Double celebration for Swans’ milestone man
AFL: Sydney veteran Jarrad McVeigh received the perfect gift to celebrate his 300th game with the birth of a baby daughter, Florence, yesterday.
The happy result takes care of any issues of where to be tomorrow night when his Swans take on Geelong in the semi-final at the MCG.
“We tried to put a few things in place because she was actually due next Monday, so we sped things up a bit,” he said. “The week has started off pretty well, everyone is healthy and happy, so I’ll quickly train today then head back to the hospital.”
Early in the season the 300 milestone looked a long way off when McVeigh played just two games in the first 14 rounds because of ongoing calf injuries.
But since his return in round 15 against Melbourne he hasn’t missed a beat, averaging more than 20 possessions a game as he quarterbacked the Swans defence.
His form earned him a one-year contract extension last week.
McVeigh becomes just the fourth Swan to chalk up a triple century of games following Adam Goodes (372), Jude Bolton (325) and Michael O’Loughlin (303).
“The club means the world to me,” McVeigh said.
“To come out of school and be drafted and get to stay home was fantastic. I learned so much through the older players that have been at the club when I arrived.
“I looked at the best trainers and the best players and just lived in their pockets the whole time. Paul Williams, Stuart Maxfield, Kirky, Goodsey and Barry Hall. I owe a lot of that to those guys.”
McVeigh scoffed at suggestions his teammates would lift in honour of his milestone.
“It’s a semi-final, we’ve got a chance to get into a prelim, so there’s no extra motivation, I wouldn’t have thought,” he said.
“I’d expect that even it was my first game. The boys are really professional in the way they go about it and I expect a fierce contest from both sides.”
Daniel Menzel, meanwhile, will play for Geelong after coach Chris Scott conceded he regrets dropping him for the clash with Richmond.