Best Swans win I have seen was beating Melbourne at the SCG to break a 26 game losing streak. I can't remember dates etc.....
Best Swans win I have seen was beating Melbourne at the SCG to break a 26 game losing streak. I can't remember dates etc.....
Carn the Southern Power.....
Yeah, that was a cracker. He was such a magnificent kick but that's one of the rare times I can recall him kicking 50+. Probably didn't get it that far out too often in truth!
Few others which are personal favourites:
1993 vs Melbourne - First win I can remember seeing. Only win for the year. Osborne with 10.
1994 vs Melbourne - Stormed over the top of the Dees in a rare win. Dermie's first game for the club. Kicked two big goals in the last quarter. Unfortunately they were the last good Swans related things he did.
1995 vs Collingwood - 5 goals behind at half-time with the Pies looking like they'd sneak into 8th spot. Enter T.Lockett to deny them, much to the delight of the Bears..
1997 vs Essendon - Seemingly out of the game mid-way through the last quarter as Essendon got out to a 4 goal lead. Bruce even said "it's the Bombers Day". Mark Bayes who had been having a quiet day kicked 3 last quarter goals to drag us over the line by a point.
2003 vs Collingwood - Loved this one. We played sensational footy for 3 quarters with Goodesy and MickyO starring. The Pies rallied late before Davo kicked the sealer in his first game against his old club.
2011 vs Geelong - Geelong at Geelong. Enough said.
2015 vs Hawthorn - Loved it.
Bloods
"Lockett is the best of all time" - Robert Harvey, Darrel Baldock, Nathan Burke, Kevin Bartlett, Bob Skilton
1987 consecutive wins against West Coast, Easendon & Richmond at the SCG kicking over 30 goals each game & averaging over 200 points a game over those 3 rounds. Love watching them every now and then
That 1970 Collingwood game was at the Lake Oval. Magical in all respects. There are 2 wins, no actually 3 wins that stand out for me in that year. Round 5 or 6 smashing Carlton by 77 pts, the said 1pt win against Collingwood, and the "apple core" game against Geelong at Kardinia Park. For those not old enough, Geelong's full forward Doug Wade was lining up for goal and as he kicked the ball someone threw an apple, which hit the ball causing it to miss the goals and only register a point. Swans would go on to win by 7 pts and by doing so qualify for their first finals appearance in 25 years.
Ah memories!!!
But on to modern times as the thread is intended.
Most of them have already been mentioned.
Special mention to the following games:
A Vic Park game where we got up by 5pts or 1 pt. I can't remember the year, but I do remember Barry Mitchell slotting home the winner after getting a free kick. The locals went berserk.
Final round 1996. Kicking against the wind on a freezing night. The "Syyyyyydddddnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeyy" chant was born.
1999 Game against Kangas Down by about 6 goals at half time, and Kelly played a blinder to get us home.
Can't forget the Plugger 1300 game. Although I wasn't there and the dribble coming from commentators Dunstall & McAvaney killed a lot of the enjoyment.
One last one that sits in my memory bank for no other reason that it pissed off multiple Collingwood supporters. 2001 Rd 10 against Collingwood. We were out on our feet leading by about 20pts going into the last quarter, Dunks had been smashed and was on one leg. Heath James did another hammy and was out of the game, I forget what Cressa did but he was also a bench sitter, and a few others Luffy and Kirky were also carrying some injury. In the last qtr Rocket simply throws everyone back and the players responded with one of the best ever quarters of defence I can remember, then deep in the last we are down to under a two goal lead, and Willo sprints from defence and takes a long shot from well outside 50. Bang!!! We are home, high 5's all round, make mine a large one and enjoy the train trip home on the Epping line Pies fans. Glorious victory.
I was in awe watching the Swans kick 10 goals in the final term against the Dees in 2003. I thought they were sure to lose, but after seeing that, you never say never when the Swans are playing. Swans' final burst pays off - realfooty.com.au
That would be this game, June 27 1993. Would like to have seen it!
Good wins are often those where teams come from behind at the end of Q3 to win, which is something I looked at a while ago (just scroll down to the tables near the end if the geeky stuff is not your thing). I see last years round 1 game v the Bombers is now at number 4 in the "best turnarounds", but I don't know that was such a great game. My favourite in that table is the Anzac day game v Melbourne in 2003, with the storming 10 goal final quarter. Also happens to be the first game I attended, good memories.
One of my faves was against the Roos at the SCG in 2002. The crowd had gone quiet as the Kangas were in front (only by a few points) and the final siren was imminent. Then Cressa steps in and milks a free kick by pushing a young Roo around. The young Roo retaliated a little too hard with Cressa ending up on the turf. Cressa puts it through after the siren. I have never seen a crowd erupt in so much jubilation. That was an emotional roller coaster ride.
Guest programmer month on Fox Footy, Barry Hall and Gerard Healy have some classic Swans games back as far as the 1996 Prelim. The 2003 QF against the odds against Port Adelaide was on just now - epic stuff!
So wonderful to know that there are a few RWOers old enough to remember that wonderful 1970 season!
That Carlton game was the game where people realised that we were genuine contenders and the Geelong game was a thriller that helped cement our place in the four. If I remember rightly, our win against Fitzroy at the Lake Oval a week later meant that we couldn't be dislodged from the four, even though there was still one round to go. (Maybe wrong on that!)
After a 25 year drought, we had made the finals!! Who'd have thought then that it would be another 26 years before we would actually win a final?
No, you are absolutely right about the Fitzroy win. I remember hanging on every possession in that last quarter, and it was a close-run thing, four points as I recall. Another vivid memory I have is of reading Alf Brown's report of the Carlton game in the Melbourne Herald, where he said he hadn't seen a Swans team play like that since 1933. Brown had an acerbic turn of phrase and had never rated the Swans very highly, so it was a real thrill to read that.
With all this discussion of the wonderful 1970 season, I'm disappointed in myself for only just remembering another great game from the 70s - Round 14, 1973. We beat Geelong at the Lake Oval and it ended a drought of 29 games without a win. It's an old clich� I know but it really was just like winning a Grand Final. Our coach, Graeme John, was mobbed after the game and I will never forget the sight of an old man who, along with everyone else, jumped the fence after the final siren. He was singing the theme song with the cheer squad, tears streaming down his face.
Anyone else remember that game?
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