Former Sydney Swans players Brandon Jack and Dean Towers have recently celebrated their graduation from UNSW.

Jack played 28 games between 2013-2017 and Towers 57 games from 2014-2018 and have now gone on to graduate at UNSW, a university that is close to both of their hearts. Towers is the current captain-coach of the UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs Men’s Premier Division team and Jack is a key player in this side so have had a connection to the university for many years.

The pair recently graduated from their degrees (Towers: Bachelor of Exercise Physiology and Jack: Bachelor of Arts) with Towers already enjoying his new career as an exercise physiologist.

“I feel like UNSW has really prepared me quite well to step straight into the role that I'm trained to do and make an impact straightaway,” he said.

“The credit goes to all the great staff, because their passion for teaching their subjects and passing on their experiences in the field that I'm going into has really helped me develop into the ready-made EP that I am.”

“The university just made it so easy to transition from football into uni life and the support from Helen Bryson (UNSW Elite Athlete Program Manager) and the team at UNSW was just so great.”

Jack’s trajectory was a little different – he entered UNSW straight from high school on an academic scholarship but altered his workload to fit around football and changed courses a number of times over the years, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts.

“Once I came (to UNSW) I knew I wanted to stay,” he said.

“It's just a great campus, I always felt like all the lecturers and tutors were approachable.

“I went part time over eight years and I always enjoyed coming in on my day off or having an hour in here for a tute – it was a nice escape for me from football.”

Jack’s Arts degree has also proved fruitful already – in 2021 he published his first book 28, which is a memoir of his life in football and beyond.

“I did my first my first bout of creative writing at this uni and some of the courses I did here really aligned to (my book),” he said.

“I did some nonfiction writing courses about writing memoirs and those were pretty influential in shaping what I ended up writing. I wouldn't have the book that I wrote without this uni.”

While the two teammates are forging very different career paths, they remain the firmest of friends – their bonds cemented through experiences in football and study.

Towers has a clear idea of where he wants to take his career in the future.

“I love helping people and educating people as well,” he said.

“At the moment, I'm working in private practice and I think if I continue down this path, it'll be as a business owner, taking on new EPs to teach them and help them develop their craft while trying to run a successful business.

“But there are so many different pathways that are opening up for EPs - it's a really exciting career.

“I'll just keep taking every good opportunity that presents.”

Jack too has an idea of what his future holds.

“I'll write the books that people read in Dean's waiting room,” he said.

“More books, more writing – every couple of years I’ll hopefully have a book out.”

It is unsurprising that these two high achievers have ambitious goals and the determination and resilience they have built throughout their football careers and university studies will provide them with every chance at success.

Click here to read more about the new partnership between the Sydney Swans and UNSW.