Sydney Swans historian Peter Blucher has flipped through the record books to provide us with an in-depth look at the football club's history at the National Draft.
Missed Part 1? Click here to read the opening to this three-part series
This second part of this series looks into the hits, the misses, how the newly established Sydney Swans fared in their first ever draft, the top 10 selections over the journe, what we've done with top 10 picks and how deep the Swans have ventured into the draft.
Don't miss Thursday's edition as we look to add the newest members to the Sydney Swans Family.
The good drafts
The 1994 National Draft produced 743 games for the Swans via Michael O’Loughln (303), Matthew Nicks (175), Troy Luff (155), Shannon Grant (58), Simon Arnott (30) and Anthony Rocca (22). And that was despite the fact that selection #20 Stuart Mangin and selection #57 Emil Parthenides did not play a game, and Grant and Rocca later moved to North Melbourne and Collingwood to play a further 243 and 220 games respectively.
The 1995 draft produced 555 games for the Swans after they drafted Jude Bolton (325), Nic Fosdike (164), Ryan O’Connor (24), father/son pick Heath James (18), Simon Feast (14), Ryan Fitzgerald (10) and Dwayne Simpson (10).
The 2002 draft produced 532 games via Jarryd McVeigh (300), Nick Malceski (176), Sean Dempster (54) and Josh Thewlis (2), and the 1997 draft produced 519 games via Adam Goodes (372), Jason Saddington (142), Fred Campbell (5) and Brett Rose (0).
The not-so-good drafts.
It wasn’t unusual in the early years of the draft for a lot of picks to amount to nothing. Or very little. The Swans’ first 10 picks in 1986-87 produced seven players who didn’t play a game, and a total of 33 games.
But the worst result overall was the 1990 draft, when six picks product just one solitary game. Brian Stanislaus from the NT played one game, and Dale Hall, Mark Collins, Adrian Goldup, David Griffin and Leigh Campbell never played.
First Swans draft
The first player drafted by the Swans with selection #10 in the 1986 draft was John Brinkhotter from Barooga, a small town of less than 1500 people on the Murray River. They played at the time in the Picola & District League, but are now in the Murray League.
Brinkotter, winner of the best & fairest award in Barooga’s 1986 premiership as a 20-year-old, was a utility player 185cm tall if you go by the official 1987 AFL Guide, and 190cm tall in you believe the official AFL records.
Brinkhotter played five games for the club – the first and last games of 1988, and rounds 12-13-14 in 1989. He had 30 disposals and kicked one goal.
Most significantly, Brinkhotter, had 20 disposals in the last game of 1980 in what turned out to be the last game of Tom Hafey’s 522-game AFL coaching career. The Swans trailed at every change but, fittingly for the legendary Hafey, rallied in the final term to win 10-21 (81) to 11-11 (77) against the Brisbane Bears.
Best picks
No prizes for guessing which Swans player chosen in the National Draft has played most games for the club. It’s the games record-holder, Adam Goodes at 372.
Goodes is one of 20 Swans draftees to have played more than 100 games for the club.
Interestingly, and surprisingly, only six of the 20 ‘centurions’ were selected by the club picks in the first 20. Eleven of them were from selection #30 and above. And of seven 200-gamers four were secured with selection #40 or above.
The same draft selection has produced two 100-gamers three times - #8 picked up Jared Crouch in 1995 and Jude Bolton in 1998, #40 secured Michael O’Loughlin in 1994 and Luke Parker in 2010, and #56 secured Andrew Dunkley in 1991 and Ryan O’Keefe in 1999.
Three of the greatest players to don the red and white guernsey - Adam Goodes, Ryan O'Keefe and Jude Bolton.
The 100-game draftees were:
372 - Adam Goodes – selection #43, 1997
325 – Jude Bolton – selection #8, 1998
303 – Michael O’Loughlin – selection #40, 1994
300* – Jarrad McVeigh – selection #5, 2002
282 – Ryan O’Keefe – selection #56, 1999
223 – Jared Crouch -selection #8, 1995
217 – Andrew Dunkley – selection #56, 1991
193* – Dan Hannebery – selection #30, 2008
179 – Lewis Roberts-Thomson – selection #29, 2001
176 – Nick Malceski – selection #64, 2002
175 – Matthew Nicks – selection #21, 1994
164 – Nic Fosdike – selection #3, 1998
155 – Troy Luff – selection #74, 1994
151* - Luke Parker – selection #40, 2010
142 – Jason Saddington – selection #11, 1997
137 – Craig Bird – selection #59, 2007
133 – Luke Ablett – selection #24, 2000
127 – Lewis Jetta – selection #14, 2009
120* - Sam Reid – selection #38, 2009
116 – Amon Buchanan – selection #52, 2000
*Denotes games to the end of the 2017 season
+Amon Buchanan was also drafted by the Swans at #45 in 2003
Top 10 picks
The Swans have had 20 players who have been drafted inside the top 10 in the National Draft, and only once have they had the first pick – in 1993.
That was the year the club chose 193cm key defender Darren Gaspar from East Fremantle. He played 21 games for the Swans in 1994-95 before being lured south by Richmond, where he played a further 207 games before his retirement in 2007. He won the Richmond B&F in 2001 and was All-Australian in 2000-01.
Anthony Rocca's promising career at the Sydney Swans was short lived after the key forward was traded to Collingwood.
Top 10 picks have been:
#1 – Darren Gaspar – 1993 – 21 Swans games, 207 games for Richmond.
#2 – Anthony Rocca – 1994 – 22 Swans games, 220 games for Collingwood.
#3 – Shannon Grant – 1994 – 58 Swans games, 243 games for North Melbourne
#3 – Nic Fosdike – 1998 – 164 Swans games.
#3 – Callum Mills – 2015 – 46 Swans games.
#4 – Andrew McGovern – 1991 – 21 Swans games, 63 games for Fremantle.
#4 – Glenn Gorman -1993 – 0 Swans games, 2 games for North Melbourne.
#4 – Mark Kinnear – 1996 – 6 Swans games.
#4 – Ryan Fitzgerald – 1998 – 10 Swans games, 8 games for Adelaide.
#5 – Jason Spinks (South Fremantle) – 1992 – 0 AFL games.
#5 – Adam Heuskes (Norwood) – 49 Swans games, 37 games for Port Adelaide, 39 games for Brisbane
#5 – Jarrad McVeigh (NSW/ACT Rams) – 300 Swans games.
#6 – Paul Burton (Claremont) – 1991 – 0 AFL games.
#6 – Gary Rohan (Geelong U18) – 1999 – 95 Swans games.
#8 – Dion Scott (Devonport) – 1988 – 6 Swans games, 73 games for Brisbane.
#8 – Brad Tunbridge (East Fremantle) – 1989 – 50 Swans games.
#8 – Jared Crouch (Norwood) – 1995 – 223 Swans games.
#8 – Jude Bolton (Calder U18) – 1998 – 325 Swans games.
#10 – John Brinkhotter (Barooga) – 1986 – 5 Swans games.
#10 – Michael Parsons (North Adelaide) – 1987 – 25 Swans games.
Later picks
The Swans latest pick in the AFL National Draft came in 1992, an era in which each club had a senior playing list of 52 players, and between them the 15 clubs had 124 selections in the National Draft. It was selection #111.
After taking Jason Spinks (South Fremantle) at #5, followed by Scott Robinson (Norwood) at #35, Andrew Donnelly (Subiaco) at #50. Matthew Aston (Geelong U18) at #71, Scott Direen (New Norfolk) at #95 and Troy Hull (Port Adelaide) at #101 the club chose Michael Gaffney (Port Adelaide).
Gaffney, a 19-year-old midfielder, was the ninth player taken in the 1992 Draft from Port Adelaide, at the time a powerhouse in the SANFL.
He followed selection #10 Brett Chalmers (Collingwood), #21 Shane Bond (West Coast), #31 Shane Wakelin (St.Kilda), #42 Che Cockatoo-Collins (Essendon), #88 Troy Bond (Carlton), #101 Troy Hull (Sydney), #105 Julian Waite (Collingwood) and #108 Bryan Beinke (Geelong).
But he wasn’t the last. After Gaffney were #120 Troy Olsen (Collingwood) and #124 Brayden Lyle (West Coast).
Interestingly, Lyle played 26 games for West Coast in 1995-96, before returning to Port Adelaide for the first year in the AFL in 1997. He was named the club’s inaugural vice-captain with Matthew Primus, and led the Power in their first AFL game when captain Gavin Wanganeen was suspended.
Gaffney, like Port and Sydney teammate Hull, never played an AFL game.
Gareth John played 21 games at senior level, not bad for a player selected at #106 in the National Draft.
Two other players were officially chosen by the Swans beyond 100 in the AFL National Draft – Gisborne father/son pick Gareth John at #106 in 1988, and Glenelg’s Craig Buderack a3 #110 in 1989.
John was something of a pseudo #111 – at the time father/son selections were simply allocated the club’s last pick in the National Draft.
But, with Gaffney, Hull and Buderack failing to play an AFL game John, who played 21 games for the Swans from 1990-93 and one game for North Melbourne in 1994, was the club’s only 100+ draft selection ever to play at senior level.
