Jarrad McVeigh
2004-2019
325 games
201 goals
Premiership Player 2012
Co-Captain 2011-2016
Best and Fairest 2008, 2013
All Australian 2013
Football is often hailed as a unifying force. For the McVeighs of Killarney Vale, that sentiment could not ring any truer. Tony McVeigh played 45 VFA games for Williamstown and moved to NSW's Central Coast in 1982, coaching the local team to a premiership that year. His sons, Mark and Jarrad, couldn't get enough of the game.
Their coastal childhood fostered an active lifestyle, punctuated by footy and surfing. However, Tony once told Neil Cordy about other pursuits, "I cleared the scrub so they could run around, and we had a pool, so we did triathlons together. We'd run around the house, jump in the pool, do two laps and then rode pushbikes down the driveway."
An overturned trampoline, painted with a target, provided the perfect ball-handling apparatus, and before long, the boys were playing in the local league. Mark—four years older than Jarrad—started playing with Sydney club Pennant Hills when he was 13 and eventually played 232 games with Essendon. Jarrad also joined Pennant Hills, with his impressive skillset on full display while claiming best-on-ground honours in his victorious Under 12s Grand Final.
They avidly supported the Swans, regularly travelling down the M1 Highway to attend SCG games. In fact, when Tony Lockett kicked his record-breaking 1300th goal, Jarrad was among the thousands who raced onto the ground in celebration.
A young player of obvious potential, McVeigh won the beep test at the AFL's draft camp. As the 2002 national draft approached, the Swans' first pick was advanced two places due to Carlton's salary cap breach penalties, and Paul Roos and his recruitment team swooped on McVeigh with pick five, and the midfielder joined his boyhood heroes in red and white.
After a developmental season, McVeigh debuted against Brisbane in Round 1, 2004 after a faultless pre-season campaign. McVeigh played 20 games that year, including the first of his club-record 28 finals, cutting his teeth as a midfield tagger.
Then, as the Swans broke a 72-year premiership drought in 2005, he watched on after missing selection in the Grand Final team. "I was a high draft pick, and I probably wasn't living up to the club's expectations and my own, and I wasn't a consistent AFL player, so I went away and looked in the mirror at myself," McVeigh said.
"When you're young, you just want to get a game, so I sat down after '05, and the coaches were really disappointed in me, and that really drove me to want to get better. I didn't want to be a mediocre player and play reserves; I wanted to be a really good player, play senior footy, and win Grand Finals, and that's what we're here for."
That was McVeigh's turning point. He vowed never to miss another opportunity and performed superbly throughout the 2006 season, playing in every game. The Swans reached another Grand Final, facing West Coast again, falling short by a single point. That loss motivated McVeigh to return to the game's biggest stage.
An outstanding endurance runner, an elite ball user, and a footballer of immense courage, McVeigh rose to become one of the most respected midfielders in the league. Early in 2008, he said, "I'm just trying to get more of the footy and be more of an attacking threat this year." Then, in Round 18, he kicked six goals from his 26 disposals.
He enjoyed a stellar '08 season, claiming his first Bob Skilton Medal as the Swans' best and fairest. Initially speechless on receiving the award, McVeigh said, "It's a privilege to play for this club. It's a special honour." On hand to present the medal, Bloods Legend Skilton said of McVeigh, "The improvement that he's shown has been absolutely great."
The following year, he joined the club's leadership group, and by 2011, new coach John Longmire appointed McVeigh and Adam Goodes as the Swans' co-captains. Longmire said, "It's a big job, and they are quite different people, so I believe they will complement each other as they undertake this important role for the club."
"I chose Jarrad as co-captain because he plays a disciplined role for the team and has done so for a number of years now. He understands the game well and is prepared to help drive the group."
Like many of Longmire's decisions, it proved a masterstroke. They combined to form an environment of honesty, care, and respect. When Jarrad and wife Clementine's one-month-old infant daughter Luella passed away from a congenital heart defect in August 2011, his Bloods brothers vowed to defeat Geelong three days later.
The Cats had won their past 29 games at home, but the Swans, inspired by their friend and leader, prevailed by 13 points. In The Rise of the Swans, McVeigh told author Martin Blake, "Over the break and the start of the next season, it gave me a lot of confidence as a captain and the way I was held in the group."
Blake wrote, "It was just a game of football. But it did say something about the Swans family. When John Longmire's mother died of cancer during the 2012 season, he drew strength from McVeigh. 'You always think you're teaching the players,' Longmire says. 'But quite often, they're teaching you.'"
Just weeks after the McVeighs welcomed another baby daughter, Lolita-Luella, into the world in 2012, McVeigh stood on the AFL's Grand Final dias, lifting the premiership cup aloft with Longmire, after the Swans defeated Hawthorn to claim the club's 10th flag. One of the team's best, McVeigh won 21 possessions, laid nine tackles and kicked two crucial goals. He ran himself to exhaustion, requiring medical attention shortly after screaming the team song.
After the pulsating 10-point win, McVeigh exclaimed, "This is the most unbelievable feeling I've ever had," and during his premiership-winning captain's speech, he implored his teammates to enjoy "the best month of our lives". In The Herald Sun, Scott Gullan described Sydney as, "It is what it is every year—a gutsy, hard-working, spirited mob who refuse to concede."
The following year, McVeigh produced an exceptional season, playing predominantly off a half-back flank, being chosen in the 2013 All-Australian team, and claiming his second Bob Skilton Medal. In 2014 and 2016, he led the team alongside co-captain Kieren Jack to two more Grand Finals before handing the captaincy baton to Josh Kennedy ahead of the 2017 season.
Throughout the final years of his illustrious playing career, the Sydney great played as an on-field coach, masterfully directing the Swans' defensive formations and spearheading their transitions from the backline. When he announced his retirement late in 2019, McVeigh spoke of his immediate transition into coaching.
Late in his final match at the SCG, McVeigh kicked a goal, and teammates came from everywhere to converge on their mate. McVeigh described that moment as his happiest footy memory, premiership aside.
Long-time teammate and Swans Hall of Famer Ted Richards said, "One of the reasons we've had sustained success at the Swans for so long is because people like Macca have led and helped develop and sustain this culture for so long at the Swans. He's a champion of the club and someone who has been so important on the field and off the field."
When McVeigh told his coach he was retiring after 325 games, Longmire arranged for fellow 300-gamers Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton and Michael O'Loughlin to join him and their former teammate for a few sentimental beers. At McVeigh's retirement announcement, an emotional Longmire said, "Very few people have an impact like Jarrad McVeigh has impacted this football club."
"He has been absolutely incredible. He spoke to the players today and told them that he made the most of every day at the club, and that sums him up. He just got the most out of himself. His legacy at this footy club is very significant."
