The 28-year-old has upgraded from No. 41 to No. 2, a number that has been worn by its share of smaller players in recent decades.
Shane Woewodin, Mark Orchard, David Robertson and Damien Adkins all took a turn in the number at different stages, but it’s 1990 premiership rover Tony Francis who shares the most similarities with Dwyer.
Fair haired and blessed with a great turn of speed, Dwyer added some bite to Collingwood’s half forward line in 2013 in a similar fashion to what Francis was able to do in his first few years as an on-baller at the start of the 1990s.
Unlike some number changes, there wasn’t anything symbolic to Dwyer’s move from No. 41.
“I don’t think I’ve ever worn No. 2 in juniors or at Port Melbourne or anything,” he told collingwoodfc.com.au.
“I suppose I wore No. 20 (at Port Melbourne), so No. 2 is a little bit closer.
“Wags (Football Operations Manager Marcus Wagner) just called me last week on Friday and asked if I wanted to go to the No. 2 and I thought why not?
“It’s a good number and as I said, closer to the No. 20 so that tipped me in the direction of the No. 2."
The number has been rotated frequently since Francis left the club at the end of 1998, changing hands on an average of once every 2.2 years.
After playing 21 games in his first season at AFL level, Dwyer will be hoping to buck that trend in the years to come.
Collingwood players to have worn No. 2
1911 – Nil
1912 – P.Gibb
1913 – Nil
1914 – J.A. Cordner
1915 – H.Curtis
1916 – C.Brown
1917 – C.Brown
1918 – C.Brown
1919 – H.Curtis
1920 – W.Buck
1921 – W.Buck
1922 – Nil
1923 – E.R. Baker
1924 – W.Buckley
1925 – W.Barry
1926 – Nil
1927 – J.Beveridge
1928 – G.Beasley
1929 – J.Ahern
1930 – E.Barr
1931 – W.Aldag
1932 – E.Barr
1933 – P.Bowyer
1934 – P.Bowyer
1935 – L.Asling
1936 – A.Collier
1937 – A.Collier
1938 – A.Collier
1939 – A.Collier
1940 – K.A. Barrett
1941 – A.E. Kyne
1942 – M.Whelan
1943 – E.Pannam
1944 – Nil
1945 – A.Williams
1946 – J.Regan
1947 – J.Burns
1948 – G.Brokenshire
1949 – G.Hocking
1950 – L.Richards
1951 – L.Richards
1952 – L.Richards
1953 – N.Mann
1954 – N.Mann
1955 – N.Mann
1956 – W.Twomey
1957 – M.Delanty
1958 – M.Delanty
1959 – M.Weideman
1960 – A.Abrahams
1961 – J.Mahon
1962 – R.Gabelich
1963 – R.Gabelich
1964 – J.Henderson
1965 – J.Henderson
1966 – T.Steer
1967 – T.Waters
1968 – T.Waters
1969 – T.Waters
1970 – W.Richardson
1971 – W.Richardson
1972 – B.Price
1973 – L.Thompson
1974 – L.Thompson
1975 – L.Thompson
1976 – L.Thompson
1977 – L.Thompson
1978 – P.Carman
1979 – B.Valli
1980 – B.Valli
1981 – J.Annear
1982 – J.Annear
1983 – J.Annear
1984 – D.Woodhall
1985 – Nil
1986 – W.Picken
1987 – Nil
1988 – D.Robertson
1989 – D.Robertson
1990 – T.Francis
1991 – T.Francis
1992 – T.Francis
1993 – T.Francis
1994 – T.Francis
1995 – T.Francis
1996 – T.Francis
1997 – T.Francis
1998 – T.Francis
1999 – M.Orchard
2000 – M.Orchard
2001 – D.Adkins
2002 – D.Adkins
2003 – S.Woewodin
2004 – S.Woewodin
2005 – S.Woewodin
2006 – S.Rusling
2007 – S.Rusling
2008 – S.Rusling
2009 – S.Rusling
2010 – S.Rusling
2011 – C.Tarrant
2012 – C.Tarrant
2013 – J.Russell
2014 – S.Dwyer
