THE teenage kid from Canberra didn't know it at the time, but that "old guy" in the corner, the one he and many others were casting a bewildered gaze upon, would a decade later share with him premiership success, the captaincy of an AFL club, and the closest of friendships.

Over in the corner at the 1998 AFL draft camp in Melbourne, dressed in the green and yellow colours of the North Albury Hoppers, was a country lad with longish hair, who certainly looked more seasoned than the fresh-faced kids looking to impress.

All solid friendships have a beginning somewhere; this day in late 1998 was the first time Craig Bolton happened upon his future best mate Brett Kirk.

"I've heard some of the other guys who were there recount the same experience as I had of Kirky back at the draft camp," recalls Bolton, who attended that camp with now fellow Swans Nick Davis, Nic Fosdike and Jude Bolton. "The first time I saw him, I was 18, and he was 38 … no, it was funny, we all saw this guy over there in the corner with a North Albury jumper on — which nobody knew what it was — and he had long hair and he just looked older than everyone else and everyone is going, 'What is this guy doing here?' That's where I first saw Brett Kirk."

Bolton was snapped up at No. 33 by Brisbane in that draft. Davis went at 19 to Collingwood, while Sydney collected top 10 selections Fosdike (three) and Jude Bolton (eight). Kirk that year was not drafted, but would join the Swans the following season, at 22, on their rookie list.

Fast forward to pre-season 2003. Paul Roos has been installed as coach, and requested meetings with the players about their roles and futures. Sitting outside his office were Kirk, who despite having played 49 games in four seasons, was still to establish himself, and a recruit from Brisbane, Craig Bolton, who had battled to break into the Lions premiership teams, and had played just 29 senior games.

"I actually remember meeting Kirky when I first got the club, in the players' lounge, waiting to have a meeting with Roosy," Bolton recalls. "While we waited Kirky and I were having a bit of chat and we realised we weren't unalike. We had both played a bit of footy but were both unsure of where we were at. We were a both at the crossroads of our careers a little bit, and we were both lucky Roosy gave us both confidence and he also gave us big jobs in the next year, and things just worked out for both us, and we ended up becoming good mates.

"It's been really good, he's a very close mate of mine and from a football side of things, he's a pretty good guy to bounce things off and to look at to see how you're going. He's someone you try to model yourself on.

"He's probably a freak, but not in the same category as you would call a Goodesy (Adam Goodes) or Michael O'Loughlin. It's just his consistency of efforts that makes you shake your head. We're bloody lucky to have a guy like him, not just because of the acts he does on the field but how that encourages and motivates other guys on a weekly basis. He's really good at getting the best out of others around him, and I think it's pretty well known how good a leader he is around the place."

While he speaks proudly of Kirk, Bolton, too, has plenty of admirers. He is rated one of the top defenders in the competition, always gets to play on the oppositions key forward — like Jonathan Brown, Lance Franklin and Brendan Fevola — made the Dream Team in the Hall of Fame game this season, and was named All Australian in 2006. Not bad for a Canberran who could have played another game.

"My dad grew up in Western Australia, and didn't know much about league or union, so it was a no-brainer for him … enrol the kids into AFL," Bolton said. "I enjoyed it and I played it all through my youth but growing up I went to a rugby union school — Joe Roff was at our school — and all my mates played rugby union and while I enjoyed watching it, I never really moved away from Aussie rules."

The Swans have played 138 matches since the mates met in the players' lounge. Kirk has played 138 of them, while Bolton — who joined Kirk and Leo Barry as a co-captain this season — has played 137, missing his one because of a hamstring injury in 2006.

"I had a heap of injuries in Brisbane and I also was in and out for selection reasons, but it's just gone so quick the last six years. You think it has been a bit of dream run when you think about the premiership and being able to be fit and play in a successful side which has played in the finals every year since I've been here.

"I don't really look back on it, it's only when someone asks me a question like this and you think, 'Geez, it's been bloody good'. But you want to keep going and hopefully there are a few more years left where we can be a successful side and keep playing consistent footy.

"There is no way I would have dared dream it would turn out like this. When I came down here all I wanted to do was get a game, and establish a career. To me there is no way I could have penned it any better, I guess."