Commander-in-chief
He may fly under the radar outside of Sydney, but Jarrad McVeigh is crucial to his team's chances of beating Collingwood
SYDNEY Swans superstar Adam Goodes earns almost countless plaudits for his leadership, his importance and his natural ability - and rightly so.
The two-time Brownlow medallist has a sparring partner, however, who fails to evoke the same superlatives, but is regarded internally as the Swans' on-field commander-in-chief.
Jarrad McVeigh is a no-fuss footballer who quietly goes to work every day and plays a crucial role gathering possessions, laying tackles and kicking valuable goals.
But much more than that, he is the man his coach John Longmire trusts to help pull the strings and direct traffic in the heat of battle.
The Swans' version of an NFL quarterback, McVeigh will be a pivotal figure in the club's bid to beat Collingwood in Friday night's preliminary final.
"He understands what we want and when we want it," Longmire said of his co-captain.
"He sees the game really well and he understands the game really well. He's got great football smarts.
"It's an important quality to have, being able to see the game and assist with the on-field work, which he's very good at."
While he isn't laden with Brownlow Medals, McVeigh has an outstanding resume.
Pick five in the 2002 AFL Draft, McVeigh won the Bob Skilton Medal for the Swans' best and fairest player in 2008, featured against Ireland in the 2010 International Rules Series and is eight games short of 200 for his career.
At 27, McVeigh has plenty of football left in him, and he has certainly caught the eye of some of the AFL's best.
Earlier this year, Collingwood gun Scott Pendlebury was asked to name players with the best individual attributes in the competition.
When it came to overall disposal, it wasn't Gary Ablett, Brett Deledio or Steve Johnson leading the way. It was McVeigh.
"A fantastic one-touch player all over the ground by hand and foot," was how Pendlebury described McVeigh to News Ltd in July.
"Whether hitting up the leading forward or kicking into the corridor, he seems to be able to do it with ease and precision.
"He might not get a lot of external recognition, but is highly rated among rival players."
While they have different standings in the greater footballing community, Goodes and McVeigh have formed a close bond as co-captains of the 'Bloods'.
They shared a brief moment at the end of the qualifying final victory over Adelaide, with a high-five, a chest bump and a nod of the head at a satisfying job done that left them one more win from another Grand Final.
"We work well together," McVeigh said.
"We bounce off each other, we know when one is down a bit or is going well and we like to help each other.
"And we hang out a lot. We've been in this situation before, we've played in big games together and we know what it's like to play in big games.
"That feeling of looking at each other knowing you've achieved something is a great thing."
They will be hoping to share a similar look at the end of Friday night's game.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.
