Swans coach John Longmire and wife Shelley have three children, and as of tonight (Saturday), Tom, Sahara and Billy Longmire will have 100 football “siblings”. 

This unlikely label is a product of the unofficial father-figure role of the veteran coach, who celebrated his 50^th birthday on New Year’s Eve last year and is set to begin his second decade at the Swans helm. 

In his first 10 years as Swans coach after taking over from Paul Roos in 2011 Longmire coached 96 different AFL players – 52 AFL debutants, 16 players recruited from opposition clubs, and 28 players at the club before he took over. 

The AFL debut of Braeden Campbell, Errol Gulden and Logan McDonald and Tom Hickey’s first Swans outing at the Gabba tonight will see him post his ‘century’. 

This is in comparison to Roos’ 80 different players coaching the Swans from 2002-10, and Rodney Eade’s 76 different players from 1996-2002. 

In another statistical quirk tonight, the debutant trio of Campbell, Gulden and McDonald will each be the first players with their Christian names to play for the Swans.  

McDonald, too, will become the first player with the Christian name ‘Logan’ on an all-time AFL player list that started in 1897 and had reached 12,851 by the end of last year. 

Gulden will be just the second Errol in AFL history behind Errol Hutchesson, who played 127 games with Colling from 1958-1967, including the 1960 and 1966 grand finals. 

Campbell will be the first ‘Braeden’ in the AFL history behind current Collingwood pair Brayden Maynard and Brayden Sier, Gold Coast trio Brayden Ainsworth, Brayden Fiorini and Brayden Crossly, and Essendon’s Brayden Ham. 

Even Tom Hickey, the Swans fourth new face tonight after stints at Gold Coast, StKilda and West Coast, will grab a slice of AFL history as the first player to play for four clubs in four different states.  

Although he shares the Christian name of one of the coach’s sons and the Chief Executive Tom Harley the journeyman ruckman can’t claim any unique notoriety – there have been 32 Toms play for the Swans including current teammates Tom McCartin and Papley, premiership players Tom Grimshaw (1914) and Tom O’Halloran (1918), and grand final players Tom Bollard (1914) and Tom Mitchell (2018). 

There’s even been a Tom Hickey who played 45 games for South Melbourne from 1902-05 

McDonald is set to wear the #6 guernsey that as been worn most often for the Swans by Andrew Dunkley (199 games), Craig Bolton (170) and Harry Clarke (134). He will the fourth #6 under Longmire after Tom Mitchell, Jordan Foote and Jackson Thurlow. 

Campbell will the #16 guernsey wore 100+ times by four players – Ricky Quade (164), Darren Jolly (118), Gary Rohan (106) and Austin Robertson Snr (105). Only Rohan and Zac Foot have worn #16 under Longmire. 

Gulden will take up #21 – the former number of Leo Barry (239), Tony Morwood (229), John Heriot (153) and Ben McGlynn (127). Only McGlynn has worn #21 under Longmire. 

Hickey will be the first Swans player of the Longmire era to wear #31 that was worn 241 times by ex-captain turned Head of Wellbeing and Player Management Brett Kirk and 100 times by Francis Jackson. 

Of the 2021 Swans players, only two were at the club when Longmire took charge – Josh Kennedy had played 24 games after moving from Hawthorn and Sam Reid had played just one. 

If you ask the 235-game coach if he has any favorite players among his Swans 100 you’ll get the standard ‘of course not’ but there have been some statistical standouts. 

Kennedy (221) and Luke Parker (212) head 16 100-gamers under Longmire from Heath Grundy (186), Kieren Jack (185), Nick Smith (182), Dan Hannebery (180), Jarrad McVeigh (178), Dane Rampe (170), Jake Lloyd (154), Sam Reid (152), Harry Cunningham (130), Ted Richards (128), Lance Franklin (118), Ben McGlynn (113), Isaac Heeney (108) and Lewis Jetta (107). 

Tom Papley and George Hewett will join this list with their 100^th game tonight. 

Kennedy and Parker also have shared most of Longmire’s 144 wins as coach with 136 and 129 respectively. Others with more than 100 wins under the club’s longest-serving coach are Jack (124), Grundy (123), Smith (123), McVeigh (120), Hannebery (120) and Rampe (107). 

How many of the 100 Swans players of the Longmire era can you name? 

In chronological order, with the number of games played under Longmire, they are:- 

AFL DEBUTANTS: Byron Sumner (1), Alex Johnson (47), Nathan Gordon (2), Luke Parker (212*), Lewis Johnston (2), Harry Cunningham (130*), Tommy Walsh (5), Dane Rampe (170*), Jed Lamb (12), Tom Mitchell (65), Brandon Jack (28), Xavier Richards (12), Shane Biggs (6), Jake Lloyd (154*), Zak Jones (90), Dean Towers (57), Tim Membrey (1), Sam Naismith (30*), Isaac Heeney (108*), Dan Robinson (25), Toby Nankervis (12), James Rose (14), George Hewett (99*), Callum Mills (92), Tom Papley (99*), Aliir Aliir (64), Jack Hiscox (1), Harry Marsh (25), Jordan Foote (6), Ollie Florent (70*), Robbie Fox (38*), Will Hayward (69*), Nic Newman (31), Jordan Dawson (41*), Lewis Melican (46*), Ben Ronke (34*), Tom McCartin (48*), Ryley Stoddart (6), Colin O’Riordan (23*), Darcy Cameron (1), Nick Blakey (37*), Justin McInerney (10*), James Rowbottom (28*), Hayden McLean (10*), James Bell (10*), Dylan Stephens (8*), Chad Warner (2*), Elijah Taylor (4), Matt Ling (3*), Sam Wicks (7*), Zac Foot (2) and Joel Amartey (1*). To debut tonight: Braeden Campbell, Errol Gulden, Logan McDonald. 

IMPORTS: Andrejs Everitt (43), Matt Spangher (6), Tony Armstrong (15), Mitch Morton (12), Kurt Tippett (74), Lance Franklin (118*), Jeremy Laidler (61), Tom Derickx (13), Callum Sinclair (85*), Michael Talia (1), Ryan Clarke (24*), Jackson Thurlow (17), Dan Menzel (7), Kaiden Brand (2*), Sam Gray (7*), Lewis Taylor (9*). To play tonight: Tom Hickey. 

PRE-LONGMIRE PLAYERS: Adam Goodes (67), Jude Bolton (46), Ryan O’Keefe (48), Tadhg Kennelly (10), Lewis Roberts-Thomson (30), Paul Bevan (7), Jarrad McVeigh (120), Jared Moore (2), Nick Malceski (58), Ted Richards (87), Heath Grundy (123), Kieren Jack (124), Craig Bird (66), Martin Mattner (36), Nick Smith (123), Jesse White (16), Rhyce Shaw (61), Brett Meredith (2), Mike Pyke (60), Dan Hannebery (120), Lewis Jetta (73), Josh Kennedy (136*), Ben McGlynn (73) Shane Mumford (39), Mark Seaby (6), Gary Rohan (66), Trent Dennis-Lane (7), Sam Reid (94*).