Worn proudly by premiership players Ryan O’Keefe, Nick Malceski and Lewis Roberts-Thomson over the last decade, next year a new crop of young talent will pull on the famous numbers, with Isaac Heeney to don number five, Abaina Davis number nine and first-round rookie selection Sean McLaren taking on the number 30.
For Heeney, who was the club’s first selection in this year’s AFL Draft via the QBE Sydney Swans Academy, wearing the number five will be a dream come true.
The 18-year-old, who grew up supporting the Swans, said he is thrilled to be able to pull on the number made famous by O’Keefe between 2001 and 2014.
“It’s amazing - it’s always been my dream number to wear,” Heeney told sydneyswans.com.au.
“Ryan O’Keefe was always my favourite player, so to have that number is an absolute honour and I’ll do my best to have a career like his.
“Even if I could achieve just half of what he did in his career, I’d be absolutely stoked.”
Davis, who was also an Academy selection in this year’s Draft, will claim the number nine guernsey in 2015, following on from former Swan Nick Malceski, who wore the number from 2006 before relocating to the Gold Coast Suns at the end of the 2014 season.
While acknowledging that taking on the jumper of a premiership player was a big challenge, Davis said he was looking forward to trying to forge his own successful career in the guernsey.
“I was really happy to try and embrace it rather than shy away from taking on a lower number,” Davis said.
“I really want to make it my own, but in saying that, obviously following after Mal is going to be a tough thing to do.
“But I just want to set high goals for myself, and taking on the number nine is a good start.”
18-year-old McLaren will have equally big shoes to fill when he takes over the number 30 guernsey, which was worn by the recently retired Roberts-Thomson between 2003 and 2014.
Already nicknamed by his new team mates in his first week at the club, McLaren said he was determined to do his best to live up to the number worn in two premierships by ‘LRT’.
“It’s a big one, but obviously it’s an honour to be playing under the number 30,” he said.
“The boys have already given me the name ‘Warrior’, so that’s been running around the track at the moment!
“I think I’m just going to try and give it all my effort and it give it all my guts and try and live up to the number, but obviously it’s a very big role.”
Academy selection Jack Hiscox will take over the number 17 guernsey from Tommy Walsh, who returned to Ireland at the end of the 2014 season, while fellow draftee James Rose moves into the number one guernsey in 2015 following Tim Membrey’s move to St Kilda.
Rookies Nic Newman, Lewis Melican and Jordan Foote will wear numbers 28, 43 and 45 respectively in 2015, while there were no other changes to the jumper numbers already allocated to the senior list.
2015 Jumper Number Allocation
1 - James Rose
2 - Rhyce Shaw
3 - Jarrad McVeigh
4 - Daniel Hannebery
5 - Isaac Heeney
6 - Tom Mitchell
7 - Harry Cunningham
8 - Kurt Tippett
9 - Abaina Davis
10 - Zak Jones
11 - Jeremy Laidler
12 - Josh Kennedy
13 - Toby Nankervis
14 - Craig Bird
15 - Kieren Jack
16 - Gary Rohan
17 - Jack Hiscox
18 - Vacant
19 - Tom Derickx
20 - Sam Reid
21 - Ben McGlynn
22 - Dean Towers
23 - Lance Franklin
24 - Dane Rampe
25 - Ted Richards
26 - Luke Parker
27 - Daniel Robinson
28 - Nic Newman
29 - George Hewett
30 - Sean McLaren
31 - Harrison Marsh
32 - Lewis Jetta
33 - Brandon Jack
34 - Alex Johnson
35 - Sam Naismith
36 - Aliir Aliir
37 - Adam Goodes
38 - Mike Pyke
39 - Heath Grundy
40 - Nick Smith
41 - Lloyd Perris
42 - Xavier Richards
43 - Lewis Melican
44 - Jake Lloyd
45 - Jordan Foote
