The number 300 is a big one in football. It signifies the elite of the elite. Only 107 of 13,226 players all-time have played 300 games, only 25 of 383 coaches have coached 300 games. And only 201 players have kicked 300 goals.
Only Hawthorn’s Michael Tuck has enjoyed 300 wins as a player, and only 19 people in football have enjoyed a combined 300 wins as a player and coach. And in 129 years of football only 169 have a combined 300 games.
Dean Cox will be #170 on Friday night when the Swans host Carlton at the SCG.
Having played 290 games at West Coast, his 10th game as Sydney coach will see him join this exclusive group, which includes 21 people with a connection to the red and white – and five of the top 13.
The “300-Plus Group” is headed by Kevin Sheedy at 929 games – 251 as a player at Richmond and 678 as a coach at Essendon and GWS.
Mick Malthouse, a player at Richmond and coach at the Western Bulldogs, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton, is next at 892, ahead of Jock McHale at 834 – all at Collingwood.
Leigh Matthews had 793 games as a player at Hawthorn and coach at Collingwood and Brisbane, and David Parkin 729 games as a player at Hawthorn and coach at Hawthorn, Carlton and Fitzroy.
Those with a Swans connection, with their ranking, are:
6. Ron Barassi – 668. The iconic ‘Barass’, an AFL Hall of Fame Legend, coached Sydney 59 times from 1993-95 to close out an extraordinary career which included time at Melbourne and Carlton as a player, and coaching stints at Carlton, North Melbourne and Melbourne before answering an SOS from AFL headquarters to help out in Sydney.
8. Norm Smith – 642. Coach of the AFL Team of the Century, he coached South Melbourne in 87 games from 1969-72 to close out 37 years in the League which included time as a player and coach at Melbourne and Fitzroy.
9. Rodney Eade – 636. He began his 17-year coaching career with 152 games at the Swans helm from 1996-2002, including the ’96 grand final, after playing at Hawthorn and Brisbane and before coaching the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast. Is a Tasmanian Hall of Famer.
10. Paul Roos – 624. The coach who ended the club’s 72-year premiership drought when he masterminded the 2005 flag, he coached the Swans in 202 games from 2002-2010 after 87 games as a player from 1995-98. This was after 269 games as a player at Fitzroy, where he was a seven-time All-Australian (twice captain) and before 66 games as coach at Melbourne. A member of the Fitzroy Team of the Century and a Fitzroy and AFL Hall of Famer, and a Sydney Hall of Fame Champion.
#13 Tom Hafey – 589. A stodgy back pocket player through 67 games at Richmond from 1953-58, he become one of the game’s coaching greats, finishing a 23-year coaching career with 66 games from 1986-88 after time at Richmond, Collingwood and Geelong. A four-time Richmond premiership coach, he is an AFL Hall of Famer, Richmond Team of the Century coach and a Richmond Hall of Fame Immortal.
20. John Longmire – 533. The 2012 premiership coach piloted the Swans through a club record 333 games from 2011-24 after 200 games at North Melbourne.
37. John Northey – 433. A former Richmond premiership player, he began his 14-year coaching career in Sydney in 1985 before on to Melbourne, Richmond and Brisbane.
56. Adam Goodes – 372. The 2003-05 Brownlow Medallist and Swans games record-holder is ranked 12th-highest in the ‘player only’ category, having played 372 games with the Swans from 1999-2015 for three Skilton Medals and four All-Australian blazers. Is a Swans Hall of Fame Legend, an AFL Hall of Famer and a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century.
74. Lance Franklin – 354. Kicked 1066 goals to rank #4 on the AFL’s all-time goal-kicking list is #3 at the Swans. He played 182 games at Hawthorn before 172 games with Sydney from 2014-23. An eight-time All-Australian, four-time Coleman Medallist, two-time Hawthorn premiership player and twice winner of the AFL Goal of the Year, he ranks equal 15th in all-time Brownlow Medal votes with 186.
91. John Rantall – 336. Equal eighth on the Swans games list and a member of the Team of the Century member, he played 260 games in red and white from 1963-79, split by a 70 games at North Melbourne from 1973-75, and finished his career with six games at Fitzroy that saw him break the then League record of 333 held by Fitzroy’s Kevin Murray. He’s a Sydney and AFL Hall of Famer.
101. Bob Skilton – 331. The triple Brownlow Medallist and Swans Team of the Century captain played 237 games with the club from 1956-71, including 29 as playing coach in 1965-66, and finished with 88 games coaching Melbourne from 1974-77 to qualify for the ‘300 Club’. A nine-time club champion, first rover in the AFL Team of the Century and AFL Hall of Fame Legend,
104. Barry Round – 328. Joint winner of the Brownlow Medal wearing red and white in 1981, he split his career between the Western Bulldogs (135 games) and the Swans (193). Was the club’s first captain after the move to Sydney and is a Swans and AFL Hall of Famer.
108. Jarrad McVeigh & Jude Bolton – 325. Equal second on the Swans games list behind Adam Goodes, they combined for 650 games, 387 wins, 12,095 possessions, 397 goals, 154 Brownlow Medal votes, 54 finals, 27 finals wins, seven grand finals and three premierships. Bolton was the third Swans player to 300 games in 2012 behind Michael O’Loughlin (2009) and Goodes (2011), and ahead of McVeigh (2017). Both are Swans Hall of Famers.
123. Ian Stewart – 319. The triple Brownlow Medallist and AFL Hall of Fame Legend qualified for the 300 Club when he finished his career with 111 games as South Melbourne coach from 1976-77 and 1989-81, split by three games at Carlton in 1978. This followed 205 games as a player at St Kilda and Richmond. A dual premiership player, he was also a Team of the Century choice and a Hall of Famer at St Kilda and Richmond.
127. Terry Daniher – 313. The senior member of the famous Daniher foursome, which includes younger brothers Neale, Anthony and Chris, he played the first 19 games of his career at Sydney in 1976-77 before moving to Essendon. Is an AFL Hall of Famer, an Essendon Hall of Fame legend, and a member of the Essendon Team of the Century.
135. Paul Williams – 309. After 189 games at Collingwood he finished his playing career with 117 games at Sydney from 2001-06, sharing in the 2005 premiership and winning the 2001-02 Bob Skilton Meal and 2003 All-Australian selection on his way to a place in the Sydney and Tasmanian Hall of Fame. Three games as caretaker at the Western Bulldogs topped him off.
150. Michael O’Loughlin – 303. The first Swans player to 300 games, he’s an AFL, Sydney and South Australian Football Hall of Famer, having played in the 2005 premiership and won All-Australian honors in 1997-2000 after claiming the Skilton Medal in 1998. A member of the AFL Indigenous Team of the Century and a Champion in the Sydney Hall of Fame, he is equal-sixth on the Indigenous games list behind Shaun Burgoyne (407), Adam Goodes (372), Lance Franklin (343), Eddie Betts (350) and Andrew McLeod (340), and equal with Shane Edwards. Gavin Wanganeen (300) completes the 300-gamers.
153. Luke Parker – 302. The 293-game Swans veteran, captain from 2019-23, a three-time club champion and fifth on the all-time club games list, has joined the 300 Club with nine games this year at North Melbourne.
158. Len Thompson & Shannon Grant – 301. Thompson, the 1972 Brownlow Medallist, AFL Hall of Famer and Collingwood Team of the Century member, played 268 games with the Magpies before a fleeting 20-game stint at South in 1979. He joined the 300 Club when he finished his career with 13 games at Fitzroy in 1980. Grant was the opposite. He began with 58 games in Sydney from 1995-97 before 243 games at North Melbourne, where he won the Norm Smith Medal in the 1999 premiership.
Swans football boss Leon Cameron is #34 on the list, having played 256 games with the Western Bulldogs and Richmond before 193 games as GWS Giants coach, and long-time Swans senior assistant coach John Blakey is #66, having played 359 games at Fitzroy and North Melbourne and coaching Brisbane once in 2005 when Leigh Matthews was absent following the passing of his mother. And Stuart Dew, who also spent an extended period on the Swans coaching panel, is #107 with 206 games as a player at Port Adelaide and Hawthorn, and 123 games as Gold Coast coach.
Swans 175-gamer Matthew Nicks, now a 115-games senior coach at Adelaide, is poised to reach a combined 300 games later this season, while Cox, starting at #170 on the all-games list, can move into the top 100 when he reaches 331 games next year.
