If you thought John Longmire looked a bit like a proud father after Friday night’s heart-stopping win over Richmond at Adelaide Oval then you’d be pretty right. And with every justification.
The side that gutted out one of the great wins of the Longmire era was the youngest and most inexperienced of his 288-game stint as Sydney Swans coach.
With an average age of 24 years 87 days and average experience of 82.6 games, it boasted no less than 15 players aged 24 or younger, and 11 players who had played less than 50 AFL games.
So young was the side that 26-year-old Isaac Heeney was the fifth-oldest.
From Round 4 to Round 5, when the unavailable Lance Franklin, Dane Rampe, Paddy McCartin and Tom McCartin were replaced by Hayden McLean, Matt Roberts and debutants Corey Warner and Will Gould, the side dropped an average of 541 days in age and an average 30 games of experience.
The missing quartet boast a combined age of 119 years and a combined experience of 736 games, while the equivalent figures for their replacements are a meagre 85 years and 41 games.
Technically, there have been two Longmire sides fractionally younger, and three Longmire sides fractionally less experienced, but the fact that none of them can match the 24 and younger group and the sub-50 games group justifies the claim of the youngest and most inexperienced overall.
Officially, the youngest side to play under Longmire was Round 1, 2021, which had an average age of 24 years 76 days – 11 days per player younger than Friday night’s side.
That was against Brisbane at the Gabba, when 18-year-olds Logan McDonald and Errol Gulden and 19-year-old Braeden Campbell made their debut in a 31-point win. Chad Warner (19) played his third game in the same side which included three players aged 30+: Josh Kennedy (32), Rampe (30) and Tom Hickey (30).
The absence of 36-year-old Franklin and 32-year-old Rampe on Friday night left Luke Parker as the only player in the side to have turned 30.
Only once in the Longmire era have the Swans fielded a side without a 30-year-old. That was Round 1, 2016 against Collingwood at the SCG, when the Swans won by 80 points.
Heath Grundy, 67 days short of his 30th birthday, was the oldest player in a side which included debutants Callum Mills (18), Tom Papley (19) and George Hewett (20) and was the least experienced side to have played under John Longmire.
