The Swans have overcome a week plagued by scandal and five players suspended, plunging the club to its lowest depths, to defy the critics for an incredible against the odds win against North Melbourne.
Such was the win, it brought their inspirational captain Callum Mills to tears, after he faced the media scrutiny of a scandal that failed the behavioural standards of his club and the community.
“I’m so grateful for the fans sticking with us,” a teary Mills told Fox Footy.
And the Swans did not just win. They ran away with victory by 53 points.
After Dean Cox admitted he hadn’t looked at the football aspect of his role on Friday, the Swans produced a miracle of sorts.
Missing the suspended vice-captain Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Chad Warner, the Swans got off to a fast start in the first quarter to lead by 20 points and were never really headed.
The loss of Heeney, Warner and Blakey was of most concern given their All-Australian credentials but through a strategy of rotating the likes Angus Sheldrick, Tom Papley, Jai Serong and Callum Mills through the mid-field worked the oracle.
To underline the inexperience of the side that ran out onto the SCG against the Kangaroos, the first five goalscorers for the Swans each had played less than 10 AFL games this season.
Caiden Cleary, Jesse Dattoli, Tom Hanily, Billy Cootee and Braeden Campbell combined had played 27 matches. Heeney and Warner alone played 44.
There was a walk out of some fans after the first match of the inaugural double header the Swans AFLW but those that remained witnessed an understrength Swans humble North Melbourne heading into finals, finishing second on the ladder.
And at the final siren a cheer of “Sydney, Sydney,” had the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end of anyone in the ground.
“We came here not knowing what we would get and in many respects the crowd has stayed on to watch (an impressive win),” Gerard Healy commented on Fox Footy.
The two wins for both Sydney sides showed the ‘united’ front discussed so much during the week.
Earlier, club greats, including Jude Bolton, Ryan O’Keefe and officials led by chief executtive Matt Pavlich embraced the AFLW women’s team win for more than just the football club. And the same could be said of the men’s team.
A visibly frustrated Alastair Clarkson who was hoping for the same sort of final round performance his side produced against Adelaide last year, which created the impetus for nine wins in 2026 and their highest finish since 2019.
He was left with his head in his hands during the match as the Kangaroos missed a golden opportunity to make it 10 wins given the stars missing for Sydney.
Something was missing all match, and it may have been the obvious, with 21-year-old star Harry Sheezel not in Sydney pending surgery on his fractured cheekbone. Averaging more than 30 disposals, the closest a North player came on Sunday was Luke Parker with 26.
In a blow to the Swans after such a feel-good win for the Swans’ AFLW side, some of the record 16,672 fans walked out at the end of that match against Essendon.
Although a sizeable crowd remained, the final attendance was the lowest of the season.
Sydney’s previous lowest was 33,413 on a very wet night in July when the Swans lost to the Adelaide Crows, but on a beautiful, bright late winter’s day just 30,058 were in attendance. Whether that was because of the scandal that dominated national headlines or North Melbourne’s pulling power, is a question to be answered.
But the spirit and vocal support the AFLW side received did remain with a rousing ovation from the crowd at various times to celebrate the incredible win.
Fans there for the women
Sydney Swans fans have shown their support for the women’s team as the fallout from the club’s continued ahead of the historic double-header at the SCG.
The AFLW Swans easily beat Essendon 9.12.66 to 6.6.42 in a morale booting victory for the club and supporters.
The playing group, bench and staff stood in the centre of the SCG to belt out the team song after a stressful week.
The Swans men’s team will face their fans at home later on Sunday afternoon in their first game since the scandal broke last Monday.
But a large part of the crowd left the SCG straight after the AFLW game.
Some of the 16,672 fans walked out at the end of the Swans’ AFLW win against Essendon, with many fans seen leaving the venue, but a sizeable crowd remained.
And to show there was as much support for the Swans’ men, a rousing ovation from the crowd in the Brewongle Stand met Sydney players as they left the field for half-time.
Relief for AFLW Swans
After a tumultuous week, there was an overwhelming sense of relief for coach Colin O’Riordan after the match.
“I think I can talk personally, it’s more relief for me,” O’Riordan said.
“Again, I go back to pride and relief, they’re probably the two emotions that I have today. It’s incredible relief and pride in the group, but then relief personally that we got to win.
“To be involved in a game of that magnitude, with everything that went on, the way they conducted themselves during the week, the way they played footy, I think it epitomises everything that’s good about our footy club.”
The scandal
Players Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner were stood down this week for breaching the club’s standards on drinking and staying out late after last Sunday’s win against Essendon in Melbourne.
The five issued a joint statement apologising for their behaviour last week.
Sydney is second on the ladder and has secured two home finals, but many angry fans are threatening to walk out after the AFLW game.
The club’s actions in banning the five players from playing for the rest of the year is separate to the police investigation.
Victoria Police have confirmed its sexual crimes squad is investigating “reports of a sexual assault” at the Pullman Hotel on Monday.
The club said on Saturday none of its players had been formally interviewed by police.
NewsWire does not suggest that any of the named players are being accused of sexual assault.
Remarks made by the club earlier in the week sparked backlash from advocates for centring the players, their careers and the upcoming AFL final, instead of the alleged victim in their language.
AFLW Swans’ ‘day of history’
The pleas from Swans officials, head coaches, the captains of the men’s and women’s teams, as well some high profile fans, were answered on Sunday with supporters coming out in force to support Sydney’s AFLW side.
The crowd of 16,672 smashed the Swans’ biggest AFLW crowd of 8264 set at their very first game, at North Sydney Oval, in 2022 and it was obvious by half-time that fans had not been deterred by the fallout of the scandal, that had embroiled the Swans players through no fault of their own.
The crowd had grown over 14,000 by three-quarter-time.
“Fans letting their feet do the talking,” Kelli Underwood remarked in the call on Fox Footy. “A day of history.”
Loud cheers rang out from the thousands in attendance whenever from the Swans’ women left or entered the ground, with multiple fans waving banners in support of women in the community.
The loudest cheer came when the record crowd was announced moments before the Swans’ women sealed the 24-point win.
“It’s amazing, we weren’t sure obviously what we were going to expecting this week to see the support that we received today is unbelievable,” Swans captain Lucy McEvoy told Fox Footy, moments after the final siren.
“Our members and fans are so tight and they know we’re united as a club and we’re better than what we were at the start of the week.”
By the early stages of the first quarter, the crowd had grown from the hundreds into the thousands with large pockets of supporters, scattered across the ground, who also found their voice in support of their girls chanting “Sydney, Sydney”, as it did at various times during the match.
A day before the game celebrities actor Luke Jacobz and Mark Beretta had urged fans not to let the actions of a handful overshadow the occasion, following pleas from club leaders AFL coach Dean Cox, captain Callum Mills, AFLW coach Colin O’Riordan and his captain Lucy McEvoy all presenting a ‘united’ front in their support of women and the club.
Essendon AFLW coach Natalie Wood praised her opponents.
“I thought Sydney Swans did a terrific job in pivoting the conversation to something really tangible and something really positive in terms of calling to the masses and telling people to come to support women, and then to support women’s football and the game,” Wood said.
‘Sydney, Sydney’
Fans decked proudly in their red and white steadily streamed through the famous gates more than breaking the Swans’ record AFLW crowd of 8264, despite the headlines that plagued the lead-up.
Sydney Swans fans lined up before gates opened, to get priority seats in the Ladies and Members stand, primarily, for the inaugural AFLW/AFL double header.
By the early stages of the first quarter, the crowd had grown significantly from the hundreds into the thousands with large pockets of supporters, scattered across the ground, who also found their voice in support of their girls chanting “Sydney, Sydney”.
The AFLW side entered the SCG to the loud cheers of a small but vocal crowd with fans creating a guard of honour for their heroes before they proceeded through the banner.
Before the game, Swans chairman Andrew Pridham addressed the club’s official AFLW function, apologising again and promising a review into the club’s culture.
“We do not excuse their behaviour. We do not ignore the impact it has had on so many people – and in particular women,” Pridham said.
“But we will seek to learn, to get better, to do better and show forgiveness.”
Swans’ initial response criticised
On Sunday, Labor MP Josh Burns became the latest politician to call out the Swans’ initial response
On Wednesday, chief executive Matthew Pavlich and chair Andrew Pridham fronted the media.
Pridham initially noted the impact on the football side was not considered by the board when it met on Tuesday night to decide the sanction.
However, he later emphasised the club’s disappointment and concern by pointing out its willingness “to effectively torpedo our season”.
Mr Burns said “the primary concern for everyone” should be the welfare of the women at the centre of the allegations.
He said the AFL was a “very powerful” institution which had the responsibility and the influence to “set culture”.
“The culture from the AFL feeds into community sport. It feeds into the national conversation,” Mr Burns said on Sunday.
“It feeds into the way and the attitudes of men and boys right around the country.
“So the focus of everyone from the very moment that these shocking allegations came forward … needs to be on ensuring that women and girls are safe, not the football finals, not minimising it with language, not minimising it with … the sorts of conversation and the sorts of statements we’ve seen, but actually making it clear that the culture and the views of people at the top are ones of zero tolerance.”
Mr Burns pointed to a “correction” made by the Swans in its language around the alleged sexual assault but said he would not “congratulate” the club for “realising the focus … should have been on the alleged victims, not footy finals or footy games”.
“The work that we all need to do is ensure that those who are in positions of leadership and power set the culture and the tone to make sure that we are all focusing on what’s appropriate,” he said.
On Friday, Swans team coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills issued an apology, saying their thoughts remained “with everyone affected, particularly the women involved”.
“All women deserve to feel safe and respected,” they said.