Connor Betts' Swans career - at least in its current incarnation - is concluding. But, boy, isn't he going out with a flourish.
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Betts was again among the Swans' best as the side outmuscled the Saints by 118 points at No 1 Oval on Saturday - a healthy crowd on hand, on a beautiful spring day, to watch the home side put on a 24-goal clinic: 24.22 (166) to 7.6 (48) the final score.
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Post-match, satisfaction etched the 19-year-old's flushed face as he radiated beneath fat cumulus clouds - revelling in his elevated form this season, ahead of relocating to Newcastle to study electrical engineering in 2021.
Now in his third season at the club, after severing his soccer connection in search of a sport that provided more physicality, Betts was determined to continue his upward AFL trajectory this year.
He was among a group of young players who joined the Swans in 2018. And as they have developed as footballers, so have the Swans as a competition threat.
"It's my third year now: definitely better than the last two," he said. "Last year I struggled a bit with injury, and obviously the first year I was a bit new to the game.
"But this year I've just really picked it up, and I'm lovin' it."
A 2019 graduate of McCarthy Catholic College, and as Tamworth as the picturesque oval he graced on Saturday, Betts returned to the school in 2020 for a gap year - providing teachers with IT support.
After graduating from the University of Newcastle, he plans to return to Tamworth, find work and, you would imagine, play for the Swans again.
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Betts said that if the Swans were "spot on", they were "a hell of a chance to win the premiership" - their first since 2009.
