David Swallow is a Perth boy. He had just turned 17 when Gold Coast called his number. Of the players taken after him in the 2010 draft, there would be 27 premiership medallions, several of them around the necks of his former Suns teammates.
Swallow played in some unspeakably awful teams. He was captain of a club with no pulse, no purpose, few fans and, for a long time, substandard facilities. The former No 1 pick, like his club, didn’t play in a final for a decade and a half. He played just seven home and away games this year, four of them as the sub. Then, in the dying moments of an intense game against Fremantle, it looked as though he’d cost his team its first finals win. His dinky little kick ricocheted straight up the other end for a Dockers goal.
