Swans delight with recruiting haul

BALLARAT Football Netball Club has added some crucial strength and firepower to complement its growing band of young, emerging football talent.

The Swans, who finished the BFNL season in sixth spot on the ladder with seven wins, nine losses and two draws, have made a healthy start to their recruiting for 2026, bringing in five players, highlighted by a pair of former state league players as well as a premiership ruckman.

In a boost to their on-ball stocks, the Swans have lured prolific ball-winner Thomas Simpson from AFL Canberra club Belconnen.

The 22-year-old, who is equally adept at playing an inside or outside midfield role, arrives with a reputation for also being handy around goals.

He is the cousin of current Swans player Paddy Simpson.

Ballarat coach Ash Baker said Simpson would add plenty of quality and flexibility to the Swans’ on-ball division.

“He’s won a league medal up there and a couple of best and fairests, and played some rep footy in teams that have played the Swans and Giants academies,” he said.

“For a 22-year-old, he has some great footy under his belt.”

Baker is further buoyed by the signing of former SANFL player Tyson Richard.

The 23-year-old mobile forward played a handful of senior games for Central District between 2022-24 before joining Salisbury North in the Adelaide Football League last season.

Capable of playing deep or moving up the ground, Richard kicked 27 goals for Salisbury North, hitting the scoreboard most weeks.

The Swans have added further height with the addition of Skipton premiership ruckman and Central Highlands team of the year selection Pat Graham.

Highly sought after, Graham stamped himself as the premier ruckman in the competition over the past two seasons and was instrumental in the Emus’ 2025 flag win.

 

Another tall, Austin McKenzie, who trained with Ballarat last pre-season before signing with Natte Bealiba, has committed to the Swans, who have also lured former Swans junior Riley Fisher back to the club from Rokewood Corindhap.

Fisher, who previously played one senior game for Ballarat in 2022, was named in this year’s Central Highlands team of the year in the back pocket.

Excited by their early recruiting, Baker is hopeful it has put the Swans in a strong position to help them rise up the ladder.

“Hopefully they give us that boost as we strive to close the gap between those top four teams from last year,” he said.

“We’ve been fairly targeted with our recruiting; we’ve got a couple of big guys in.

“But we are also looking at that continued development of our young kids.

“Our kids have been really good. We got another 14 or 18 games into them last year, so now they are up around 30 games (of senior) footy.

“So there should be a fair chunk of young guys around that 21 or 22 age that should be heading towards 50 games of senior footy.”

Reflecting on the Swans’ 2025 season, which ended with an elimination final defeat at the hands of eventual runners-up Sunbury, Baker was pleased with the progress made.

“As other clubs did, we had a bit of a wretched run with injury late in the year, so to be able to get into finals and get one under our belt was a really good reward for us,” he said.

“I was really happy with how the year panned out.

“We were (in the six) for a lot of the year, but slipped out late, but snuck back in.

“The cards fell our way.”

Tristan Maple ended the season as best and fairest, with Fraser Perkins the runner-up.

Lewis Rinaldi, who is again spending the summer working and playing football in Darwin with Nightcliff, won the most consistent award.

Pre-season for the Swans will kick off on 18 November.

“We’ll do a four-week block of Tuesday and Thursday nights before Christmas, have a bit of a spell, and then launch back into it around Australia Day,” Baker said.