Warning: Matthew Ling is not who you might think he is. Not if you google the left-footed midfield flyer, who will make his AFL debut for the Sydney Swans against Hawthorn at the SCG tomorrow afternoon.

There you’ll find a picture of 20-year-old Ling, born and raised in Geelong, wearing a Swans jumper. And with it, information about Matthew Woo Ling, a 23-year-old West Indian soccer player born in Port of Spain who plays for the Trinidad and Tobago national team.

But as Ling counts down the hours to the fulfillment of a lifetime dream, the Internet mix-up will be the last thing from his mind.

After all, if this sort of thing was going to happen to anyone in the AFL it was always going to be Ling, who has been the forgotten man of the 2017 AFL Draft.

Plagued by toe and Achilles injuries since being drafted by the Swans with their first selection and pick #14 overall, he has lived under the football radar for more than two-and-a-half years.

Drafted ahead of three Geelong Falcons teammates, he has watched them play a combined 110 games, including six finals, while he’s been waiting just be able to train and play consistently at second tier level.

While Ling has endured untold frustration, ex-Falcons teammate and schoolmate turned Swans teammate Tom McCartin, drafted at pick #33, has played 38 games (one final). James Worpel, drafted by Hawthorn at #45, has played 40 games (two finals) and won the Hawks 2019 best and fairest. And Gryan Miers, taken by Geelong at #57, has played 32 games (three finals).

Tim Kelly, taken as a mature-age draftee by Geelong at #24, has played 57 games without a miss at Geelong and West Coast to lead the Class of 2017. Cam Rayner, #1 pick to Brisbane, has played 55 games unbroken.

Ryley Stoddart, who will miss Saturday’s game against Hawthorn after being drafted in the same year by the Swans at #53, has played in each of the 2018, ’19 and ‘20 seasons for a total of six games.

James Bell, back in the Swans side in Round 8 for his third game, was taken as a Swans Academy pick in the rookie draft the same year, while Joel Amartey, denied his AFL debut by injury earlier this month, was pick #28 in the rookie draft.

In that time Ling played six NEAFL games in 2018 and 10 last year, without a decent run at it.

And then, after he’d finally put together a solid block on the track and finally got himself up to full fitness, he ran into the most extraordinary AFL season in history and found himself unable to play anyway.

But through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic Ling has trained tirelessly and played well enough in reserves scratch matches to earn a chance at AFL level.

He will be the last of the top 34 players taken in the 2017 Draft to play in the AFL, and with his debut will leave only eight players taken in the top 60 without a start.

And two of them have come and gone. Essendon’s Jordan Houlihan, drafted at #49, and Gold Coast’s Connor Nutting, drafted at #55, were delisted at the end of last season.

Likewise, Brayden Crossley, drafted at #52 by the Gold Coast. He played 10 games before his release.

Other top 60 draftees from 2017 still to play are #35 Oscar Clavarino (St Kilda), #41 Toby Wooller (Brisbane), #43 Connor Ballenden (Brisbane), #47 Sam Hayes (Port Adelaide), #54 Jack Payne (Brisbane) and #58 Jake Patmore (Port Adelaide).

Even nine of the 15 players drafted beyond pick #60 and 17 players taken in the Rookie Draft have played at the highest level.

But as much as Ling may not yet be well known to Swans fans or the general AFL public, Hawthorn scouts preparing for Saturday’s game will remember him well.

The AFL website’s pre-draft analysis described him as “a rebounding half-back with a deadly left boot and some break-line acceleration” and added “he has all the traits likely to excite plenty of club recruiters."

The Draft Central review at the time said of him: “Matthew Ling is the type of player clubs want running off half-back. He has blistering speed, clean with ball in hand, a great mover in traffic and has a deadly left boot which can pierce through opposition zones and hit up targets not many others could. He has burst onto the scene as a possible first rounder this year after impressing early on with his dash and skills.”

Recruiters remember vividly a passage of play in the 2017 TAC Cup grand final in which he gathered a loose ball cleanly, burst off half back and picked out a leading forward inside 50.

The review continued: “… while he does not accumulate possessions as much as others, he is the type of player that 15 touches will be like 25-30 of your average player. He rarely wastes a disposal and is clean by both hand and foot.

“His preferred left is capable of hitting targets over any distance, and he has that touch of class when moving with the ball. When playing at the elite level, he is likely to be that player that teammates look to in order to produce a perfect pass and step up, and be the difference in crunch games.

“While his 20m sprint at the National Combine was 3.03 seconds – still very fast – many onlookers would have expected even better such is his acceleration. It was a perfect example of why test results are not everything because Ling certainly is among the fastest players in the draft crop.

“When running with the ball, he backs himself with confidence, arches his back and can still hit targets at full speed, which is very difficult to do for most players. Overall, Ling has enough weapons to suggest a club will use a top 25, if not top 20 pick on the exciting half-back/midfielder.”

Swans recruiting boss Kinnear Beatson did exactly that when chose Ling at #14 ahead of #15 Zac Bailey (Brisbane), #16 Ed Richards (Western Bulldogs), #17 Jack Higgins (Richmond), #18 Brandon Starcevich (Brisbane), #19 Will Powell (Gold Coast) and #20 Callum Coleman-Jones (Richmond).

The little-known Ling, whose twin brother Harry played with him at the Falcons, gave an insight into his personality during an interview with Melbourne radio station SEN even before he was drafted in October 2017.

He was quick to point out that despite boasting a famous Geelong surname he is no relation to the Cats premiership captain Cameron Ling.

He revealed his childhood football hero was not exactly a household name. “I was a Shannon Byrnes fan to be honest. He had some pace and a good left foot…I liked him,” said Ling, who grew up a one-eyed Geelong fan.

And he was adamant he was “definitely not a footy head” despite being a product of St Joseph’s College in Geelong, which boasts among its alumni a host of famous football names including Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel, ex-Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell, six-time Geelong All-Australian Matthew Scarlett and Carlton’s 2018 #1 draft pick Sam Walsh.

“Footy is not everything,” Ling said at the time. “I’ll watch a game if it’s on or go and watch Geelong if they are playing at home, but I think you can get too much footy and I’d rather be a little more laid back about it.”

When asked what traits he especially wanted recruiters to take notice of Ling said: “I’d like clubs to know I’m coachable, will work hard and won’t be a hassle to work with.

“We had such a great group at the Falcons and I learned the value of sticking together and working hard. Everyone brought into the values we had, and it just worked.”

Ling has done that and more through a difficult time that will finally be rewarded when he pulls on the #19 guernsey for the first time.

It is the number worn most famously for the Swans by 303-gamer Michael O’Loughlin and since him by Tom Derickx, who played one game in 2015, Tony Armstrong, who played 15 games in 2012-13, and Daniel Bradshaw, who played nine games in 2010.