In a week in which the Sydney Swans are set to play Essendon Craig Bird is something of a rarity. He’s one of only three players to have played for both clubs in the Sydney era.

The now 34-year-old shares this honour and his greatest memory in football with 2012 premiership teammate Ted Richards.

Bird also has a close personal link to Saturday night’s game via Swans co-captain and ‘man of the moment’ Callum Mills, who will play his 150^th game. For it was Bird who effectively handed the treasured #14 jumper to Mills after wearing it for eight years and 137 games from 2008-15.

The playing number of the legendary Bob Skilton, #14 is a much-revered honour at the Swans and has been worn by only three players since 1991.

Paul Kelly, who played his first 10 games in #45 in 1990, switched to #14 in 1991 and wore it 224 times over 12 years until his retirement in 2002, falling 13 games short of Skilton’s club record 237 games in #14.

The jumper was not allocated from 2003-07 as the club introduced a policy to recognise the greats of the club and allocate their former numbers accordingly. And it wasn’t given lightly to Bird, who had come through the NSW scholarship scheme.

“It was a great honour. I probably didn’t appreciate it fully at the time but I do now and it’s a good thing the club is doing,” Bird said.

Now living with partner Tori at Sydney’s Bronte Beach and working in a multi-purpose role for a technology recruitment firm, Bird has hung up the boots for good after playing a handful of games with his junior club Nelson Bay last year.

“The body is falling apart,” he quipped, having had a knee reconstruction in 2021 after two years playing seriously back at his junior club in the AFL Hunter Central Coast League, including a premiership as captain-coach.

Originally from Nelson Bay, a coastal town 40 minutes north of Newcastle which is still home to his parents and sister, Bird had returned home to help out his beloved Marlins after they’d fallen on challenging times and dropped back to second division.

It was a welcome add-on to what had been a tough post-Swans stint in 2016-17 at Essendon, where he played 20 games as the Bombers struggled to pick up the pieces after the controversial supplements saga.

Bird had already been traded to Essendon after having lost his regular spot in the Sydney side in 2015, but suddenly found himself playing big minutes through the midfield in a new-look outfit.

He debuted with ex-Brisbane ruckman Matthew Leuenberger and draftees Darcy Parish and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti in Round 1, 2016 as the Bombers welcomed replacement coach John Worsfold and six top-up players from other clubs: James Kelly (Geelong), Mathew Stokes (Geelong), Mitch Brown (Geelong), Ryan Crowley (Fremantle), Jonathan Simpkin (Hawthorn) and Matt Dea (Richmond).

While it wasn’t the move Bird had originally anticipated it did see him play once against his former club in Round 7, 2016 at the SCG, when Lance Franklin kicked six and Isaac Heeney five in an 81-point Swans win.

“It was a strange feeling because I still knew so many of the Sydney boys but it was good to experience a different club,” he said, still very much a Swans man at heart.

Bird is still in regular contact with ex-teammates Sam Reid, Dane Rampe and Luke Parker, among others, but admits he doesn’t get to the SCG as often as he should. “It’s good to sit out in the crowd, have a couple of beers and remember the good old days.”

Sydney v Essendon: By the Numbers

The Swans will go into Saturday night’s game with a 32-1-31 record against Essendon since the club moved to Sydney, and 20-13 record since the turn of the century.

It’s 19-1-11 to the Swans at the SCG since 1982, 6-1 at the Olympic Stadium, 3-4 at Marvel and 1-10 at the MCG since 1982. In the same period the Swans played eight times at old Essendon homeground at Windy Hill for a 3-5 record.

Jude Bolton has been the standout individual in games between Sydney and Essendon since 2000, polling eight times in the Brownlow Medal for 17 votes. Barry Hall (14) is next best for the Swans from Josh Kennedy (11), Luke Parker (11) and Mills (6). Lance Franklin and Chad Warner have polled five votes against Essendon and Tom Papley three votes – all singles.

Zach Merrett has been Essendon’s leading vote-winner with 12. Only three other current players have figures in the votes – Dylan Shiel (3), Dyson Heppell (2) and Nic Hind (1).

Josh Kennedy holds the single-game possession record in games between the clubs since 1982. He had 40 in the game that Bird had against his former club.

In 20 games between the clubs since 2009 big hauls of goals have been rare. Sydney have had six through Franklin (4-5-6), Heeney (5), Papley (4) and Adam Goodes (4), and Essendon just two – Orazio Fantasia kicked four in 2019 and Kyle Riemers four in 2011.

Prior to 2009 it was all about Barry Hall. He had consecutive hauls of 5-4-6-4-7-7-6 from 2003-06. Bombers counterpart Matthew Lloyd kicked the most goals in a game between the clubs since 1982 when he notched eight at Marvel in 2006.

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has a 12-5 record against Essendon and is 8-2 against Brad Scott, the former North Melbourne coach who will coach Essendon against Sydney for the first time on Saturday night.

Essendon Form Guide

Merrett, in his first season as Essendon captain, has been his side’s standout player this year. He has 65 votes in the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year to sit equal seventh overall. Next best for the Bombers are Parish (31), Nic Martin (30) and Mason Redman (27).

Merrett, averaging 28.3 possessions through 17 games, has been his side’s No.1 possession-winner from Darcy Parish, with 31.4 average through 13 games, vice-captain Andrew McGrath (23.2ppg), Redman (22.3) and Martin (22.3).

Kyle Langford is the Bombers’ leading goal-kicker with 35 from Jake Stringer (21), Jy Menzies (19) and Archie Perkins (15). Peter Wright, leading goal-kicker and club champion last year, has played six games after a delayed start to his 2023 campaign for a 5-0-0-3-1-3 run.

Sitting 11^th on the AFL ladder with a 9-9 record, Essendon is 4-1 at Marvel Stadium this year, having beaten Gold Coast, GWS, North Melbourne and Adelaide before a 41-point loss to the Bulldogs last week. Their other wins have come against Hawthorn, Melbourne, Richmond, West Coast and Carlton.

In their past five games the Bombers lost by 32 points to Fremantle in Perth and by four points to Port Adelaide at the MCG, beaten Adelaide by 18 points at Marvel Stadium and lost by 77 points to Geelong in Geelong before the game against the Dogs last week.