Swans swoop on TAC Cup star Ling

A BEST-ON-GROUND performance from Matthew Ling in week one of the TAC Cup finals sent a scare through the Sydney recruiting camp but the Swans landed their man last night, taking the St Mary’s youngster with their first selection at pick 14.

Ling got better as the season went on and surprised some experts with just how early he went in the draft, but Sydney recruiting and list manager Kinnear Beatson said the Swans were always keen on the St Joseph’s Col- lege product and were thrilled he was still available.

“We followed Matty pretty closely throughout the year and we just felt his form and development continued on an upward movement,” Beatson said.

“A couple of the games he had in the finals series — one in particular against Gippsland — was really exciting but we were thinking he’d blown his cover.

“He can really break the lines and he just kept getting better and better with his decision making and what we like about him is he plays really team-oriented footy … to have that as a natural asset as an 18-year-old kid is something pretty handy to have.”

Ling will be joined by teammate Tom McCartin, who slipped through to the Swans at pick 33.

Beatson said McCartin would benefit greatly from time spent developing alongside the game’s most exciting tall forward in Buddy Franklin. “We rated him really highly and he’s a 30th of December date-of-birth so he’s just a pup, but the thing we like about him is he is quite raw but plays with a real presence.

“To have him there to develop with Sam Reid and Lance, we’ve been looking for a key forward to bring in and take our time with.”

Beatson said he saw no reason why Ling and McCartin could not play senior football in 2018.