6 December, 2011

The Sydney Swans preparations for the 2012 season hit top gear today when they faced the young girls from South Coogee Public School and the boys from Belmont Christian College in the inaugural Swans Challenge Cup played at Lakeside Oval.

The two schools had the opportunity to take on the Swans as regional winners of the Paul Kelly Cup competition. The Paul Kelly Cup is one of the biggest primary school sporting competitions in Australia with over 15,000 students and 1000 teams taking part this year.

Scroll down to see a gallery from the Swans Challenge Cup

Coached from the sidelines by Andrejs Everitt and Marty Mattner, the Swans fielded a team with a strong mix of youth and experience for the clash against their young and enthusiastic opponents.

Luke Parker, Rhyce Shaw, Gary Rohan, Sam Reid and Dan Hannebery led the way early for Swans against the South Coogee Public team, but the girls were always up to challenge.

Swans’ new recruit Tommy Walsh made his debut in the red and white and proved tough to tame for the South Coogee Public defence.

In the second game, against Belmont Christian College, Nathan ‘Nipper Gordon was given the job on key Belmont playmaker Hughie, but had his colours lowered when the youngster booted the first goal of the match.

Just as the Swans were challenged in the first half by Belmont, Rhyce Shaw entered the game and put the Swans back in control, playing on from a kick-in and running the length of the field to set up an easy goal. 

Jed Lamb, who covered the afternoon’s festivities for SwansTV, said it was great to see so many young boys and girls enjoying AFL footy.

“It’s been a great day out here, and it’s been hard to tell who is having more fun - the Swans boys or the kids,” Lamb said.

“Kieren Jack was once a player in the Paul Kelly Cup so who knows, maybe we’ve just seen a few future Swans in action,” he said.

Though scoring was not a priority on the day, the kids from both schools were confident they had pulled off victories against their more highly credentialed opponents in red and white.