His passion, determination and above all the conviction in his voice when he speaks about the club he loves makes it obvious why he was named co-captain of the football club three seasons ago.
Not one to hold back, and by his own admission he wears his heart on his sleeve, McVeigh has developed into one of the club’s most important and influential players on and off the field.
Ahead of the Swans’ clash with Hawthorn in round eight, McVeigh offered SwansTV’s Beyond the Boundary, powered by Volkswagen, an insight into what leadership means to him.
“It’s such a great honour to lead this footy club,” McVeigh told SwansTV
“Being a co-captain along with Kieren (Jack), I hold that really close to my heart and in high regard.
“It’s something that I really do treasure and to lead the boys out every week and to see the young players grow each week is something I take very seriously and am very proud to be able to do.”
Driven to succeed, it’s no surprise that McVeigh describes himself as a tough, but compassionate leader.
The 29-year-old admits he’s not one to hide his emotions on field and doesn’t shy away from letting his team mates know if things aren’t operating as they should.
“I really try to set high standards for myself and for the rest of the team,” he said.
“I try to drive the players in everything we do and to aim for perfection, and to always try and improve.
“I’m a hard leader on everyone, and on myself, but I also want to be a compassionate leader and to see the guys on different levels because we’ve all got different strengths.
“It’s important to use the other leaders in our group because you don’t know everything yourself and I’m still learning as well.
“I’ve learnt over the course of a few years that it’s important to bring other people in to help me understand others.”
For the last 12 months, McVeigh has shared the captaincy with Kieren Jack, who was appointed to the role when Adam Goodes stood aside from his position at the beginning of the 2013 season.
A year on and McVeigh believes leadership agrees with Jack, with his younger co-captain having close to a career-best season last year, including All-Australian selection.
“He’s come on in leaps and bounds, and he was probably surprised that he got the job last year,” McVeigh said.
“Since then, he’s been unbelievable and his performance on field first and foremost really went up to another level, which was fantastic.
“He’s more of a person who shows what leadership is.
“He’s courageous, he’s hard and all those types of things.
“This year, he’s improved again and has really brought on that level of communication for the young players which has really helped them out.”
While it’s likely that some years will pass before the Swans require a change in leadership, McVeigh said the club had no shortage of upcoming leaders.
The co-captain said there was already young talent amongst the Swans’ ranks who he could imagine taking on the top job in the future.
“There’s going to be someone to step in when I’m not there and there will be others who step in when Kieren’s not there, so that succession plan will continue to evolve,” he said.
“Someone like Josh Kennedy (would be my tip).
“He’s a high level performer every week, he doesn’t play a bad game.
“He’s really smart off field and he knows the game and how to read the players.
“Then there’s someone like a Luke Parker, who is very similar to Joey in the way he plays.
“He’s got a good knack of knowing what the team needs and uses certain words and things that get the team going.”
Click the play button above to watch the full interview with Jarrad McVeigh for SwansTV’s Beyond the Boundary, powered by Volkswagen.
