's only been selected to play in eight games which could make him want to move to Sydney where he could receive more playing time.

At 194cm, he's a large key defender. A puzzle piece that could be crucial to Sydney's improvement in 2024 given the Swans, out of all the top eight teams, conceded the third highest amount of points against.

His numbers over his career haven't been the best but Tomlinson can be accountable for his direct opponent and he can apply strong pressure around the ball. His numbers over his 11-year tenure average at 14.5 disposals, 1.9 tackles with 9.4 pressure acts per game.

Since 2020 Tomlinson has been a formidable key defender, as he has only lost nine times out of 64 one-on-one contests, meaning he wins or equals approximately 85% of one-on-one contests.

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