If Sydney Swans fans have seen the reserves play and wondered who the players were in numbers 47 and above, there is an explanation.  These young players are the top-ups who play each week for the Swans reserves side in the AFL Canberra competition. 

Due to the dominance of the reserves side since its inclusion in the Canberra competition in 2003 - which has included four Swans premierships - the league has placed restrictions on the Swans team in order to even out the competition.

Therefore there is a limit to how many listed players are allowed to take the field, as Swans development coach Daniel McPherson explains.

“The number of Swans listed players allowed on the field is 13, so we need at least five top-ups on the ground at any one time. We need to have at least six named in our team list so we’ve always got one on the bench and usually about three of four (extras) depending on our list of numbers,’’ McPherson said.

“Prior to that I think we could have as many Swans guys that we had available play, and then in an attempt to even up the competition a bit they put these restrictions in place.’’

Every week, McPherson contacts local teams either in Sydney or Canberra, depending on where the match will be played, to recruit top-up players. They then have the opportunity to don the red and white guernsey and experience how it feels to be a Swan for the day.

“When we play home games, I contact each of the coaches of the AFL Sydney Premier competition and just ask them to nominate a player each and then we’ve sort of got a roster system whereby we go down that roster depending on how many top-ups we need and then just use those players that are nominated. As well as that we also use some of our scholarship guys as top-ups,’’ he said.

“When we are in Canberra we’ve got a roster system in place down there where we get two top-ups from three of the clubs that we are obviously not playing against that weekend.

“So they provide us with six players and if we need any more we organise those either with scholarship guys or we source them from the clubs up here to take with us,” he said.

While it can be a daunting experience for a young player to step up and play for the reserves, they get the benefit of playing with the Swans up-and-coming players as well as learning from the Swans coaches. McPherson hopes that the players enjoy their time with the side and learn as much as possible.

“It’s a pretty difficult situation for them, especially when it’s the first time they’ve played with us. Many of them don’t know many, or any, of our players and in most cases they don’t even know the other top-ups that they are playing with.

So I suppose at times it could be a bit of an intimidating environment for them but we try to make it as welcoming and as open as we can. The main thing is that the enjoy it and that they get something out of it that they can take back to their own clubs.”

Another benefit of being a top-up player is the chance to step up and play at a higher level than they are used to. While some of the top-ups are playing senior footy in their local competitions, a lot of them are playing under 18’s, so the chance to play in division one of the AFL Canberra competition is a great opportunity.
 
“For most of them it’s a reasonable step up in standard so it’s a good opportunity for them to test themselves and see where they are at in terms of their footy and hopefully they enjoy the experience,” he said.

While there have been many top-up players so far this season due to the roster system, there has also been some consistent starters for the side. Kieran Emery and Eugene Kruger are two regulars who have been impressive, with Emery kicking 15 goals in his seven games, while Kruger has also been in good form in his four games for the reserves.

“Kieran’s been pretty good, Eugene Kruger from the East Coast Eagles, who we’ve had a few times, has been going ok. From down in Canberra we’ve had a couple of guys, Ryan Price from Queanbeyan has been pretty handy, and Stuart Gray from Ainslie. And we’ve had five or six of our scholarship guys that have been pretty impressive as well when they’ve played,” McPherson said.

The Sydney Swans Reserves have a bye this weekend. Their next game is against Eastlake at ANZ Stadium, at 3.50pm on July 31.