Happy day for Cunningham

SYDNEYSWANS.com.au

Turvey Park teenager Harry Cunningham became the fourth New South Welshman on the Sydney Swans rookie list for 2012 when he was taken with pick 49 in  Tuesday’s rookie draft.

The pacey 18-year old midfielder had an impressive under-18 carnival with the NSW/ACT Rams and tested well at the State Draft Combine. He was overlooked in last month’s AFL Draft, but has been training with the Swans for the last three weeks and today realised his dream of getting a chance in an AFL environment.

Watching a live stream of the rookie draft, Cunningham tried to dupe some of the other Swans youngsters when the club started passing on some of their earlier picks, knowing he would be taken with one of the last picks as a New South Wales zone selection.

“I said to the other boys “well it looks all over, let’s go get some lunch”, but I knew what was going on,” he said.

Speaking to sydneyswans.com.au, Cunningham revealed he had benefited from tutelage over the past year from none other than Bloods Legend, and fellow Riverina product, Paul Kelly.

“Down in Wagga, Kel’s been training me about once a week for 20 weeks,” Cunningham said.

“Giving me his knowledge was unreal and it helped me a lot through the year. (He taught) me what I need to do to get in to the AFL system and once I’m there to just keep working at it – the main thing he said was you’ve pretty much just got to work hard.”

Cunningham recorded the state’s fastest time in the AFL agility run test, and Sydney Swans Manager – Player Personnel, Kinnear Beatson, welcomed the injection of pace which Cunningham could provide.

“He adds to our run with good pace, so were really pleased to be able to get those types of runners into the club,” he said.

Swans coach John Longmire said Cunningham had impressed him in his short time training with the club.

“He’s been able to train here for the last couple of weeks so we have been able to have a good look at him and see what he can and can’t do,” Longmire said.

“We have been really impressed with the way he has gone about his business. He has a good mix of speed and endurance which is an important mix in modern footy and he is pretty hard at it, and we always like that.  

“He has trained really well and has been up the front of our running tests, so when you’re a young kid coming into an AFL environment and are doing that, it shows you’ve got good athletic qualities.

“So now we can hopefully develop his game and see how he goes,” he said.

Cunningham’s recruitment brings the number of NSW players on the Swans list to ten, and Beatson highlights the importance of nurturing local players through the system and into the team.

“I think it’s important as a club that we show that there is a pathway for New South Welshman to play AFL through this club, not only through our Scholarship scheme or the Academy in the future,” Beatson said.