Following the Sydney Swans bye in Round 14, we take a look back at the statistics of defender Jake Lloyd, who recently cruised into an elite club, becoming just the 18th player in Swans history to reach 4000 possessions.

Lloyd became just the 18^th player in Swans history to reach 4000 possessions after picking up 26 possessions against Fremantle in Perth in Round 10 this season.

Even more significantly, he was fourth quickest, reaching this mark in his 164^th game, and the fourth-youngest at 27 years 244 days.

Only Josh Kennedy (153 games), Barry Mitchell (158) and Dan Hannebery (163) got to 4000 possessions for the club quicker. And only Luke Parker (26 years 168 days), Mitchell (26/176) and Hannebery (25/146) were younger.

The Swans 4000 Club is open only to players who began their career after the AFL started keeping official possessions counts in 1965. This excludes the great Bob Skilton, who played only 139 of his 237 games from 1956-64 and only 98 games thereafter.

And it means that Lloyd, a rookie selection in the draft year of 2012, a debutant in 2014 ranks 18^th among 547 Swans players from 1965 on.

Following Round 10, Kennedy headed the all-time Swans list with 6748 possessions for the Swans, ahead of games record-holder Adam Goodes (6390) and Jarrad McVeigh (6390).

Kennedy is also the only member of the 4000 Club to have started his AFL career elsewhere. He played 13 games at Hawthorn in 2008-09 for 235 possessions before joining the Swans.

This table lists the total possession count for the 18 players who have reached 4000 possessions for the club, and the number of games each player took to reach major milestone. Stats are as at Sydney's Round 10 clash v Fremantle.

This table list the age of each member of the 4000 club on debut for the Swans and at each of the major possession milestones. Stats are as at Sydney's Round 10 clash v Fremantle.

Jake Lloyd
Jake Lloyd is a ball magnet, an endurance machine, a clean user of the footy and a calming influence on the Sydney Swans’ half-back line. The former rookie-listed Swan averaged 27.22 disposals per match between 2016 and 2019 and won the club’s 2018 Bob Skilton Medal. Lloyd became the quickest Swan in history to reach 100 senior games when he ran out against Hawthorn at the MCG in Round 8, 2018. He was then recognised as one of the best players in the league when he was selected for Victoria in the State of Origin match for bushfire relief in February 2019. Draft history: 2013 Rookie Draft selection (Sydney) No. 16; 2014 AFL Draft rookie elevation (Sydney).

His football apprenticeship prior to his draft year had included four senior premiers with the Horsham Demons in his home town – the first at 16 – plus Victorian Country representation at Under 16 and Under 18 levels, and a stint in the TAC Cup with the North Ballarat Rebels (now the Greater Western Victoria Rebels).

As history shows, he was the sixth Rebels player drafted in his year.

The others were Dom Barry (Melbourne & Port Adelaide – 10 games), Jake Neade (Port Adelaide - 66 games), Michael Close (Brisbane - 27 games), Tanner Smith (Fremantle – 4 games) and Martin Gleeson (Essendon – 91 games).

Ironically, Lloyd’s draft year of 2012 has provided an extraordinary double windfall for the Swans. Because the player from his year who has played most games at 177 is Swans co-captain Dane Rampe.

The mature-age pick-up from the UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs, winner of the 2012 Phelan Medal in the Sydney Football League, was a ‘steal’ at selection #37 in the same Rookie Draft as Lloyd.

Only four players in the Class of 2012 have played more games than Lloyd’s 164 – Rampe (177), Western Bulldogs’ Jack Macrae (169), Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines (168) and Richmond’s Nick Vlaustin (165). And only two have had more possessions than Lloyd’s 4025 – Macrae (4777) and Wines (4139)

The above statistical comparisons were accurate at the completion of Round 10 (Sydney Swans v Fremantle, Saturday May 22, 2021).

But …. what about Skilton and the 4000 Club?

It is anyone’s guess where the 1959-63-68 Brownlow Medallist would rank if official possession counts were taken and kept from his debut at 17 in 1956.

What is known is that he had 2609 possessions in 97 games from 1965 at an average of 26.6 possessions per game.

So, for comparison purposes, what if we count the equivalent games from 140 to 237 of other members of the 4000 Club. Or, for those who fell just short of Skilton’s 237 games, the last 98 games?

As the table below shows, only Kennedy has averaged more for the corresponding games of his career.