It was late in 2002 and people power had won over the Swans? administration to appoint caretaker coach Paul Roos as the Swans? full time coach over the board-preferred Terry Wallace. People power also won over Roos when incoming captain Stuart Maxfield convinced the new coach to give a guy named Brett Kirk another chance. 26-year-old Kirk was on the verge of being delisted, having played 49 games since 1999 and failing to cement a spot in the Swans? best 22.
Together, Roos and Kirk went on to revolutionise the culture of the Sydney Swans, leading them to a premiership and establishing the club as one of the most well-respected and successful clubs of the decade. Perhaps it is only fitting that two of the greatest influences on the Sydney Swans Football Club will retire this year as they bid farewell to the SCG for the final time this Saturday night.
The SCG has been a fruitful venue for the pair. Kirk has played 90 of his 237 games at the SCG and has won 63 of them while of the 198 games Roos has coached; many of his 113 wins have been at the SCG. Roos debuted for the Fitzroy Football Club in round four 1982, ironically against the Swans at the SCG. He went on to play 269 games and captain Fitzroy until 1994. After moving to the Sydney Swans in 1995, Roos played a further 87 games until retiring in 1998.
During his career as a player, Roos won Fitzroy?s Best and Fairest five times, was All-Australian seven times and was inducted in to the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Roos left Australia after his retirement and spent some time in the US, coaching their national team where he was credited with helping to establish the United States Australian Football League. Upon returning to Australia, Roos became an assistant coach at the Swans in 2001 under Rodney Eade. After poor performances on field in 2002, Eade was sacked as coach and Roos appointed caretaker for the remainder of the season.
In his ten games at the helm, Roos revitalised the Swans and inspired fans to fight for him as the next senior coach of the Sydney Swans. The fans? protests and chants of ?Rooooooooooos? succeeded and Roos was named the Sydney Swans? senior coach for 2003. Under Roos' coaching, Sydney made every finals series between 2003 and 2008. Roos led the ?ugly? Swans to their first premiership in 72 years in 2005 and nearly made it a second in 2006. The iconic image of Roos holding up the 2005 premiership cup and shouting ?Here it is!? is now permanently etched in the foundations of the SCG with a statue of that moment greeting fans as they enter the historic ground.
One of Paul Roos? greatest achievements is not only his on-field success but his relationship with his players and no one personifies this success more than Brett Kirk. Kirk has played every game Paul Roos has coached since taking over in 2003 and since then he has played 237 games for the Swans and 196 games consecutively. Although Kirk?s success as a player is often measured more for his leadership and influence on game day, his on field success is also a testament to his own perseverance and determination. Despite coming so close to being delisted, Kirk has gone on to be runner-up for the clubs best and fairest award in both 2003 and 2004 and make the All Australian Team in 2004.
After Stuart Maxfield resigned as captain of the Swans in early 2005, Kirk was one of the six players in the captaincy rotation. He captained the club for four games and was later named the best and fairest in the 2005 premiership winning team. In 2006, Kirk amassed 142 tackles (second-highest in the league) and was awarded the AFLPA's Robert Rose Award for most courageous player jointly with Glenn Archer. In 2007, Kirk won his second best and fairest award after polling votes in every game played that year. He currently has the second-most tackles in recorded history with 149 tackles in a single season (2007).
Kirk has become known as one of the premier captains in the AFL and his toughness, strength, fitness, consistency and leadership skills make him possibly one of the most influential players in the league. More than this, he, along with Roos, have revolutionised the culture of the Sydney Swans. There have been countless moments where it was the words of the courageous captain which have inspired the players in close and hard fought games but none will be remembered more than the 2005 semi final.
With the Swans down by 17 points going in to the final quarter, when Nick Davis let his opponent kick the opening goal of the quarter it looked like the Swans were down and out. Enter Brett Kirk. Kirk let Davis know that he owed the team for his defensive lapse and Davis responded to his captain?s words. Davis went on to kick the next four goals of the game to lead the Swans to a famous three point victory and keeping their season alive. Kirk can be credited with constantly inspiring the Swans over his career, both with his words and his mental and physical toughness. With Kirk you can be assured that he will always give 100 per cent, no matter what.
We head in to this week?s clash with the Bulldogs against Barry Hall, perhaps one of the prime examples of the uncompromising integrity of the Sydney Swans football club. Roos will also face off against his predecessor in Eade, the man who didn?t believe in Kirk - now one of the Swans? most beloved players of all time. It is perhaps ironic that this clash will be the pair?s farewell to the SCG, against two people who know this ground and this club so well, but this irony is only fitting. The SCG faithful will now bid farewell to two of the club?s favourite sons in a huge clash which has all the makings of a historic match. No doubt there will be calls of ?Doing it for Kirky? but we can be assured that no one will give this game more than the man himself and the man on the boundary who has guided and inspired his career.
Though we will lose two champions of the club in a few more weeks, it is certain that the legacy of Paul Roos and Brett Kirk will last long after their physical presence at the club. Both Roos and Kirk will pass on the baton to worthy successors as it can be assured that the future and culture of the Sydney Swans remains true to what these two men have developed. Although they will be gone, their legacies will live on as they not only revolutionised the culture of this football club but have influenced every player (and fan) at the club forevermore.
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