‘Like brothers’: Essendon set to snare Adam Sweid and Hussein El Achkar in AFL draft
Adam Sweid and Hussein El Achkar are thick as thieves, with the pair ‘like brothers’. Here’s what the top NGA products can bring to the Bombers – and their connection to a current young Dons gun.
They grew up in the same suburbs of Melbourne, with the same backgrounds and the same sporting passion.
But Adam Sweid and Hussien El Achkar were long-time opponents on the football field before they became teammates and later self-anointed “brothers”.
Sweid started his football journey in under-10s at the small Essendon District Football League club of Hadfield.
READ MORE: CODE SPORTS AFL DRAFT DOSSIER ON THE TOP 100 PROSPECTS
A mere 2.3km away, El Achkar was playing for was plying his trade for Glenroy.
The pair’s paths first collided in an under 11 match in 2017, where El Achkar kicked Glenroy’s only goal in a loss to a Hadfield side where Sweid was named among the best players.
A few years later, ahead of the 2021 season, El Achkar moved to Pascoe Vale.
Sweid joined him at the Panthers the following year and the two have been largely inseparable ever since.
“I think this year I’ve honestly spent more time with him (Sweid) than my family,” El Achkar said.
“He has been in my car just about every day. We’ve been so close for the past two or three years.”
Both Sweid and El Achkar’s father were born in Lebanon, with their extended families as connected as they are in the northern suburbs.
“Growing up, our families and our community were very tight,” Sweid said.
“I know his community very well, he knows my community very well. Our cousins know each other. So we’re very close in that way as well.
“We’re almost like brothers, you’d say.”
The pair’s heritage qualified them for Essendon’s Next Generation Academy, which they have been involved with since age 15.
That means that the Calder Cannons products are likely to land at the Bombers together in November’s national draft – alongside another friend and former teammate in Isaac Kako.
El Achkar inherited Kako’s old No. 2 jumper at the Cannons this year and the first-year Bombers forward made the trip to Moorabbin to watch him play in it in round 1 of the Coates Talent League this year.
“Last year he took me under his wing,” El Achkar said of Kako.
“He taught me how hard you have to work and a bit of the small forward craft, which is pretty cool. For him to present me with my jersey was pretty cool and even this year when I trained with Essendon he told me, ‘Just follow me and whatever you need I’ll be here’.
“It’s pretty cool to see him watching my games. When I look around sometimes I try to look for him. Having him there puts a smile on your face, having your ex-teammate and someone that you’ve looked up to the last couple of years.”
That round 1 game this year was also Sweid’s first for the Cannons after he had his bottom-age season in 2024 wiped out by an ACL injury.
That injury occurred in the third quarter of an under-16 Grand Final for Pascoe Vale in August 2023, which the Panthers lost to a Tom McGuane-spearheaded Keilor.
“I had surgery a couple of weeks later on September 12th and had a 10 month rehab after that,” Sweid said.
“Mentally, it was tough to have great mates like Huss, (Cooper) Duff-Tytler, McGuane, good mates who I grew up with, perform at a high level and believing that you’re on their level and you can do what they’re doing.
“It was mentally tough not being out there, having to watch from the sidelines and see all your mates do well. You sort of feel left out, left alone. But I’m grateful for the opportunity in my top-age year.”
El Achkar provided support to his good mate during the lay-off and was confident all along that Sweid would bounce back – as he did this year.
“Just seeing where he came from after an ACL injury, I’m just so happy for him,” El Achkar said.
“I had an interview at the start of the year and they asked me who would have a big year and I said ‘Adam’. Just seeing how hard he worked in pre-season and training with him, I knew he was going to be good.”
Both Sweid and El Achkar are viewed as potential top-30 picks in the draft, with both having impressed for the Cannons, Vic Metro and Essendon at VFL level this year.
The dream has long been to join the Bombers together and the pair can almost taste that now.
“I think there’s no better story than that, to be honest, playing with your best mate who you grew up with,” Sweid said.
“We’re teenagers. When we’re driving, we have a lot of chats about how our future could look. If we both go to Essendon as NGA picks and grow up living out our dream together, that will be surreal.”
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Like brothers’: Essendon set to snare Adam Sweid and Hussein El Achkar in AFL draft
Revealed: AFL’s explosive defence to landmark racism class action
