Jude Bolton
1999-2013
325 games
196 goals
Premiership Player 2005, 2012

Jude Bolton grew up as the youngest of three boys, and he can't recall a day of his Ballarat childhood that didn't involve sport. Eldest brother Matt started playing senior football at 15, with Dom and Jude aspiring to follow in his footsteps. Their Dad laid a concrete cricket pitch in the backyard and spent hours kicking the footy with his boys.

Typically, the older brothers didn't offer Bolton any special treatment, and he developed the competitiveness that helped him become just the third player in Swans history to play 300 games. He entered the junior ranks when he was 12, but came in fully equipped to handle the rigours of the sport.

"I came in and played well because my brothers and my Dad had shaped my footy," Bolton said. "I'd probably had more touches of the footy than the kids who'd been playing and training for six or seven years, because I'd had a ball in my hand or had been practising my kicking the whole time."

Harnessing the disappointment of missing junior Victorian squads drove Bolton to work even harder on his game. When selected to represent his state at the Under 18 level, he seized the opportunity. He played an excellent national championship, and when the Sydney Swans called his name with pick eight in the 1998 draft, Bolton's childhood dream became a reality.

Upon arriving in Sydney, Bolton met his new housemates, Ryan Fitzgerald and Rowan Warfe, and along with fellow draftees Nic Fosdike and Heath James, they formed a group of close mates, an essential ingredient in any young player's journey.

Collectively, they were trying to break into an experienced team, including some of the game's biggest names. "I vividly remember walking in and seeing Paul Kelly doing a boxing session, being amazed by the size of his biceps," Bolton said.

"I also remember my first kick to Tony Lockett at training. As a kid, I was a St Kilda supporter, and I couldn't believe I was about to kick the footy to Plugger. I shanked it, and it went way over his head! Rodney Eade always paired me up against Daryn Cresswell in accountability drills, and Cressa smashed me at training. It was all a really good lerning curve, and I started to attack things with real intensity."

Bolton debuted in 1999, playing nine games in his first season, and he appreciates the lessons learned during those early foundational years. By 2002, he was a regular starter, playing primarily as a small forward. In the second half of that season, Paul Roos was appointed interim coach in a move that would completely change the club's direction.

Roos could see Bolton's thirst for the contest, and a courageous attack on the ball that could form a critical component of his new game plan. Author of The Rise of the Swans, Bolton's uncle Martin Blake, said, "In the period 2003-2007, he formed a wonderful midfield combination with Brett Kirk, their method characterising the Swans as unrelenting, manic, physical, combative and superb at the stoppages."

In 2003, the Swans soared up the ladder, finishing with a home preliminary final loss to eventual triple premier Brisbane Lions. Inspired, Bolton finished third in the club's best and fairest, delivering career-high numbers for possessions, contested possessions, tackles and clearances.

"Roosy's whole philosophy was enormously different to what we had. We were genuinely excited about what we could do, and everyone bought into a new culture by really committing to each other and playing a selfless brand of footy," Bolton recalled.

Building consistently, Bolton produced another fine season in 2004, rewarded with selection in the Australian International Rules team that toured Ireland. He was now considered one of the best stoppage players in the competition, and Adam Goodes predicted he’d be 'the next Paul Kelly.'

During this period of his career, Bolton began an impressive run of durability. From 2003 to 2013, he played at least 22 matches each year, and from 2005 to 2011, he played 145 consecutive games in red and white.

The 2005 season is etched in the annals of the club. Displaying his renowned resilience, Bolton played the season's later stages with a significant separation of his AC joint and, due to a head wound suffered early in the game, finished the Grand Final as one of the Swans' best, in the blood-soaked helmet worn by Brett Kirk the week before.

For the first time in 72 years, the Swans were premiers. "It puts a smile on my face whenever I think about it," Bolton said. "I just wish you could bottle that feeling of pure elation and take a sip of it now and then. That day solidified the connection between South Melbourne and Sydney, and I was so happy for our long-suffering supporters."

They came within a whisker of successive flags in 2006, but Bolton's career had plateaued by his admission, which almost resulted in the Swans trading him at the end of the 2007 season. Thankfully, it didn't happen, and he played with renewed ferocity.

In 2011, John Longmire took the reigns as senior coach, and after years of brutal contested play, Bolton gradually assimilated onto the half-forward line. In 2012, he became a genuine goalkicking option, but a severe-looking knee injury in Round 19 threatened to derail his year.

Bolton attacked his rehabilitation like it was another midfield opponent, and incredibly, he missed three games, returning on the eve of the finals. After a superb Qualifying Final win in Adelaide, Sydney prepared to face Collingwood in the Preliminary Final at Homebush and Bolton prepared for his 300^th game. His family provided enormous support throughout his career, and a significant contingent headlined by his grandfather, Harold, and parents, John and Rosalie, made their way from Melbourne to join his wife, Lynette, watching Bolton kick two goals in a famous 26-point win.

The following week, Bolton lined up in his third Grand Final. He won his second premiership as Sydney defeated Hawthorn by 10 points in an epic battle at the MCG.

"One of my favourite memories is a few days after the game; we all got together in the clubrooms. Horse filled up some eskies, and we sat and watched the game together. It's so rare to do that together, and we sat there with a beer, laughing at all the overreactions. In the end, we're all jumping on the couches singing 'We are the champions'. It was really special."

After one more typically consistent season, Bolton retired as the AFL's all-time leading tackler. Following his final match, John Longmire said, "He's an absolute champion of the football club on and off the field."

The day before Bolton's 300^th game, one of his closest friends, Jarrad McVeigh, penned a letter in The Sydney Morning Herald in tribute to the Bloods great. "He's the guy I will stand beside in the race, knowing precisely what you are going to get from him, and because of that, you don't want to let him down."

"I'll proudly run out with him tomorrow night, honoured that I can be a part of his milestone match, and knowing that if we can all play like he does every week, then there is no doubt we can win the game," McVeigh said.

The article's title said it all—Hey Jude, you've just been an inspiration.