ALL IN THE NAME

In 124 years and 1434 players the Sydney Swans have never fielded a player named Logan, Braeden or Errol. But in a couple of hours on Wednesday night recruiting chief Kinnear Beatson drafted one of each. Logan McDonald, taken at pick #4, Braeden Campbell, pick #5, and Errol Gulden, pick #32.

McDonald will be the fifth ‘Big Mac’ to play for the club and the first since the 1950s. Bob and Charles McDonald played together in the 1924 finals and were followed by Brian and Gerry McDonald in the 1950s.

Campbell will be the fourth Swan to carry the famous Scottish surname after Neville Campbell from the 1950s, Russell Campbell in 1978 and ’80, and Freddie Campbell in 1999.

And Gulden, who shares his surname with what was the basic monetary unit of the Netherlands until 2002, will be a dual first timer in the name stakes – the first Errol and the first Gulden. 

FIFTEEN YEARS ON

Logan McDonald, tipped by many to go as high as pick #2 in the draft after a stellar 2020 season in which he topped the WAFL goal-kicking and won a spot in the WAFL Team of the Year, has an unlikely link to the Swans. He went to the same Perth primary school as Tom Derickx, who was taught by Logan’s father Tommy. Derickx, who played 13 games for the Swans in 2014-15, is 15 years older than McDonald.

PERTH F.C. PRODUCTS

Logan McDonald is the fourth product of WAFL club Perth to be claimed by the Swans in the national draft. He follows Troy Cook in 1996, Scott Stevens in 1999 and Elijah Taylor 12 months ago. The most famous product of the club that wears Essendon colors and is known as the Demons is AFL Hall of Fame legend Barry Cable.

A WESTBROOK WONDER

Braeden Campbell is the first Sydney Swans AFL draftee from Westbrook Junior Football Club, formed in 1982 and located in Cherrybrook, 27km north-west of the Sydney CBD in the Hornsby Shire. His name features prominently in junior club awards listed on the website, which also revealed a little piece of trivia gold.

A story posted on the club website by ex-president Bob Vink in July last year, which told how Campbell and Errol Gulden had caught the eye of AFL recruiters after the national under 18 championships, told how Campbell took up AFL aged nine after having earlier played soccer. He switched codes after missing selection in a representative team.

PRIDE OF PENNANT HILLS

Braeden Campbell also joins a long and rich list of AFL products from Pennant Hills Football Club. Among them are ex-Swans champions Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh, and StKilda favorite Lenny Hayes.

A SECOND PLAYERS FROM MAROUBRA SAINTS

Errol Gulden joins the Swans from the Maroubra Saints, formed in 2000, and is understood to be the second AFL draftee from the young club in a beachside suburb. Former Sydney Swans player and fellow QBE Sydney Swans Academy alumni Abe Davis also played his junior footy at Maroubra. 

SHARED BIRTHDAYS

Logan McDonald will celebrate his 19^th birthday on April 4 next year – the same day Callum Mills will turn 24. Braeden Campbell shares his February 4 birthday with ex-South Melbourne forward David Young, who kicked six goals in his third game in 1977 and played 44 games from 1977-79.

A SHARED DRAFT NUMBER

Errol Gulden is the second Swans player taken at #32 in the AFL national draft behind 2013 draftee George Hewett, who in his first game next year will become the 10^th 100-gamer among pick 32s.

The list also includes ex-Swan Kurt Tippett, who was originally taken at #32 by Adelaide in 2006.

Western Bulldogs 265-gamer Daniel Giansiracusa, drafted in 1999, is the most experienced #32 pick followed by ex-Adelaide/Melbourne 229-gamer Bernie Vince, Hawthorn premiership player Campbell Brown (205), Tippett (178), Geelong’s Brad Sholl (171), Essendon premiership player Paul Barnard (151), current Collingwood player Levi Greenwood (158), current Carlton player Liam Jones (142) and ex-Brisbane goalsneak Josh Green (105).

In proof of how much more precise the draft process has become since the early days, Sholl, drafted in 1988, was a trail blazer for those who have followed him. He was the only one of the first six players drafted at pick #32 to play even one game. And for a time, it looked like he may have been another member of the ‘donut club’, having first been drafted by North Melbourne. Unable to break into the Kangaroos side, he was thrown a lifeline by Geelong.

Other current pick #32s are Fremantle’s Joel Hamling (2011), Collingwood’s Brayden Sier (2015), West Coast’s Brayden Ainsworth (2017), Fremantle’s Luke Valente (2018) and Melbourne’s Trent Rivers (2019).

PICK #4 AND PICK #5 HISTORICALLY

Logan McDonald is the fifth player drafted by the Swans at pick #4, following Andrew McGovern (father of West Coast’s Jeremy and Carlton’s Mitch), Glen Gorman, Mark Kinnear and Ryan Fitzgerald. Braeden Campbell is also the Swans’ fifth pick at #5 after Jason Spinks, Adam Heuskes, Jarrad McVeigh and Dylan Stephens.

MULTIPLE TOP 10 PICKS

The early bid from Hawthorn on Academy star Braeden Campbell at pick #5 in Wednesday night’s draft means the Swans had two picks in the top 10 for the fifth time and the first time since 1998. This includes three top 10 picks in 1993. Details are: