Swans stars Jude Bolton, Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe at the SCG. The trio will break the record for the most matches ever played together by an AFL trio when the Swans play Port Adelaide in Adelaide on Saturday. Picture: Nic Gibson Source: News Limited
SWANS premiership veterans Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton and Ryan O'Keefe set an AFL record this Saturday which may never be broken.
When the high-quality trio line up against Port Adelaide in Adelaide it will be their 254th game together, passing the mark that Bulldogs Brad Johnson, Rohan Smith and Scott West achieved from 1994 to 2006.
The closest current trio, on 207 games, are St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Stephen Milne, who faces an uncertain future after being charged with rape yesterday.
Goodes, 33, Bolton, 33 and O'Keefe, 32, have played during the most successful era in the Swans' history, hardly missing a finals series during their careers, and that passion was renewed in spades last season when the Swans won their second flag in seven years.
Add to those premierships the two Brownlow Medals won by Goodes and the Norm Smith Medal O'Keefe claimed last season as best on ground in the Grand Final victory over Hawthorn.
"If you're playing with a good group of players and you've had a fair bit of success as we have it keeps you up and excited," O'Keefe said.
"A winning culture makes you want to turn up and makes the place a lot happier."
So what is the secret to their success?
"We don't ever sit back and think we've made it to the top, that we're the best," Goodes said.
"The three of us still think we can improve and that's what drives us.
"We want to play finals every year. That's not being selfish, that's just what we want.
"We've been able to do it for such a long period of time."
Their golden run together started when O'Keefe debuted on Mother's Day, 2000, against the Bulldogs at the SCG.
"It was a long time ago. I was just trying to get a kick and my first kick was on my right foot," said O'Keefe, a natural left footer.
Bolton puts their collective longevity down to mindset, being able to play through injury and getting the job done even if they haven't been at their best all the time.
They each agreed the game was becoming faster, putting a greater physical and mental demand on players.
"There's no time to switch off," Bolton said. "Guys come off with a headache. You're really concentrating the whole time."
Not surprisingly it is the premierships shared that the trio look back on most fondly.
"I remember Jude wearing a helmet in '05 with blood dripping out the side of it and Ryan winning the Normie (Norm Smith Medal) last year, those fantastic memories will always sit in your mind and will always be fresh in your mind," Goodes said.
Bolton recalled the special effort Goodes made trying to lift the side in the 2006 Grand Final, when the Swans lost, and O'Keefe's brilliant performance in the 2005 preliminary final.
"Even the whole journey together," O'Keefe said. "We've pretty much grown up together as teenagers, right through to our adult life, sharing memories and families and kids, all sorts of things.
"I classify them as two of my really good mates, just being able to share life and work. This period of time has been pretty special."
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