Sydney Swans told to lock up rising star Chad Warner

It was an important win against a top four side, but Longmire beamed like a dad a father whose son had just won the Norm Smith.

He and the Swans never want to let this one go. This is one chad you don’t leave hanging.

Warner was last in because he’d been taking selfies and greeting friends in what should have been a hostile crowd, but the 21-year-old hails from these parts. His father Travis played under Peter Sumich at South Fremantle, his mother is a local hairdresser and the designer of his bouncing bleached hairstyle.

The Chad turned one on last weekend.

In just his 31st game the Willeton wonder 35 disposals (15 contested), seven clearances, six inside 50s, 11 score involvements and one goal.

The numbers do not do his game justice. Facing down an opposition midfield that includes Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe and the young gun Andrew Brayshaw, Warner broke contests with strength, fended off, found clear air with speed and teammates’ chests with composure. When the game needed to be swung Sydney’s way in the second quarter he won the first centre clearance and was rarely beaten in a contest across the next three quarters.

Former Swans premiership player Jude Bolton told The Weekend Australian he is the best midfielder he’s seen at the club since dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes. Former Roo David King said he was the player who changes everything for the Swans in September and teammate Luke Parker says he is “super crucial to our team”.

The analysts now have the young Swan ranked elite in three categories: goals, assists and score involvements. Melbourne’s Christian Petracca and the Bulldog’s Marcus Bontempelli are the only others hitting those numbers.

In three consecutive matches he had topped the coach’s votes picking up eight against Essendon, nine in the win over the Bulldogs and a perfect 10 for taking down Fremantle.

There were 38 players taken ahead of Warner in the 2019 draft. There were five from WA called up before they got to him and three from his Colts side taken higher.

There’s a lot of clubs got to be shaking their heads, but Sydney shouldn’t be too proud given that they chose four players before opting for the midfielder.

Sydney is currently negotiating how big a pile of chips it has to keep Buddy Franklin for one more year, but Warner demands greater attention. This kid could be as critical to its future as Lance has been to its immediate past. Signed until the end of 2023, this is one draft pick they must pray does not want to return home.

Sydney played it smart and recruited his younger brother Corey and made the most of a difficult situation by allowing him, Corey, Logan McDonald and Angus Sheldrick to train for two months at the Claremont Tigers due to border rules.

The Chad proved his all round sporting ability by belting an unbeaten century for East Fremantle Cricket Club in the local T20 competition.

The emerging star’s first year was a mess but it was no fault of his own. Rolling Covid chaos did not make for a great start.

Longmire recalls having to take the kid aside to get him to back off a bit in the pre-season. Prematurely strong and precociously aggressive, the teenager was going so hard coaching staff were worried he’d injure half the squad before the first round.

He played just two games in 2020 and put together an unbroken streak from rounds one to 12 before injury derailed his second year. With a bit more clean air he has put together 17 consecutive matches in 2022. None of them better than the last three where his 32 inside 50s have more often than not landed exactly where they needed to.

Bolton, an impressive midfielder himself, but he says Warner has something special.

“He’s a ripper, he was brilliant last week, I was sitting there thinking I haven’t seen someone bursting out of the front of the stoppage like Chad Warner is doing at the moment in such an explosive and dynamic way, there’s guys who burst out, but he has a bullishness and a power about him,” he said. “He’s like Goodesy almost. There’s been a lot of people can win the stoppage and go out sideways or retreat backwards but he has got the ability to go out the front which is dynamic.”

“He’s got strength and speed but he’s also got composure, I do like the fact he almost takes that steadying step to kick the goal on the run.

“People in the red and white have taken a lot of notice since he burst on the scene last year, but the competition is taking not as well now.

“The Swans have to make sure they lock him in.”

Warner’s enthusiasm around the club is infectious. He delights in being the player who pulled off a pin point pass for Franklin’s 1000th goal, but now looks set to make his own history.