As the Sydney Swans’ recruitment team prepares for this year’s AFL Draft, Swans Media picks out a host of draftees who produced outstanding first seasons in red and white.

Troy Cook (1997)

The Swans qualified for the 1996 Grand Final and were packed with stars of the league – including Paul Kelly, Paul Roos, Stuart Maxfield and Daryn Cresswell – but that didn’t stop a young Troy Cook from making his mark in his first season. Cook was recruited from WAFL club Perth with pick 27 at the 1996 AFL Draft and played 20 of a possible 23 AFL games in 1997. The rising midfielder averaged 14.85 disposals per match and tallied 20 or more touches in four games on his way to winning Sydney’s Rising Star award. He began with 15 disposals and a goal against Melbourne in Round 3 on debut, before earning the AFL’s Round 11 Rising Star nomination after gathering 16 possessions. Cook departed Sydney for Fremantle at the end of the 1999 season and retired at the end of the 2007 campaign with 193 games beside his name.

Craig Bird (2008)

Craig Bird took on the esteemed number 14 of Bloods Legends Bob Skilton and Paul Kelly and did the jumper proud in his first season as an AFL footballer. The New South Welshman averaged 13.71 touches across 21 AFL games and gathered 17 possessions and two goals against Richmond in Round 10 in arguably his best game of the 2008 season. He then shared the Swans’ Rising Star honour with Kieren Jack at the Club Champion Dinner. Bird played 137 AFL games for Sydney and was a member of the Swans’ 2012 premiership team, before adding another 20 appearances in Essendon colours.

Former Sydney Swans midfielder Craig Bird in his first season as an AFL footballer, an outstanding 2008 campaign.

Dane Rampe (2013)

He was denied at several drafts and only received a shot on Sydney’s rookie list after being invited to pre-season training, but Dane Rampe quickly made a regular senior spot his own. And that was despite a star-studded Swans backline headlined by Heath Grundy, Nick Smith, Rhyce Shaw, Nick Malceski, Ted Richards and Lewis Roberts-Thomson. Rampe featured in 23 of a possible 25 AFL matches en route to claiming the Swans’ 2013 Rising Star award. He's now played 159 AFL games, is a Swans co-captain, is an All Australian, claimed Sydney’s 2019 Bob Skilton Medal and Players’ Player award and was this year named an emergency for the greatest NSW team of all time.

Callum Mills (2016)

Callum Mills was drafted to Sydney in November 2015 and by the end of his first season was one of just three Swans in history – along with Adam Goodes and Dan Hannebery – to have won the AFL’s Rising Star honour. Mills averaged 18.54 touches and 4.77 marks per match from 22 of a possible 26 AFL games. A product of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy, the fresh-faced defender posted 24 possessions (10 contested) and eight marks against Carlton in Round 18 to be awarded an AFL Rising Star nomination, before edging Tom Papley at the Club Champion Dinner for Sydney’s Rising Star honour. Mills has now played 77 senior games and is a member of Sydney’s leadership group.

Sydney Swans defender Callum Mills on the brink of his debut 2016 season.

Nick Blakey (2019)

Prized draftee Nick Blakey played 21 of a possible 22 senior games for a return of 19 goals in 2019. The Swans Academy product won the club’s Rising Star award and received an AFL Rising Star nomination for a brilliant final term in Round 14, slotting two goals and pulling down a Mark of the Year contender as Sydney staved off Hawthorn. But the 19-year-old’s glowing debut season extended well beyond his list of achievements, with many experts hailing his natural left boot, composure under pressure, strength overhead and speed.