Sydney run-with player James Jordon has detailed the unique journey he has taken to reach 100 AFL games after starting at another club.
Jordon was drafted by Melbourne with Pick 33 in the 2018 National Draft, and was a key ingredient in the club's drought-breaking premiership three years later.
But after 65 games at the Demons, an opportunity to move to the Swans, a club he grew up supporting, was too good to refuse, joining the New South Wales side as an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
"I didn't think I was going to get drafted until I was about 18," Jordon said
"I had to work hard and fight for my opportunity and fight for my spot in the team, and I feel like I've come here and taken those opportunities with both hands.
"I'll always be forever grateful to Melbourne for giving me the opportunity and drafting an 18-year-old from country Victoria, and then fast forward a few years to the Swans for giving the opportunity to come here, and I haven't looked back since."
Jordon burst onto the scene for the Bloods as a midfield stopper, with John Longmire, and now Dean Cox, utilising his work ethic and defensive mindset to curb the game's best players.
Tasks have included Nick Daicos, Lachie Whitfield, Zach Merrett, Sam Walsh, Tom Stewart and Jordan Clark.
Jordon, who is nicknamed the 'Padlock', has had varying degrees of success on these stars, and more recently limited Whitfield's output to under 30 disposals, while punishing the Giants speedster with two goals in the 14-point Sydney Derby win over the weekend.
"We've had some good battles over the last 18 months. I think I've played on him every time," Jordon said.
"I felt like over the last 18 months I've developed that defensive role, but something I've been working on is going the other way, I'm trying to have that impact offensively.
"'Coxy'usually comes to me during the week (with his tagging assignment for the round), and 'Horse'ย did last year.
"I'm a pretty competitive person, and I enjoy playing on the best player most weeks. It's a great challenge for me and making me better as a footballer as well."
And this week, Merrett awaits.
"We had a good battle last year, I think we played them at Marvel. He's a quality player and he's a player in form at the moment and someone we'll have to watch out for," Jordon said.
Sydney's stirring win over cross-town rivals has given the 2024 grand finalists belief they can get on a run and return to where they were last year after a sluggish start.
"We've never had a doubt that we can go all the way again," Jordon said.
"We were challenged probably last week by Coxy during the week about our contest and letting teams back in, and I felt like we knew the Giants were always going to come on the weekend.
"And over the previous weeks we've probably let a few more goals in than what we would have liked, but when they kicked two or three we were able to stem that momentum and we trained it during the week and we had a really good week on the track and had a good start."
