Tom Papley has joined the Swans “1.66% Club” – reserved for players with 200 goals in red and white.
Papley’s two goals in Saturday night’s comprehensive win over St Kilda at the SCG made him just the 24th player among 1442 Swans players all-time to achieve this milestone.
In his 130th game 18 days short of his 26th birthday, he was the club’s eighth-youngest to 200 goals and the 13th quickest.
And according to official height records, only three Swans shorter than the 178cm powerball have kicked 200 goals: Bob Skilton and Stevie Wright at 171cm, and Barry Mitchell at 173cm.
Papley now ranks among the 3.12 per cent of AFL players across all clubs to reach 200 goals, and, significantly, the former rookie was the first player from the 2015 AFL Draft to 200. Easily.
Drafted by the Swans with pick #14 in the rookie draft, he was the 73rd player taken in a draft in which 91 players joined the AFL for the first time.
Only six other 2015 draftees have even reached 100 goals: Brisbane’s Eric Hipwood (167), Carlton 2021 Coleman Medallist Harry McKay (158), recently-retired Essendon rookie Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (153), GWS’ Harry Himmelberg (146), Carlton’s 2022 Coleman Medal leader Charlie Curnow (123) and St Kilda’s Jade Gresham (115).
Papley also sits second on the games list for 2015 draftees behind only Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver (138) despite missing the first six games of this season with the first serious injury of his career.
Just as these comparative statistics underline the significance of the Papley milestone, they also identify the extraordinary feats of some of the club’s early goal-kicking stars.
All-time leading goal-kicker Bob Pratt was youngest to 200 goals at 20 years 311 days – more than two years younger than second-ranked Tony Morwood, who was 23 years five days.
Making up the top 10 youngest were Skilton (23/255), Warwick Capper (23/332), Michael O’Loughlin (24/131), Ted Johnson (24/289), Len Mortimer (25/42), Papley, Peter Bedford (26/101) and Mitchell (26/127).
Similarly, Tony Lockett’s 36-game charge to 200 goals is easily the quickest from Pratt, Capper and Lance Franklin, who each took 61 games to post their double-century for the club.
Completing the quickest top 10 to 200 are Johnson (66), Barry Hall (68), Laurie Nash (85), Mortimer (98), Skilton and Morwood (107).
Nash, who reached 200 goals in his sixth season in 1945 after seven years out of the game during the Second World War, is the oldest player to 200 goals, three days after his 35th birthday.
The player who took the most games to reach 200 goals was Jarrad McVeigh (311).
Mortimer, who kicked 289 goals in 153 games from 1906-15 and topped the club goal-kicking in his first seven seasons, was the Swans’ first 200-goal player. He was also a member of the 1909 premiership side.
Johnson, a 136-gamer who kicked 385 goals from 1923-31 and topped the club goal-kicking six years in a row, was the second Swans player to 200 goals, followed by Pratt in 1933.
