Daniel Bradshaw and Shane Mumford both arrived at the club in a hail of publicity, while fellow draftees Gary Rohan and Lewis Jetta were both highly regarded first-round NAB AFL Draft selections.
Even fellow late-round draftee, Trent Dennis-Lane, has earned his share of headlines with standout performances in the club’s practice matches.
While Sumner might have flown under the media radar, his work ethic and football smarts certainly haven’t escaped the attention of the Swans’ football department.
Development coach Stuart Maxfield and coaching co-ordinator John Longmire have both praised the South Australian’s ability to adapt to a new game plan while maintaining his natural flair.
Now, Sumner will join Rohan, Jetta and Dennis-Lane in wearing the red and white for the first time in Saturday night’s NAB Cup opener against Carlton at Blacktown Olympic Park.
And he couldn’t be more excited at the prospect.
“It’s something I’ve really worked hard for and a dream that I’ve had all my life. To come here and do a hard pre-season - it’s really all paid off now,” he said.
It certainly has, with the 174cm young midfielder/forward sporting a vastly different physique after adding nine kilograms to his frame since the night he was drafted.
Sumner credited the experience of doing an SANFL pre-season with his former club, Woodville/West Torrens, with his ability to cope with the new workload.
“I did a bit of league pre-season back home in Adelaide, so training every day wasn’t such an issue,” he said.
“It was just the amount of training, I guess. I struggled a bit at the start but I got through.”
Sumner had nothing but praise for his Swans teammates who had helped him adjust to life in a new city - “They’re real people, down to earth people” - and said he couldn’t wait to take the field with his fellow draftees.
Sumner’s father will also be in attendance on Saturday night, having driven almost 1400km to watch his son’s debut in red and white.
He will be among 10,000 others to see Byron rub shoulders with the Carlton stars Bryce Gibbs, Chris Judd and Matthew Kreuzer.
“Watching them play when you are growing up and to actually be out there and playing against them now is a dream come true,” Sumner said of mixing it with the Blues’ guns.
And with some luck, Saturday’s game will be a stepping stone to any young player’s holy grail - a senior AFL debut in round one.
“It’s still my biggest goal and I’ve got to go out Saturday night and do what I’ve got to do, keep training hard and fight for a spot,” he said.
