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When Kurt Tippett limped off the field against Carlton with an injured knee, many people gave the Sydney next to no chance to go on and make a significant contribution to this year’s AFL finals series.
Then went midfielder Tom Mitchell, his ankle giving way under some rather suspect turf and the Swans were all but gone.
With their substitute already activated, one rotation player down for the rest of the game and seemingly doomed against a Carlton side renowned for their late quarter surges, the Swans were presumed dead, possibly by even their own medical staff. And this was only the first quarter of the match.
Somehow they managed to crawl and scrap their way to a lead a quarter time, capped off by Jude Bolton’s Daicos-like grubber that squirmed its way through the goal mouth.
Jarrad McVeigh then decided to put the foot down, and subsequently produced possibly the greatest individual quarter in finals history, although Darren Jarman might disagree with me, gathering a staggering 20 possessions.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Sydney imposed themselves on the game and ended up winning comfortably, despite not scoring a goal in the last quarter, to claim their chance to play in consecutive grand finals.
This reward, if you can even call it that, obtained by winning on Saturday thrusts them into a match against the sleeping juggernaut which is the Fremantle Dockers.
If that’s not bad enough, flying over to Perth to play them at their home ground makes a difficult task near impossible. But if there’s anything that can be taken from the Bloods’ culture it is the fact that quitting is definitely not a word in the dictionary they keep locked away at the SCG.
Time and time again the Swans have produced brilliance from desperation, courage in the face of adversity and nerves made of the toughest steel. Game after game, season after season, the Swans have become famous for their hard, grinding style in which they crush opponents into submission before snapping their backbone.
Names such as Kennedy, O’Keefe, McVeigh and Jack have become synonymous with tough, uncompromising footy. This is epitomised by Jude Bolton, who has recorded the most tackles in the history of AFL football.
Inspiring performances such as that down at Kardinia Park in 2011 in the face of tragedy are ingrained in the minds of all football fans.
But it seems the Swans might be fighting a losing battle. Injury and form appear to have conspired against them in a way that they know all too well.
The issue of form was a major part of the argument against Sydney on the weekend, with only one win in the previous five before Saturday’s victory over the Blues.
Their disastrous implosion after half time against the Hawks a week earlier hasn’t really done much in the public’s eyes to suggest they are doing anything but limping into a preliminary final.
Speaking of limping, the casualty ward at the Swans looks longer than the line-up for a drink at the ‘G. Players such as Goodes, Roberts-Thomson, Rhyce Shaw and Sam Reid would probably walk into 90% of the sides in the AFL.
The other major player in this final is Fremantle, a team who have done the best with the hand they were dealt, and even raised their opponents a few. Being the only team aside from the recent expansion clubs yet to win a flag, their hunger is at an unimaginable level.
Rested and ready to go, Ross Lyon has done wonders with this side.
Taking them from the being the AFL’s so called crazy aunt to the brink of a grand final is a brilliant effort.
A premiership out west would send Freo fans into delirium and will be seen by Dockers fans as a win against the establishment.
Sydney still presents a massive hurdle to any side, and despite injuries and form they are a side that need to be respected. So write them off at your peril.
This weekend the Swans might just surprise us all… again.
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