AFL young gun Sydney Swan Sam Wicks ready to step up
He grew up surrounded by surfers and rugby players so why did Sam Wicks end up being a Sydney Swan with an enormous passion for AFL?
Manly
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Sam Wicks always knew what he wanted to be - he could see them walking past him each day.
The young AFL player, a member of the Sydney Swans Academy from his early teens, used to see senior players around the club each day.
“I started with the Academy in 2010,” said Wicks, who grew up at Manly and played his early AFL with the Manly Bombers and Wolves.
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“I knew from an early age football was what I wanted to play for sure and I always wanted to play for the Swans.
“Then at the Academy you’d see Goodsy (Adam Goodes) and the others walking and you’d want to be him, want to be them.”
Now he is.
Wicks, drafted at the end of 2018, is hoping to make his debut with the Swans this season when AFL finally returns after its enforced shutdown due to the coronavirus.
“The Swans is is a hard team to break into. I’m doing everything I can to do it,” said the small forward.
“I have visualised it. Everyone dreams about it. It’s the next big milestone. There would be no better feeling.”
Wicks was introduced to the sport from a young age with his parents both from Adelaide and staunch Crows supporters.
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“They were into it and got me into it from an early age,” he said.
“Dad is still a bit torn. Mum’s all Swans now. Dad is half and half.
“He struggles to watch the Swans v Crows sometimes.”
Wicks, who attended Shore and played rugby in his youth, also plays basketball and surfs.
“I have two labradors at home as well. I’m a real animal lover,” said Wicks, who is also doing a finance and marketing degree at Sydney University.
While NRL forges ahead with its plans to return after its coronavirus hibernation, the AFL has delayed the revealing of its return plans until the week beginning May 11.