I was intrigued by a thread over on the Hawks board about the fact that they have retired their #1 guernsey, which instead is said to belong to the fans, because they're #1 at Hawthorn. Thankfully, most on that board realise how stupid that is, but it got me thinking a few things. Who has the #1 guernsey at the Swans? Who did it used to be? Who was the best #1?
But then I got carried away and thought "Why don't we do a list of all the best Swans players in each guernsey number?"
I don't know all the players that have ever played for the Swans, as I only started going to games in 1996 (woah - that's almost 20 years ago now!!!), so hopefully some of you regulars can help out. For the list that I've put together, I've gone with people I actually know or have seen and then used TOTC/stats/medals to decide some of the others. Basically, everyone that has won a Brownlow Medal is in EXCEPT those that lose out to other Brownlow Medallists and Ron Clegg because he's up against Buddy. (Sorry Ron.)
But I know I must have quite a few wrong. So help me out here (I'll edit the OP as people make suggestions):
1. Herbie Matthews
2. Greg Williams
3. Gerard Healy
4. Tony Lockett
5. John Rantall (Bookmark this thread in 5 years to sub in Isaac Heeney here)
6. Andrew Dunkley
7. Dennis Carroll
8. Daryn Cresswell
9. Nick Malceski
10. Bob Pratt
11. Roy Cazaly
12. Josh Kennedy
13. Rod Carter
14. Bob Skilton
15. Keiren Jack
16. Darren Jolly
17. Tadhg Kennelly
18. ????? (Anyone but Jesse White)
19. Michael O'Loughlin
20. Graham Teasdale
21. Leo Barry
22. Jason Saddington (Surely not?)
23. Lance Franklin (Sorry again, Ron)
24. Jude Bolton
25. Barry Round
26. Stephen Wright
27. Jack Graham
28. Jared Crouch
29. Martin Mattner
30. Mark Bayes
31. Brett Kirk
32. Lewis Jetta (This should be interesting)
33. Rowan Warfe
34. Troy Luff (I'm so glad he makes it in)
35. David Murphy
36. ?????
37. Adam Goodes
38. Mike Pyke (or Ricky Mott. Remember Ricky Mott? No, actually, don't remember him.)
39. Warwick Capper
40. Nick Smith
41. Shane Mumford
42. Paul Bevan
43. Norm McKenzie
44. Jake Lloyd
45. Paul Kelly (I don't know how many game he actually played in this number, but he can't beat Skilts out of #14!)
46. Tony Lockett (Yes, again, but even comeback-era Lockett was better than the competition at #46)
47. Leon Higgins
48. Pat Trethowan
49. Terry McGee
50. Tony Haenen (actually played almost 100 games in the #50!)
52. Bill Fallon
54. Mark Athorn
55. Anthony Sinclair (only played 2 games, but so did the other #55 and Anthony scored a goal, so ...)
56. Justin Clarkson (by virtue of being the only Swans #56 ever)
60. Craig Davis
If you need some help thinking of players you've never given a second thought to since retirement (hello, Troy Cook!), this website might help: http://australianfootball.com/clubs/every_player/Sydney/11
But then I got carried away and thought "Why don't we do a list of all the best Swans players in each guernsey number?"
I don't know all the players that have ever played for the Swans, as I only started going to games in 1996 (woah - that's almost 20 years ago now!!!), so hopefully some of you regulars can help out. For the list that I've put together, I've gone with people I actually know or have seen and then used TOTC/stats/medals to decide some of the others. Basically, everyone that has won a Brownlow Medal is in EXCEPT those that lose out to other Brownlow Medallists and Ron Clegg because he's up against Buddy. (Sorry Ron.)
But I know I must have quite a few wrong. So help me out here (I'll edit the OP as people make suggestions):
1. Herbie Matthews
2. Greg Williams
3. Gerard Healy
4. Tony Lockett
5. John Rantall (Bookmark this thread in 5 years to sub in Isaac Heeney here)
6. Andrew Dunkley
7. Dennis Carroll
8. Daryn Cresswell
9. Nick Malceski
10. Bob Pratt
11. Roy Cazaly
12. Josh Kennedy
13. Rod Carter
14. Bob Skilton
15. Keiren Jack
16. Darren Jolly
17. Tadhg Kennelly
18. ????? (Anyone but Jesse White)
19. Michael O'Loughlin
20. Graham Teasdale
21. Leo Barry
22. Jason Saddington (Surely not?)
23. Lance Franklin (Sorry again, Ron)
24. Jude Bolton
25. Barry Round
26. Stephen Wright
27. Jack Graham
28. Jared Crouch
29. Martin Mattner
30. Mark Bayes
31. Brett Kirk
32. Lewis Jetta (This should be interesting)
33. Rowan Warfe
34. Troy Luff (I'm so glad he makes it in)
35. David Murphy
36. ?????
37. Adam Goodes
38. Mike Pyke (or Ricky Mott. Remember Ricky Mott? No, actually, don't remember him.)
39. Warwick Capper
40. Nick Smith
41. Shane Mumford
42. Paul Bevan
43. Norm McKenzie
44. Jake Lloyd
45. Paul Kelly (I don't know how many game he actually played in this number, but he can't beat Skilts out of #14!)
46. Tony Lockett (Yes, again, but even comeback-era Lockett was better than the competition at #46)
47. Leon Higgins
48. Pat Trethowan
49. Terry McGee
50. Tony Haenen (actually played almost 100 games in the #50!)
52. Bill Fallon
54. Mark Athorn
55. Anthony Sinclair (only played 2 games, but so did the other #55 and Anthony scored a goal, so ...)
56. Justin Clarkson (by virtue of being the only Swans #56 ever)
60. Craig Davis
If you need some help thinking of players you've never given a second thought to since retirement (hello, Troy Cook!), this website might help: http://australianfootball.com/clubs/every_player/Sydney/11