{"id":5249,"date":"2026-05-05T20:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/5249\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T20:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:19:08","slug":"afl-2026-inside-malcolm-rosas-move-to-sydney-swans-trade-from-gold-coast-suns-details-scott-pendlebury-gold-number-10-on-jumper-in-and-under-collumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/5249\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Inside Malcolm Rosas\u2019 move to Sydney Swans, trade from Gold Coast Suns, details, Scott Pendlebury gold number 10 on jumper, In and Under collumn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malcolm Rosas has been one of, if not the, bargain recruits of the off-season. So how did his move to Sydney come about?<\/p>\n

Plus the AFL has approved a special gold number 10 on Scott Pendlebury\u2019s jumper in his record match, but Collingwood is yet to show its hand.<\/p>\n

In and Under delves into footy\u2019s hottest topics, with insights from behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

INSIDE SYDNEY\u2019S 18-MONTH ROSAS VENTURE<\/p>\n

Even Malcolm Rosas is still privately shocked his own seven-goal breakout performance against Melbourne on Sunday.<\/p>\n

His move to the Swans after they rolled out the red carpet and wooed him to the club is paying massive dividends as one of the best bargain pick-ups of the trade period and 2026 football stories at large.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s interest in Rosas dates back to 2024 in an 18-month venture as one of several clubs that long kept tabs on the small forward and his promising VFL form.<\/p>\n

But the Swans\u2019 interest was always more real than anyone.<\/p>\n

To the point that the club offered to fly him to Sydney to check out its facilities late in the 2024 season, even if he were to see out the last year of his contract at the Suns in 2025. <\/p>\n

The idea was that the door is always open.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Rosas booted a career-high seven goals against Melbourne (Photo by Matt King\/AFL Photos\/via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

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It came in a year Chris Keane took over from long-time Swans list boss Kinnear Beatson and Sydney made the grand final in John Longmire\u2019s final season as coach.<\/p>\n

Longmire was keen on anyone with speed, while Sydney also had a crack at Bulldog Riley Garcia before he re-signed at the Kennel. <\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s initial bid at least got Rosas thinking after he fell out of favour at the Suns when Damien Hardwick took the helm.<\/p>\n

The small forward was caught off guard at his Suns exit meeting at the end of 2024, when it became apparent he didn\u2019t suit Hardwick\u2019s style.<\/p>\n

There was never a feeling of disconnect with the Suns, but frustration that he wasn\u2019t getting a game. <\/p>\n

Rosas and his camp considered their options in that 2024 off-season and even spoke to some clubs, but the rushed nature of a potential move was too tricky. <\/p>\n

But Rosas remained out of favour at Gold Coast in 2025 in a four-game season \u2014 three less than 2024 \u2014 including watching from the sidelines when his teammates won their first final against Fremantle.<\/p>\n

A bunch of clubs were again keen including Sydney, Richmond, Melbourne, Essendon, Carlton, who all met with him. <\/p>\n

AFL CEO Dillon confirms Blues sanctions | 04:13<\/p>\n

A decision ultimately came down the Swans or the Tigers.<\/p>\n

And Sydney\u2019s club tour and a presentation led by former CEO Tom Harley at its headquarters blew him away. <\/p>\n

It was a full wine and dine operation involving his partner, Amelia, a criminal lawyer, where Sydney pulled out all the stops.<\/p>\n

They were picked up at the airport by Swans footy boss Leon Cameron and had lunch with Dean Cox and Chris Keane in Paddington, before doing a tour of the club. <\/p>\n

Rosas got on well with Cox.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s Indigenous Strategy and Player Development Manager, Jarred Hodges, was also involved to pitch how Rosas could help lead the club\u2019s Indigenous pathways and overall plans. <\/p>\n

It was a key opportunity for Sydney to secure Indigenous talent. As the club doesn\u2019t have a Next Generation Academy due to its Swans Academy program, despite rich history with club greats Michael O\u2019Loughlin and Adam Goodes.<\/p>\n

Speaking of, Rosas also spoke with board member O\u2019Loughlin, as well as Longmire when he visited Sydney HQ.<\/p>\n

The impressive Harley-led presentation finished with Sydney showing its best 23 at the end with Rosas in the side and he was told he\u2019d be there Opening Round. He got along with Cox.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Rosas in action (Photo by Jason McCawley\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

The football decision came down to having a meaningful on-field role and moving to a win-now situation after Rosas had already been through a rebuild at Gold Coast. <\/p>\n

His conversations with the Suns in the 2025 off-season were more mature and open in a mutual parting of ways, helped by him being out of contract.<\/p>\n

Sydney just needed to get a deal done, but it was already agreed to prior to the beginning of the trade period; Rosas and Pick 62 in exchange for picks 51 and 69.<\/p>\n

It was helped by the fact that two key figures involved, Suns list manager Craig Cameron and Leon Cameron, had a relationship from their days at GWS.<\/p>\n

Which was a load off for Sydney given it also had to broker deals Jai Serong, and more notably, Charlie Curnow.<\/p>\n

And so Sydney finally secured its man on a three-year deal.<\/p>\n

As they say, the rest is history.<\/p>\n

AFL APPROVES GOLD PENDLES NUMBER. BUT PIES YET TO CONFIRM PLANS<\/p>\n

While the AFL has approved Scott Pendlebury to wear a specially designed gold number 10 in his record game, Collingwood is still tight lipped on its plans.<\/p>\n

If it is to be a gold 10, don\u2019t expect the mock up of the sparkly design on AFL Media, as the club prepares to announce arrangements next week after Pendlebury equals Brent Harvey\u2019s 432-game record against Geelong.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely that other Collingwood players will also wear a special commeratorive guernsey for the occasion like North Melbourne had in Harvey\u2019s milestone in 2016.<\/p>\n

Pendlebury is likely to be rested against Sydney next week and break the record against West Coast at the MCG the following week on Saturday May 23. <\/p>\n

In addition to getting to play in front of a full house of Collingwood fans, there\u2019s clearly a commercial element to it, much like the specialty guernsey.<\/p>\n

Scott Pendlebury is closing in on the AFL games record (Photo by Daniel Pockett\/AFL Photos\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

The two-week block against Sydney and West Coast falls over Sir Doug Nichols Round from rounds 10 and 11, when clubs typically wear an Indigenous-themed guernsey in their home game. <\/p>\n

For Collingwood, that would be against the Eagles… but would they really miss an opportunity for a special Pendlebury jumper in addition to an Indigenous guernsey? The latter has already been unveiled, so expect Collingwood to don it against Sydney.<\/p>\n

Collingwood legend Tony Shaw said he was \u201cuncomfortable\u201d with Pendlebury wearing an individualised jumper<\/a> on the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t like it. I was talking to a lot of Collingwood people and deserves every accolade but I would rather see something that is more designed for the record than a gold number,\u201d Shaw said on 3AW radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a team game … I broke the club record but I wouldn\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a leader and as someone who hopefully bases everything about team, does he feel comfortable?<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not saying he is making it about himself. Is this being forced on him? I\u2019d be quite surprised that he\u2019d be feel comfortable with it. I don\u2019t like, I\u2019ve have had heaps of people say to me that they don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malcolm Rosas has been one of, if not the, bargain recruits of the off-season. So how did his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6506,3842,124,4180,23,133,518,6521,531,534,6524,6522,6532,6502,6536,6528,414,6505,6512,6504,6510,6533,6500,6527,368,1311,6507,5414,1280,6520,6525,6529,6523,6534,6531,6518,6511,2082,5422,2863,6501,6517,355,4855,119,135,120,6514,212,5410,1440,415,6513,6503,6515,6535,6509,247,5009,6526,6530,5409,6519,6516,6508,117,1438],"class_list":{"0":"post-5249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sydney","8":"tag-adam-goodes","9":"tag-amelia","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-andrew-dillon","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-football-league","15":"tag-bargain-pick-ups","16":"tag-ben-cotton","17":"tag-brent-harvey","18":"tag-carlton","19":"tag-charlie-curnow","20":"tag-chris-keane","21":"tag-commercial-element","22":"tag-craig-cameron","23":"tag-damien-hardwick","24":"tag-daniel-pockett","25":"tag-dean-cox","26":"tag-doug-nichols-round","27":"tag-exit-meeting","28":"tag-final-season","29":"tag-football-decision","30":"tag-football-stories","31":"tag-footy-news","32":"tag-getty-images-inc","33":"tag-gold-coast","34":"tag-gold-coast-suns","35":"tag-gold-number","36":"tag-grand-final","37":"tag-home-game","38":"tag-individualised-jumper","39":"tag-jarred-hodges","40":"tag-jason-mccawley","41":"tag-john-longmire","42":"tag-kinnear-beatson","43":"tag-leon-cameron","44":"tag-list-boss","45":"tag-list-manager","46":"tag-malcolm-rosas","47":"tag-matt-king","48":"tag-meaningful-on-field-role","49":"tag-michael-oloughlin","50":"tag-new-south-wales","51":"tag-next-generation-academy","52":"tag-north-america","53":"tag-northern-america","54":"tag-oceania","55":"tag-party-plan","56":"tag-queensland","57":"tag-record-match","58":"tag-richmond","59":"tag-scott-pendlebury","60":"tag-seven-goal-breakout-performance","61":"tag-special-commeratorive-guernsey","62":"tag-special-gold-number","63":"tag-specialty-guernsey","64":"tag-swans-academy","65":"tag-sydney","66":"tag-sydney-swans","67":"tag-team-game","68":"tag-tom-harley","69":"tag-tony-shaw","70":"tag-top-trade-bargain","71":"tag-trade-bargain","72":"tag-trade-period","73":"tag-united-states-of-america","74":"tag-virginia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}