Opinion
For forty years between 1982 and 2011, the Sydney Swans were the only AFL club in town, which naturally meant that Sydneysiders would have only one team to support.
Having being parachuted into the Harbour City after relocating from South Melbourne, the Swans faced numerous challenges in winning over fans in the market dominated by rugby league, but a major turning point would come in the mid-1990s with the arrival of Tony Lockett and Paul Roos to the club.
Together, they would lift the Swans out of the doldrums, with Lockett being used as a marketing tool to bring the crowds to the SCG and put the club on the sporting map in Sydney.
No Swans fan will ever forget that sunny afternoon against Collingwood in 1999 when he kicked his 1,300th AFL goal to become the game’s greatest goalkicker.
Six years later, the Swans would smash the AFL’s longest premiership drought, defeating the West Coast Eagles by four points to win the club its first flag since 1933, thus ensuring the game well and truly became a national competition.
It would not take long for the Swans to return to the premiership dais, saluting in 2012 by way of a ten-point win against Hawthorn in the grand final.
That year saw the entry of the Greater Western Sydney Giants into the league, and the Swans made it well clear that they had been top dog in the Harbour City for 30 years, making the Giants look more like minions on the field.
While the Swans remained a dominant force in the ensuing years, the Giants struggled in their infant years, winning only three games across their first two seasons, but gradually climbed up the ladder, culminating in a surprise Grand Final berth against Richmond in 2019.
It was during this time that the Giants entered a women’s team ahead of the inaugural AFL Women’s season in 2017; like their men’s counterparts in 2012, the club struggled in their first season, eventually claiming the wooden spoon with only one win and a draw from seven matches.
Despite the acquisition of quality players such as Alicia Eva and Christina Bernardi in subsequent years, the club struggled to live up to expectations, only playing in the 2020 finals series when the regular season was suddenly stopped just as the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
Following a four-win 2022 season, which was played in the first half of this year, veteran coach Alan McConnell was moved on and replaced by the much younger Cameron Bernasconi, who has overseen two losses to start season seven.
Last week, the Giants started well against the Brisbane Lions, but faded in the final three quarters to lose to the premiership front-runners by 47 points; that followed a tough seven-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at Ikon Park in the opening round.
Their cross-town rivals, the Sydney Swans, have also shown early promising signs despite also losing their first two matches; they booted two early goals against Collingwood at Victoria Park last Sunday but failed to kick another goal after quarter-time, eventually going down by 31 points.
Coach Scott Gowans implored his side to “be disappointed with the result” and take some key learnings out of it as they continue their development in this competition.
The Swans had also hung in with St Kilda in the first quarter of its inaugural match, before the more experienced Saints ran all over them in the final three quarters, as the Pies did last week, in front of a crowd of over 8,000.
But while both the Swans and Giants might be winless and sitting in 16th and 15th on the ladder respectively, the first edition of the Sydney Derby is still to be anticipated, for many reasons.
Unlike in the men’s competition, where the Swans had a three-decade head start on the Giants, in the women’s it’s a completely different story with the Giants having been there right from day one, while the Swans are still in their infancy.
(Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
While the westerners have been among the league’s battlers from the very start, as evidenced by an inexperienced side claiming the wooden spoon in 2017, they’ll still be keen to show their cross-town rivals just who’s boss in Saturday’s clash at the SCG.
We’ve seen in the men’s competition the likes of Shane Mumford and Jed Lamb cross from the Swans to the Giants, consequently as a result of the red-and-white club signing Lance “Buddy” Franklin on a mega nine-year contract which expires at the end of this season.
No ex-Giant has donned the Swans colours after leaving Giants HQ – though Shaun Edwards played twelve games for the Giants between 2012-13 and was on the Swans’ list in 2017 but failed to even play a senior game for them.
In the AFL Women’s, the Swans have four ex-Giants on their list – Rebecca Privitelli, Ally Morphett, Lisa Steane and Maddy Collier, with the latter acting as one of their three co-captains alongside Brooke Lochland and Lauren Szigeti.
Privitelli has kicked a goal in each of her first two matches as a Swan, booting their first against the Saints and Magpies.
It will be the first time an AFLW match has been played at the ground and will also be the first time the Giants play in Sydney this year, having played its first two matches in Melbourne and Canberra.
In what are also exciting times for the Sydney Swans as a club, the first AFLW Sydney Derby also comes a week before their men’s side hosts a preliminary final at the SCG for the first time since 1996.
While there are relatively low expectations for both the Swans and Giants in season seven of AFL Women’s, the fierce rivalry we’ve seen in the men’s matches for over a decade can still expect to be on show as both sides fight for bragging rights in the Harbour City.
That being said, both sides will be keen to get on the board for season seven, and for the Swans here presents a golden opportunity for the side to not only showcase their brand at an iconic sporting ground, but also possibly notch up their first win against their cross-town rivals.
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