Lewis Roberts-Thomson

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**Lewis Roberts-Thomson**
Personal Info
Birth	September 8, 1983, Sydney
Recruited from	North Shore (SAFL) / NSW-ACT U18
Height/Weight	196cm / 93kg
Playing Career¹
Debut	Round 8, May 18, 2003, Sydney vs. Geelong, at SCG
Team(s)	Sydney (2003-) 48 games, 5 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season
Career Highlights
Sydney premiership side 2005

Lewis Roberts-Thomson (born 8 September 1983) is a Sydney-born Australian Football League player with the Sydney Swans, originally drafted from the North Shore side. He is colloquially known to fans and commentators as either "LRT" or "Hyphen" or "Hyphenator".

Having spent much of his pre-2005 career languishing as a talented, roaming key-position player, his performance in 2005, including his grand final performance with the Sydney Swans win against the West Coast Eagles by less than a goal, has secured the 1.96m defender's position in the clubs player list. Roberts-Thomson's performance in that grand final, has been argued to be good enough to have secured him the coveted Norm Smith medal.

Roberts-Thomson is a rarity in AFL as he grew up playing rugby union as a contemporary of Wallaby Phil Waugh at Sydney Church of England Grammar School. He had played less than 40 Aussie rules matches when he was drafted in 2001, however he had already been named in the 2001 under-18 All-Australian team. Although not long after being listed with the Sydney Swans he was nominated for AFL Rising Star.

Midway through the 2006 AFL season, Roberts-Thomson was elevated from being a key defensive player to the Sydney Swans's second Ruckman, following the dropping of Sydney Swans' 2006 recruited ruckman Paul Chambers to the club's reserve side.

In the 2006 AFL season, to Round 14, Roberts-Thomson has played in all major round games, with an average of 5.4 kicks, 5.1 handballs, and 1.2 hitouts per game.