Time to lift that noble banner

Will this disappointing season be remembered as a small bump on the path to a premiership, just as it was for the Cats, Tigers and Demons? Or are there more fundamental issues at play?

Sydney started the season with one significant handicap. Not since Geelong in 1995 has a team backed up for another Grand Final after suffering a heavy defeat the year before.

The Swans were humbled by the Cats in last year’s Grand Final, but nevertheless there was optimism heading into the season, chiefly on the basis of the club’s much-admired culture, a young playing list with loads of upside and veteran coach John Longmire, one of the best in the business.

Yet with seven rounds to go, the Swans are mired in 15th place, two games out of the eight.

When the various stories of Geelong’s droughtbreaking 2007 premiership triumph were told in the days and weeks that followed, much was made of the introspection and searching internal reviews that took place 12 months before.

Having made the finals for two successive years, the Cats crashed badly in 2006 and looked miles off a flag.

Yet 12 months later they had won the flag by a record 119-point margin.

A similar tale was told at Richmond.

The Tigers had also made the finals for three consecutive seasons before a disappointing 8-14 campaign in 2016.

Once again, the football department was forensically examined and like at Geelong, the coach survived but changes were implemented by him and around him.

The Tigers came roaring back in 2017 and won the flag. For good measure they saluted again in 2019 and 2020.

And then there was Melbourne.

Years of painstaking list building appeared set to pay dividends when they made the preliminary final in 2018. Yet 12 months later, they finished second bottom with five wins.

Once again, the coach survived, but significant changes were made around Simon Goodwin, specifically to do with fitness and injury rehabilitation, and by 2021 the Demons were premiers for the first time in 57 years.

All of which brings us to Sydney in 2023.

Nobody is yet prepared to officially declare them out of the finals race, and they have had their share of key injuries this year, but last week’s clash with Richmond was dubbed an elimination final in July and the Swans fell 13 points short.

But what irked Sydney fans on the night was the all-too-familiar tale of a blown lead.

The Swans dominated early and led by 26 points midway through the second term before the Tigers mounted their charge.

It has been happening all year.

They held comfortable leads at various stages against Port Adelaide, GWS Giants, Fremantle and St Kilda and lost every time.

A fortnight ago against Geelong, they kicked 6.18 in a drawn result, but in a low-scoring tussle, they led by 14 points in the third term.

They blew a late lead against North Melbourne in round 10, only to win the game due to an interchange infringement by the Roos that gifted them a last-minute goal.

Overlooked in the euphoria of beating Collingwood by a point in last year’s epic preliminary final was the fact they led by six goals early in the third term.

Sydney’s backline collapses when under siege perhaps explains why the club is set to make a serious play for one of Harry Himmelberg from the Giants or Tom Barrass from the Eagles. Their best defender is still Dane Rampe, who recently turned 33.

There is talent through the midfield but perhaps not enough bursting speed, while the forward line post-Lance Franklin will be led by Logan McDonald and Joel

Amartey, who have shown flashes of talent but not yet the consistency.

With two years remaining on his contract, Longmire is not going anywhere. Gold Coast (read the AFL) would grab him in a heartbeat to replace Stuart Dew if he was suddenly available.

The lesson the Swans might heed from the Cats, Tigers and Demons is to shake-up the coaching and high-performance staff, but therein lies another problem.

Given the enduring cuts to the football department soft cap due to the League’s unwillingness to loosen the purse strings post-pandemic, the Swans find it difficult to attract fresh off-field talent because of the near-prohibitive cost of living in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Thursday night against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG, in Longmire’s 300th game as coach, really is their last shot for 2023.

But irrespective of the result, the Swans are going to be actively involved in the forthcoming player movement periods for the first time in a long time. Watch this space.

@hashbrowne