Sydney Swans veteran Jarrad McVeigh plays starring role in win over Western Bulldogs
JARRAD McVeigh has again stood tall in the heat of battle to help his side squeeze past the Bulldogs. And to think at one stage last season it looked like his AFL career might be drawing to a close.
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THE Swans’ decision to keep the faith with Jarrad McVeigh is being rewarded big time with the veteran defender again standing up in the heat of battle to help Sydney squeeze past the Bulldogs.
He doesn’t have the co-captain moniker alongside his name anymore but title is irrelevant, he is still just as much a leader of the red and whites as he ever was.
When the Dogs were coming hard in the last term McVeigh was in everything, marshalling the troops, winning possession and finding targets as they came out of the backline.
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“Jarrad really stood up in the last quarter,” Swans utility Harry Cunningham said.
“He had about four or five spoils in the last couple of minutes. Efforts like that gets everybody jumping on board.”
It was an appropriate performance for the occasion as the 33-year-old McVeigh played his 304th match and moved past his good mate Michael O’Loughlin into third place in Sydney’s games record books.
This time last year McVeigh was entering the lowest point of his career, missing 12 of the first 16 matches with calf and hamstring injuries.
At 32 his days in the AFL looked numbered with his contract expiring at the end of the year and his ageing body failing him.
He bounced back playing the last 11 matches, including the finals, to earn a one-year deal.
A niggling calf kept him out of pre-season games but he had completed the bulk of training, giving him the ability to be fit for round one in Perth.
This time last year Sydney were 0-4 on their way to an 0-6 start. At 3-1 and with one of the toughest starts to the year of any team, the Swans are in good shape. And McVeigh continues to play his part.
“He doesn’t change whether he has the title of captain or not,” Cunningham said.
“He’s a leader of this footy club and he has been for a long time. It’s good to have him out there and he’s still leading from the front which is great to see.”
McVeigh’s future beyond 2018 is still up in the air, right now there are no conversations with the club about next year.
“It’s early days I’m just excited to be playing footy,” McVeigh said last week.
“I’m more looking forward to the weeks ahead.”
The gutsy win against a resurgent Bulldogs was a perfect warm up for Friday night’s clash with last year’s grand finalists Adelaide at the SCG.
“We have a real belief we can stand up in those situations,” Cunningham said.
“We train for them all the time. Every team you come up against puts you in those sorts of situations and we have learned from a couple of them. It give us confidence going into games that we will play our roles and do what we need to.”