Bowman to wear superstar Swan’s number

Norwood high flyer Ned Bowman has big boots to fill, being handed Lance Franklin’s famous number 23 at the Sydney Swans.

Bowman was Drafted to Sydney with Pick 26 during November’s 2024 AFL Draft.

After retiring in 2023, “Buddy” Franklin’s number 23 was left vacant in the 2024 season.

Franklin is one of the greatest players of the modern era of AFL football, finishing his career with 1066 goals from 354 matches for the Swans and Hawks.

He wore the number 23 for both Hawthorn and Sydney in all but 21 AFL matches – He wore 38 in his first year at Hawthorn and 67 in the 2017 Sir Doug Nicholls Round to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Australian Aboriginal referendum. Seven players wore 67 that round.

Fellow Norwood draftee from the 2024 Draft Class, Jay Polkinghorne, will wear the number 2 guernsey at Geelong, which was most recently worn by Cats Premiership player Zach Tuohy.

Tuohy is the AFL games record holder for an Irish born player, finishing his career in 2024 with 288 AFL matches. He played 168 of those games in the number 2 at the Cats.

Polkinghorne was drafted to Geelong with Pick 44 this season.