1996 was unchartered territory. We hadn?t been in the finals for 10 years; hadn?t won one for 50+
Playing in the grand final came with a massive sense of disbelief. (fast forward and today this would apply to the likes of Western Bulldogs and Richmond).
Year after year you would watch two teams play in the GF and not for one second imagine that you would ever the Swans in it. You would watch the game and pick a team to support based on which one you hated less and that was that.
16 years later and no one has appeared in more finals series in modern times than us. The more times you're in it, the more chances you have of succeeding and this year our number has come up.
Expectations are relative. There is no doubt how the Swans have raised the bar. A win against Melbourne in 1993 broke a 26 match losing streak. This year the team won 9 straight.
In the 1980s, it would have been easy to look at fans of Carlton, Hawthorn and Essendon with envy. While they wouldn?t win the flag every year, they were almost always up there. As a fan you couldn?t ask for more than that.
I don?t think you can ask more from the Swans. They are going to lose games and some years they may flat out suck but on the whole, they are up there every year. In 1993 the Swans were almost dead; now you would have many fans of other teams wishing their team could be as stable and consistent as the Swans.
Regardless of what happens tomorrow, couldn?t be prouder to be a Swans fan. They have never let me down and I don?t plan on ever letting them down. It's not going to have the novelty of 2005 but winning in 2012 will for so many reasons, be just as satisfying.
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