26 Luke Parker

Choose another player Armstrong, Tony - [19] Bird, Craig - [14] Bolton, Jude - [24] Brown, Alex - [36] Cunningham, Harry - [44] Dennis-Lane, Trent - [8] Everitt, Andrejs - [13] Goodes, Adam - [37] Gordon, Nathan - [45] Grundy, Heath - [39] Hannebery, Daniel - [4] Jack, Kieren - [15] Jetta, Lewis - [32] Johnson, Alex - [34] Kennedy, Josh P. - [12] Lamb, Jed - [11] Lockyer, Jordan - [23] Malceski, Nick - [9] Mattner, Martin - [29] McGlynn, Ben - [21] McVeigh, Jarrad - [3] Meredith, Brett - [7] Mitchell, Tom - [6] Moore, Jarred - [33] Morton, Mitch - [10] Mumford, Shane - [41] O'Keefe, Ryan - [5] Parker, Luke - [26] Pyke, Mike - [38] Reid, Sam - [20] Richards, Ted - [25] Roberts-Thomson, Lewis - [30] Rohan, Gary - [16] Seaby, Mark - [1] Shaw, Rhyce - [2] Smith, Nicholas - [40] Spangher, Matt - [27] Walsh, Tommy - [17] White, Jesse - [18]

Parker made an impressive start to life as an AFL player, featuring in 13 games in his debut season.

The mature-bodied midfielder was being groomed as a long-term replacement for Jude Bolton, but demonstrated he was ready for senior football.

His best effort was a 26-possession, two-goal performance against Gold Coast in round 16, when he earned a first Brownlow Medal vote.

He featured in both of the Swans’ finals.

Coaches' call:

2011 was ... a year where he exceeded all  our expectations. He played 13 senior games in his first year at the club. He’s competitive, he wants to play and he puts his nose over the ball, which earns him respect. He was ruthless in the way he approached his footy and he got the rewards.

Preseason has been … outstanding. He is in my office (Leigh Tudor) or in Stuey Dew’s office all the time, looking at vision of the best midfielders in the competition and how they combine attack and defence. We give him little challenges and things to work out, and he always comes  back with the right answers. He wants to be a two-way player and he’s a real standout.

We hope in 2012 … that he can start in the midfield and be one of our better players, as he was in the NAB Cup round one. We want him to be hard, tough and clean with his hands and ball use.

Brownlow Medal: 2011 votes 1; career votes 1.

Draft history: 2010 NAB AFL Draft 2nd round selection (Sydney) No. 40 overall.