For top Bombers NGA prospect Adam Sweid, earning a spot on an AFL list would be more than living out a football dream.

It’d be the perfect way to give back to his family and community he adores.

In a near 20-minute chat with foxfooty.com.au, Sweid opens up on the AFL figures he values most, his “superstar” best mate — who could join him at Essendon — his “loud” family and determination to be a role model for his community, his brutal ACL setback and determination to prove doubters wrong.

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‘WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT THEM’: SPECIAL TRIO AND AN MCG DREAM

Ben Waterworth: Adam we’re here overlooking the MCG, you’re hanging out with your fellow draft peers and the draft is just over a month away. Is it starting to kick in that your life is about to change significantly?

Adam Sweid: Yeah 100 per cent. I think it’s in my head 24/7, that thought of playing on the MCG and achieving a dream. It’s such a surreal feeling. You watch the Grand Final and see the atmosphere, you see the celebrations, the enjoyment with your brothers and your teammates you’ve worked with to lift a cup – it’s such a dream. It’d be amazing if I could one day feel what they felt on the ‘G. I can’t wait. Hopefully I’ll get there.

BW: So if making the AFL is an all-consuming, “24/7” thought for you now, how do you find footy-free time?

AS: You look at it, media is media, we’re all human. We all have a look at how the media looks and how the media shapes up. But 100 per cent, I try to get away from it at times. When the season ended, I couldn’t get away from it because I had the combine to look for and I had to train hard for that. But after the combine, I’d love a week or two break with my mates and family, enjoy my hobbies and just enjoy life. AFL is not life, we’re aware of that. But I think I’ve evened that up pretty nicely. When I’m with my friends, I try not to think about football too much.

Adam Sweid at the national draft combine.Source: Getty Images

BW: What do you like to get up to with your mates?

AS: I love to be active … but sometimes I’ll just go over to a mate’s house, watch the footy, play some cards. But we’ll go hunting, go fishing, it could be even soccer – we’re soccer fanatics, we always hire an indoor court and play soccer or some basketball – but just depending on my load, I don’t want to overload, so I’ve got to be smart with how I have my spare time. I’m very happy with how my life’s going right now. I’ve got great people around me.

BW: Amid all the external noise and opinions, which voices do you listen to and value most?

AS: I’ve got a lot of close people, but there’s only a few people that I genuinely listen to when it comes to the sport. I could list with one hand who I truly go to for advice, which I believe is crucial. I think if you have a big group of big people and you hear different opinions, it’s sometimes not what you want to hear and you sometimes get confused. The Bachar Houli Foundation and their staff is a group I really lean into: Ahmed Saad, Bachar Houli and Ali Fahour. They’re three people, no matter what the situation is, I’ll go to them because they understand me. Bachar has been in my shoes and understands my position, Saady’s been in my shoes and he understands the game so well and he even works in the industry. And Ali Fahour does all the behind-the-scenes work. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of close people and close family, but when it comes to asking questions or asking for advice in this industry, they’re the three I turn to.

‘HUSS’ AND THE BOMBERS

BW: Speaking of the Bachar Houli Foundation, I think that was the first time I saw you play live when you represented them against the Eddie Betts Foundation Grand Final Eve at Punt Road Oval last year. You guys recorded a pretty big win …

AS: That was maybe three or four games back into my ACL rehab. It was one of my fresh games, but even that day I was overweight. But it was just surreal, you’re with your brothers, you’re playing footy with your brothers – that’s such an amazing feeling … The Bachar Houli Foundation, the amount of work they’ve put in to me, like I wouldn’t be here without them.

BW: Hussien El Achkar had a ripping game that day, too.

AS: ‘Hussy’ is a superstar, mate. He’s got so much talent in the world. He works so hard, we work just as hard when we’re together. We’ve done everything together, so just to see his progress, I’m very happy for him … His goal awareness and smarts around the goal, I don’t think there’s anyone in the draft that can see the goals like he does. He’s just so smart, so special, so clean – I could list a million things of what he’s good at. Obviously, we all have weaknesses and improvements and areas of growth, but if there was someone I would list, it’d genuinely be a Hussy.

BW: You and Huss are both tied to the Bombers via their Next Generation Academy. How much influence has the club had on your journey?

AS: I always ask him questions no matter what. Essendon, they’ve really supported me throughout the year. I’ve learnt my professionalism with just the way they go about their lifestyle, as well as AFL athletes. I went in there once a week with Huss, we did a training plan with them, we’ve done their training load, so we understood how it’s worked. Plus we’ve got a couple of mates like (Isaac) Kako and Jayden (Ngyuen), who were at the Calder Cannons last year, so we’ve seen the way they’ve adapted their lifestyle – and it’s massive for them. We believe we’ve got an advantage in a way because we’ve seen what they do while others haven’t seen what goes inside AFL clubs. We believe we’re ready.

Cannons Coach Sam Willatt with Vic Metro players Huss El Achkar, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Adam Sweid.Source: News Corp Australia

BW: I heard you’ve also got a lot of admiration for Saad El-Hawli?

AS: I look up to him as if he’s my brother.

BW: Were you like the rest of the footy world when he just streamed through the middle of Marvel Stadium on debut earlier this year?

AS: It was surreal. I got goosebumps watching that – because we know how hard he’s worked. He got on a VFL list when he was 22 or 23 years of age, got cut from lists. People, in a way, told him to stop, but he just kept going and kept pushing. He showed his work ethic and how much he wanted to make it – and he proved all of them wrong. We’re so proud of him.

BW: Clearly you’d be happy to play at any club. But does part of you really hope it’s at Essendon?

AS: “Part of me” wants to be on a list. Their job (AFL clubs) is to do their work and see who they prefer, my job is to play footy and work as hard as possible. And whoever chooses me, that means I know that they believe that I’m the player for their club. I’ll have no regrets on where I’ll land. If a club chooses me, they just helped me achieve my dreams. So why wouldn’t I give them 100 per cent to the club that chose me?

‘PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LOOK TO US’: BEING A ROLE MODEL AND FAMILY LIFE

BW: And what an opportunity you have as well, I sense, to be not just be an AFL player, but a role model for your community. How much does that drive you?

AS: That’s the No.1 motivation … What an amazing feeling. Me and ‘Hussy’ always discuss it in the car when we’re on the way to training, like people are going to look up to us in a way. Just how we looked up to Bachar, people are going to look up to us, people are going to ask for advice and ask questions. But we believe we’re ready. We’ve worked so hard to get to the position we’re in, like what more can we do? To give back to our community, it’d be so surreal. It doesn’t happen often. You can name, on one hand, which Muslim athletes made AFL. There’s Saad El-Hawli and Adam Saad at the moment, we’d love to be the next two to follow in their journey and be role models.

BW: Tell me about your family and their influence in your footy and life journey so far?

AS: My dad is my ‘why’. He moved over to Australia at the age of 23 – he was from Lebanon – to sacrifice, just for his future kids and for my mum as well to have a better life. I’m extremely grateful to have his support, he’s done so much for me. I did my ACL at the age of 16 and he believed in me, no matter what. He took me to my rehab and recoveries. So did my mum. My mum is my ‘why’ as well. She has five kids and has to work hard every day – there’s no break being a mum, she has to sacrifice times going out with her mates to look after us. I’m extremely grateful for them.

Adam Sweid during the Victorian Diversity All-Stars U18 Boys match in 2023. Picture: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

BW: Where do you sit age-wise in the five?

AS: I’m just above the middle. My older brother is 20 soon, I’m 18, I’ve got my younger sister who’s 13, my other younger sister is nine and my other sister who’s eight. So we’ve got three younger girls, one older brother and there’s me.

BW: Pretty hectic household then?

AS: Yeah it can get loud! But my mum deals with it well. There’ll be times where she just cracks it at us because there’s so much of us, but we do our best to make sure it gets easier … but it’s not easy at all.

BW: How have your parents described to you what life in Lebanon was like before moving to Australia?

AS: My dad wasn’t gifted any opportunities. I believe he dropped out at Year 9 to help his father. Obviously they don’t have the privileges like we do, so he couldn’t live the life he wanted. Played soccer, had to stop at 15 to go to the army, went to the army at the age of 18 – because it was a compulsory act in Lebanon. As Muslims and with my faith, my mum couldn’t really do much … My mum and dad didn’t have the privileges like we do have now. They knew what they couldn’t have and they’ve just given it to us. I believe my dad was a painter when he was younger and he was at the army and then he met my mum at the age of 21 and came down to Australia – for our sake. He was doing painting in Australia when he came in, started doing security when he got older – and he’s still doing security at the moment.

‘I WAS PRETTY CHUBBY’: BLUNT REALITY AFTER BRUTAL SETBACK

BW: You just mentioned your dad was a big support after you ruptured your ACL when you were 16. How do you reflect on the injury and what did you learn about yourself during the recovery?

AS: It was an upsetting year last year. It was a 10-month rehab, which was a good turnaround and a pretty successful. Played a couple of games at local (level), but I was pretty chubby, pretty fat. I wasn’t in the shape to play Coates League – and I knew that, I was aware of that. I gave myself a reality check. As much as I complained that I wasn’t getting selected in the last two games of last year, I knew I wasn’t in shape. But this year … I’m a very hard worker and I was very disciplined throughout the year. I had a lot of mental challenges throughout the ACL injury seeing some of your great mates like ‘Duffy’ (Cooper Duff-Tytler), ‘Hussy’ (Hussien El Achkar), (Tom) McGuane do so well in their bottom-age year. I was feeling left out in a way. But I was pretty motivated. I was determined to get to the level they were at and I’m just so grateful to have been given an opportunity by the Cannons and their staff.

Adam Sweid at the national draft combine. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/AFL Photos/via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

BW: Did your self-belief take a hit during your rehab?

AS: No, I was so confident in my abilities – and I’m still confident in my abilities. I believe if you’re going to put in the work, you’ve got to know how good you are. I had a great futures year and at the Under 16s carnival, I knew how good I was, so it was just the ACL that set me back. I was always confident in my abilities, I just had to execute it … When I was in the gym, I knew I had to do extra sets. There’s a difference between overload – because you never want to overload as you can fatigue your knee, which is something you don’t want to do – but it’s working hard at the same time. I knew if I had three sets and I felt fine, push it up to four sets. Always put in the work to have a successful rehab. When you’re in an ACL rehab, they say ‘don’t rush it’. But the only thing on your mind is wanting to play football again. It’s such an emotional time, because only you understand the feeling you’re in and no one understands but you. So it’s just you against yourself. You’ve just got to be strong.

BW: You said before you were, in your words, “chubby” coming back from your injury. How hard did you work to get back to that shape you wanted to be in?

AS: It was just hours. I’ve got such a great S and C (strength and conditioning coach) in Michael Chiovitti, who’s got so much experience in the game. He just gave me a running program and he goes ‘trust the process’. That’s his No.1 line: ‘Always trust the process and the work you put in is always going to deliver.’ So I did well, I ran my trials. I’ve always naturally had good grit – like for 2km and 1km trials, as fit as you can be, you’ve got to have grit and work ethic. At the 2km trial at the combine, I had a 6:25, which is a PB. That was just grit, I just worked so hard. So I just trusted the process and trusted the good people around me.

‘CONSISTENCY’: WHITEBOARD QUOTE THAT DROVE RISE

BW: This year you earned Vic Metro selection after an excellent start to the Coates Talent League season. How important was your strong first few games for the Calder Cannons?

AS: I’ve got a whiteboard at home and on top of the whiteboard in all caps I had ‘CONSISTENCY’. Consistency is key to getting drafted and hopefully playing at the highest level. I had a breakout game in Round 1 against Oakleigh, which I was extremely proud of, but it was: ‘How can I continue that?’ And I believe I did that. It was just continuing with a consistent schedule, a consistent routine, a consistent preparation – Ahmed Saad taught me all about it. ‘Consistency’ is the word that built me throughout the whole year. Yes there’s times when it’s not your day, there’s times where you’re having a shocker – but you can have a moment. So a moment was always going to come, it was just how I executed it.

Adam Sweid of Vic Metro. Picture: Mark Brake/AFL Photos/via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

BW: The Metro experience didn’t quite go to plan from a team perspective, but you got some good midfield time.

AS: ‘LJ’ (Lauren Morecroft), Sammy Willatt and the staff of Metro put their trust in me to give me some minutes in the midfield and I believe I did well in ways. I showed my traits, I showed my pressure. So I was grateful to get the opportunity. You get some slight comments of ‘you’re not going to play midfield at the highest level based on your height or your (build)’, so it was just talk I ignored. I believe I am going to play a high-profile forward position in the future, but I can only control what’s happening now and they trusted me to play in the midfield and I was happy to take it.

BW: So when people say ‘you can’t be an AFL midfielder’, is there a determination to prove them wrong?

AS: One hundred per cent. It was in my mind all year. You get ‘oh you probably won’t last’, but I was playing against the biggest midfielders throughout the whole year – and I believe I’ve done well. So it’s like: ‘You could say that, but I’m showing you guys that I can handle big bodies.’ I believe I’m stronger than big bodies at times, I believe I look after myself pretty well in there. But at the same time, I just want to play AFL – and if that’s changing roles, I’m happy to do it. I just want a club to put their faith in me and I’ll give them 100 per cent effort, wherever and whatever position it is.