Troy Cook played 43 games for the Swans. He had 24 wins, played in two finals, and three times polled in the Brownlow Medal, including a three-voter in a 97-point SCG win over the Western Bulldogs in 1997.

He played in Paul Roos’ 350^th game, Tony Lockett’s 250^th, Wayne Schwass’ 200^th, the 150^th of Paul Kelly and Dale Lewis and the 100^th of Daryn Cresswell and Troy Luff.

But among the games he remembers most fondly was one against Port Adelaide at the SCG in Round 1 1999 when he had just three possessions in a 29-point loss.

Why? Because it was Adam Goodes’ AFL debut. The ‘arrival’ of one of the all-time greats and a man with whom he shares a common passion in life after football. The post-football welfare of Indigenous players.

As Sydney prepare to host Fremantle at the SCG on Saturday afternoon Cook, now 47, is one of only four players to have played for both clubs. After his stint with the Swans from 1997-99 he played 150 games for the Dockers from 2000-07.

Although he played more in purple than he did red and white he still holds his time in Sydney dearly.

“I absolutely loved it … they treated me amazingly well. To walk into a club and play alongside so many legends was just mind-blowing … Lockett, Roos, Kelly, (Mark) Bayes, (Andrew) Dunkley, (Michael) O’Loughlin, (Daryn) Cresswell … and then to play with ‘Goodesy’ in his first game and with guys like (Brett) Kirk and Jude Bolton was incredibly special.

“It was a long time ago but the club always keeps in touch and sends information about what they’re doing, and it’s part of my career that I’m really proud of.

“I was talking to ‘Mickey O’ only two days ago. I got on well with Goodesy and still catch up with him every now and then – what he’s done is just incredible, and to see how he was treated at the end was so sad.”

Originally from Carnarvon, a coastal town in WA 900km north of Perth, Cook was drafted by the Swans as a 20-year-old after playing 40 games with Perth in the WAFL and being runner-up in the 1996 Sandover Medal.

He was the Swans’ fourth pick in a draft in which they also secured Mark Kinnear at #4, Brett O’Farrell at #14 and Fitzroy’s Rowan Warfe at #17, and was touted in the 1997 AFL Guide as “a utility with very quick hands and excellent disposal” and “his ability to give his side first use of the ball from centre clearances”.

Joining a side that had played in the 1996 grand final, he played 20 games including a qualifying final in his first season, and 18 games including a semi-final in his second season. But after the first three games of 1999, including Goodes’ debut, he lost his place in the side.

He was an emergency in nine of the next 13 weeks and played Rounds 17-18, but it was the beginning of the end in Sydney for a young man who could barely have been further from home.

Not insignificantly, he’d worked closely in his first two years in Sydney with then Swans assistant-coach Damien Drum, who took over as Dockers senior coach in 1999. And with good friend and former WA Under 18 teammate Shaun McManus on track to be Dockers’ co-captain in 2000 everything was lining up.

“I was really sad to leave because I had so many good relationships in Sydney but it was all about opportunity. They brought in Wayne Schwass which pushed me out of the midfield, and I figured if I wasn’t really in the coach’s plans I needed to look around.”

Cook requested a trade to Fremantle, and in a three-way deal he joined the Dockers in exchange for pick #34 in the 1999 Draft. The Swans sent Kinnear and pick #34 to Collingwood for Andrew Schauble.

It was a win-win-loss deal. Schauble won the 2000 Skilton Medal as the Swans club champion, Cook won the 2000 Doig Medal as Dockers club champion, and Kinnear, who had played just six games with the Swans, retired before the 2000 season started.

Cook played nine times against Sydney for three wins and remembers especially well his first game against his former club at Subiaco in 2000. “It was crazy … Paul Kelly was my idol and there I was playing against him.”

Undaunted, he had 27 possessions and 11 clearances in a 27-point Fremantle win, and quickly became a hugely valuable player for the club. So valuable that in 2019 when the Dockers named the best 25 players from their first 25 years he was among them. 

In retirement Cook has forged a wonderful career with what is now the Waalitj Foundation, formerly the David Wirrpanda Foundation set up in 2005 in conjunction with the West Coast Eagles. Involved with them for 18 years, he is now a director and General Manager – Community and Employment Engagement and is heavily involved in Indigenous education, employment and welfare.

“I didn’t come from much so if I can share my experiences and stories to help or inspire others then it’s a good thing. We’ve got an open door policy – we’ll help anyone who walks in the door,” he said proudly and generously.

Married to Tamara and father to son Xavier (14) and daughter Lola (13), Cook also is involved with Bundara West and the Breight Group, training young Indigenous men and women to gain access to the mining industry, and in partnership with his wife owns “Known Associates Australia”, an events management business.

Since 2017, too, he has sat on the Board member of WAFL club Perth Demons, where it all began.

Cook was the fourth and last of the Sydney/Fremantle shared players after Andrew McGovern, Scott Watters and John Hutton had been part of the Dockers’ inaugural team in 1995. Never have the Swans recruited a player from Fremantle

He played more games in jumper #41 for the Swans than any player except Shane Mumford, who wore it in the 2012 grand final win among 79 games. It was also the first jumper of this week’s 150-gamer Tom Papley, Tadhg Kennelly and Hayden McLean.

Head to Head

The Swans enjoy a 21-1-17 head-to-head record against Fremantle. After the Dockers won the first five meetings the Swans squared the ledger at 7-7 and 8-8 and have been in front since. They’ve won their last two – by 17 points in Round 18 last year at Perth Stadium, and by 40 points in Round 19 2021 at Carrara – and the last meeting at the SCG in Round 9 2018 by 59 points.

Homeground advantage has been a massive factor. The Swans are up 13-1-4 at the SCG and 2-0 at Stadium Australia, but trail 3-8 at Subiaco, 1-2 at the WACA and 1-3 at the new Perth Stadium. Their 2021 win at Carrara due to Covid is the only time they’ve met at a neutral venue.

Brownlow Votes

Nat Fyfe has polled most votes and polled most often in games between Sydney and Fremantle – seven times for 14 votes. Best for the Swans has been Josh Kennedy and Dan Hannebery (10), with Kennedy’s three best afield ratings the most by either club. Brett Kirk (8), Daryn Cresswell (7) and Jake Lloyd (6) are next best.

Leading Possession-Winners

Josh Kennedy holds the record for most possessions in a Swans–Dockers game at 45 in 2016 at Subiaco. Jake Lloyd has had games of 42 and 41 possessions, while Dan Hannebery also had a 41. Kennedy (5) has most 30-possession games from Hannebery (4), Lloyd (3) and Daryn Cresswell (3).

Oddly, the player with most 30-possession games for Fremantle against Sydney is now with Brisbane – Lachie Neale (4). Nat Fyfe (3) and David Mundy (2) are the only others with more than one.

Most Goals

Adam Goodes only once kicked more than five goals in 372 games – it was eight against Fremantle in game #226 at the SCG in 2008. He kicked two in time-on in the fourth quarter before Barry Hall kicked the clincher in a four-point Swans win.

Tony Lockett kicked seven in his second game against Fremantle in 1995 after five in his first and followed in 4-6-5-5 to have most games of four-plus, while Barry Hall kicked 6-5-4-6-3, and Lance Franklin has kicked 6-4-4. Isaac Heeney also had had two big days out against the Dockers, with five at Carrara and six at Perth Stadium, both in 2021.

The biggest haul by a Fremantle player against the Swans was by ex-Swan John Hutton. The former #1 draft pick, who played 36 games over three seasons with three clubs – Brisbane, Sydney, Fremantle – kicked eight at the WACA in 1995. Matthew Pavlich kicked four goals against Sydney four times, but no current Fremantle player has done so.

Dockers Form Guide

Fremantle sit 12^th on the AFL after eight rounds, behind the Swans on percentage. They have gone LLWLWLLW, with wins over local rivals West Coast, Gold Coast in Adelaide and Hawthorn in Perth last week. Caleb Serong (246 possessions) and Andrew Brayshaw (219) have been their leading ball-winners with Luke Ryan (200), while small forwards Michael Walters (13) and Lachie Schultz (11) lead their goal-kicking with young key forward Jy Amiss (11). Luke Jackson, the No.1 draft pick secured via a trade from Melbourne this year and best afield last week, has kicked 10 goals.

Serong, third in the Fremantle B&F last year behind Brayshaw and Brennan Cox, received the maximum 10 votes in the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year in each of their first two wins and leads the Fremantle count from Ryan (12), Brayshaw (10) and Jackson (10).