Darcy Swain

“One of the attributes that Darcy has is his physicality, he brings intent in everything he does and has excellent set-piece skills, particularly at the lineout”: former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar, 2018.

Born in the small north Queensland town called Babinda, Swain grew up in Cairns before he was scouted by Brisbane Boy’s College and offered a scholarship to complete his secondary schooling. After school Swain’s progress stalled. “I was labelled soft by academy coaches when I was in Queensland,” Swain later said. “I was in the system, but there were three to four other blokes, who are now contracted at the Reds, who coaches thought were better than me.”

As a result, Swain made a life-changing decision in 2016 to pursue his footballing career in Canberra. In doing so he followed the path of many Brumbies before him - “an overlooked talent from a northern state given a chance in the nation's capital to flourish.” Swain said, "I didn't get a look-in up north and that put a bit of fire in the belly. The opportunity to come down here and snag a contract (with the Brumbies academy) and learn, and then get to play” was too great an allure to ignore. In 2017, Swain captained the Brumbies U20s, played for the Australian U20s and wore the Canberra Vikings strip in the NRC.

The following year, Swain made his Super Rugby debut against the Jaguares before he joined the full Brumbies squad ahead of the 2019 season. The opportunity to learn from Rory Arnold and Sam Carter then played an integral role in raising Swain’s game to the next level. The post-RWC’19 departure of Arnold, Carter, Izack Rodda and Harry Hockings coupled with an injury to Caderyn Neville and the release of Blake Evener kicked open the door for Swain to push his claim for higher honours.

In 2021, Swain was one of three uncapped players to debut in the first Test of the home series against France in Brisbane.

After being out of the squad for a couple of years, Swain was called up to the Wallabies for their 2025 Spring Tour, rewarding the 200cm lock for an excellent season out West with the Force.