Swans leader Jack extends AFL contract

The son of a gun from another code, Sydney Swans AFL co-captain Kieren Jack has the chance to eclipse the first-grade games tally of his famous father Garry, despite admitting to an inauspicious start to his Australian rules career.

Jack is set to be a one-club AFL player after it was announced on Friday he had signed a three-year contract extension, tying him to Sydney to the end of their 2019 campaign.

The 28 year-old midfielder has played 189 senior games since making his debut in 2007, after dad and former Kangaroos rugby league fullback Garry notched just fewer than 250 first-grade appearances.

The announcement of Jack’s contract extension was a timely boost for Sydney on the eve of their SCG contest against West Coast, who are another early season pacesetter with a 3-1 record.

“I love this club, my passion for the club hasn’t wavered, I want to be part of success going forward and to sign for another three years gives me the opportunity to do that and really drive this group going forward,” Kieren Jack said on Friday.

He is an integral part of a strong Swans midfield, but played just two games in his first season in rounds six and seven and didn’t feature again that year

“It was a struggle for me to get one game to be honest and then it was just about building consistency and then things sort of happened on top of that,” Jack said.

“It has been a great journey so far, but I’m really excited about what the future holds for this club and I want to be a part of that.”

He was bullish about the Swans’ future following the successful infusion of a number of younger players this year after five men with almost 1000 senior games between them departed the club after last season.

“It’s very exciting and very encouraging, I think the regeneration of our list has almost been seamless in the space of a short period of time,” he said.

Jack said he had recovered from a head knock he suffered last week and that fellow midfielder Josh Kennedy should be fine to face the Eagles despite having some precautionary strapping of an achilles.

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