Swans midfielder Byron Sumner has watched as several of his fellow first year teammates, including Lewis Jetta, Gary Rohan and Trent Dennis-Lane, have progressed to the top level, and he can’t wait to do it himself.
And if his home life is anything to go by, Sumner won’t be far off senior selection for the Club.
The 19-year-old is currently living with Jetta, Shane Mumford and Campbell Heath, and according to Sumner, everything is a competition in the household. With all three housemates playing senior footy so far this year, Sumner is out to get on even terms with the trio.
“We get a lot of feedback at home and try to turn everything into a competition between each other. It’s really good to see them get up and have a go at seniors,” Sumner said.
Sumner, who was drafted to the Swans at pick number 54 in the 2009 AFL draft, has impressed in recent weeks in the reserves, including a best on ground performance against Eastlake two weeks ago. He was again named in the reserves’ best in their eight-point loss to the Tuggeranong Hawks last weekend and is hoping to continue this strong form into the final rounds of the season.
“My goal at the moment is to stay in good strong form and push for senior selection in the last few games in the season,’’ Sumner said.
“As a team we in the Reserves need to work a lot harder and have more care for one another to give ourselves the best opportunity to get back on top and win our last few games of the season before finals. I’m pushing myself to get into really good form and get really fit coming into the pre-season and give myself the best opportunity to have a big year next year,” he said.
The Woodville-West Torrens junior made the big move from South Australia at the end of last year, after strong performances for his state in the Under 18 National Championships.
Sumner also impressed the Swans coaches with his determination and commitment in the pre-season, and was rewarded with selection in two of the pre-season games, against Carlton and St Kilda. One coach who was full of praise for Sumner from the onset was Swans Development Coach, Stuart Maxfield, who he says has been of great assistance to him so far this season.
“I think I was the smallest one in the draft, having that on my mind I thought I was going to struggle and to hear that from the coaches at the start was really good and really gave me a lot of confidence. Stuey Maxfield was one coach that was really honest and told me what I needed to hear which was really good, it helped me a lot and we do a lot of one-on-one stuff as well so it’s really good,” he said.
After having a taste of senior football in the pre-season cup, which Sumner describes as ‘one of the best experiences he’s had’, he can’t wait to play at that level again.
“I adjusted really well to the top level and my aim is to get a senior game and play at the top level again,” he said.
Sumner has spent his time in reserves filling plenty of different roles, including in the midfield and defence. Two players that Sumner has learnt a lot from are his mentors, Rhyce Shaw and Nick Malceski. Sumner is trying to learn as much as he can off the pair, and is always looking to them for inspiration, on and off the field.
“I’ve been starting to play a bit of back and obviously Nick Malceski in seniors is in really good form at the moment so I’m learning lots off both of them. What I’m going to try and do over the next few weeks is get together with them and go through a bit more vision of mine and get a bit more assistance. I definitely watch them a lot and pick up some aspects of their games.”
The Reserves meet Ainslie this Saturday at the SCG, at 2.10pm - earlier than usual because of a Qantas KickStart game featuring young Indigenous players, which will start at 4.50pm.
The seniors take on the Western Bulldogs at 7.10pm.
Ainslie has hit form at the right end of the season, and while Sumner knows it will be a difficult task, he hopes the reserves can put in a good performance.
“I might get a run off half-back again, last time I had a tagging role on (former Adelaide Crows player) Robert Shirley so I may be on him again,” he said.
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