A Sydney Swans supporter could be pardoned for thinking this pre-season is purely a carbon copy of all other pre-seasons in the Paul Roos era. The low-scoring, two-point loss to the Hawks in Round 1 would be all the proof you need to confirm it. However, something exciting and unusual is going on in the Harbour city this summer: The Swans are fit, firing and if early form is anything to go on – the Swans are in with a chance to win a few early games (for a change). Everyone knows the coach has his stock-standard responses to the media and the fans have the choice to believe it or not. At the start of the pre-season, Paul Roos told us that due to the uncharacteristic early exit to season 07, the team had progressed further along the preparation time-line and are in good shape for the 2008 season. To most Swans fans this was the case of “nothing we haven’t heard before” and most of us thought we’d rather believe it when we saw it than take his word for it. After witnessing the game ...
