Round 1 history in Sydney
Round 1 matches count for four premiership points. Just like all the others. And by September the 2022 season-opener against GWS at Accor Stadium on Saturday afternoon will be just one of 22 home-and-away games. A win or loss. Or even a draw.
But Round 1 is different. It is special. Undoubtedly so. Every player desperately wants to play Round 1 to get into the new campaign after a summer of hard physical work, skill improvement, game plan analysis and strategy.
Hopes are high at every club as everyone starts with a clean slate. The spotlight turns to new faces and up-and-comers looking to elevate their performance. And the old-timers, who have been through it all before, step up into top gear.
It’s not different in the event of a Round 1 bye - the same mentality flips to Round 2 as it did for the Swans in 1991, ’92 and ‘93.
Forty years into life in the Harbour City, the Swans will take a 20-1-19 Round 1 win/loss record into Saturday’s Sydney Derby, including a 7-3 run over the past decade.
It will be the fourth time Sydney and GWS have met in Round 1. They did so in 2012, ‘13 and ‘14, the Giants’ first three years in the competition. The Swans won by 63 points at the Olympic Stadium in 2012 and by 30 points at the Olympic Stadium in 2013, before the Giants won by 32 points at Sydney Showgrounds in 2014.
The 40-year history of the Swans’ Round 1 games as the AFL flagship in Sydney began on Sunday afternoon 28 March 1982, when, coached for the first time by Rick Quade, they hosted a Melbourne side under Ron Barassi.
The home side won 20.17 (137) to 16.12 (108). John Roberts kicked four goals and Bernie Evans three, while Mark Browning had a career-best 35 possessions. Barry Round (23), Colin Hounsell (21), Paul Morwood (21) and Max Kruse (20) were next best.
A 32-year-old Round was the veteran of the side in his 259th game, with Browning (123) and Rod Carter (117) the only other Swans beyond 100 games. Max James was the only other 30-year-old while 19-year-olds David Rhys Jones, Anthony Daniher, Brett Scott and 18-year-old Silvio Foschini were the ‘babes’ of the side.
The Swans team in notional positions was:
B: David Ackerly, Rod Carter, Max James
HB: Paul Morwood, Max Kruse, Dennis Carroll
C: David Rhys-Jones, Mark Browning, Colin Hounsell
HF: Silvio Foschini, Barry Round, ,Tony Morwood
F: Bernie Evans, John Roberts, Wayne Carroll
R: Stephen Allender, Greg Smith, Stevie Wright
INT: Brett Scott, Anthony Daniher
Of this history-making group, Dennis Carroll, Carter and Wright went on to play nine Round 1 games while based at the SCG, with Tony Morwood playing eight and Browning six.
Over four decades only 15 Swans have played more Round 1 games than Carroll, Carter and Wright.
Adam Goodes, the club games record-holder, also holds the record for most Round 1 games for a Sydney-based player at 16. He played 15 straight from his debut in 1999 and after missing the season-opener in 2014 added one more in 2015.
Josh Kennedy appears set to play his 13th consecutive Round 1 game on Saturday to join Jarrad McVeigh and Jude Bolton equal second behind Goodes, ahead of Heath Grundy (12), Mark Bayes, Leo Barry, Ryan O’Keefe (11).
Luke Parker will play his 11th Round 1 game on Saturday, going ahead of Daryn Creswell (10), Kieren Jack (10), Paul Kelly (10), Brett Kirk (10), Michael O’Loughlin (10) and Ted Richards (10). Dane Rampe and Harry Cunningham are set to play their 10th Round 1 game on Saturday.
Round 1 highlights
As the build-up to the 2022 season intensifies hard-core Sydney Swans fans will recall fondly individual and team highlights in Round 1 of seasons past.
All the way back in 1985 the Sydney Swans posted their biggest Round 1 win when they beat St Kilda 26.20 (176) to 8.18 (66) at Moorabbin. Bernie Evans kicked a career-best nine goals in his 130th game to be judged best afield in John Northey’s first game as coach, while John Ironmonger (12 possessions, 16 hit-outs) and Darren McAsey (10 possessions) were also in the Brownlow Medal votes. A 19-year-old Tony Lockett kicked two goals in his 33rd game for the Saints.
In 1986 the great Tommy Hafey took charge of the Swans and began a three-year stint to close out a magnificent 522-game coaching career. Sharing his first outing with his fourth club with imports Greg Williams, Gerard Healy, Jim Edmond, Merv Neagle, Bernard Toohey and David Bolton, Hafey celebrated with a 25-point win over North Melbourne at the MCG thanks largely to a then career-best eight goals from a 22-year-old Warwick Capper in his 31st game.
In 1987 they had another big and unforgettable Round 1 win on Collingwood turf at Victoria Park. Sydney prevailed 25.15 (165) to 11.8 (75) thanks again to nine goals from Warwick Capper and 30-plus possessions from Healy, Williams and Neagle. Capper, Williams and Healy took the votes.
In 1990 Greg Williams masterminded the biggest second-half turnaround for a win in Swans history against Carlton at Princes Park. Down by 45 points at the long break and still 24 points behind at three-quarter time, they kicked the last five goals via Shane Fell, Barry Mitchell, and Mark Bayes, to win 15.14 (104) to 14.15 (99). Mitchell sealed it with a left-foot snap from 25m with 34 seconds on the clock to finish with 31 possessions and three goals. Fell bagged five goals in a debut he shared with Paul Kelly, wearing jumper #45. Williams was the first player in the Sydney era to have 40+ possessions in a Round 1 game for the Swans. In his 82nd game in red and white he collected 42 possessions and two goals for three Brownlow Medal votes in a five-point win over Carlton at Princes Park.
Gary Buckenara coached the Swans for the first time in the first game of 1992, when Sydney, who finished 12th in 1991, won a thriller against 1991 grand finalists West Coast at the SCG in a pointer to the extraordinary rivalry that would follow in the 2000s. Down by 10 points inside the closing minutes in what was Round 2, they dragged themselves off the deck with goals by Warren McKenzie and David Strooper to win 14.14 (98) to 14.11 (95).
Tony Lockett and Paul Roos played their first game for the Swans in Round 1, 1995, when they were beaten by 17 points by Footscray, as they were known at the time, despite six goals from Lockett.
In Round 1, 2000 Michael O’Loughlin had a day out against St Kilda at Docklands, picking up three Brownlow votes for a career-best 31 possessions and five goals – one short of his best – in his 102nd game. It was the same game in which full forward turned media star Ryan Fitzgerald kicked five goals on debut for the Swans.
Still on a high after holding aloft the AFL Premiership Cup in 2005, Barry Hall opened the 2006 season with seven goals against Essendon at Docklands. It was his Swans-best and one short of his career best.
Sydney’s only Round 1 draw of the past 40 years came in 2011 in John Longmire’s first game as coach. It was against Melbourne at the MCG, when Sydney led at every change but had to a rely on a Ryan O’Keefe behind in the last minute for a share of the points. O’Keefe, with 31 possessions, picked up three votes.
In 2016, Luke Parker posted only the second 40-possession Round 1 game as the Swans belted Collingwood by 80 points at the SCG. In his 102nd game Parker posted an even 40 touches and a goal for three votes in the AFL debut of Callum Mills, Tom Papley and George Hewett.
In 2018, Lance Franklin opened his 14th AFL season and his fifth in red and white with eight goals against West Coast in the first AFL game at the new Perth Stadium. It is the best Round 1 haul of Franklin’s career and is still the most goals kicked in a game at what was the host ground for the 2021 AFL Grand Final.
In the Brownlow
Greg Williams has polled most Brownlow votes for the Swans in Round 1 games during the Sydney era, going 3-2-0-2-3 from 1986-90 for a total of 10. Second on the list with nine votes is Paul Williams, who opened his third, fourth and fifth season with the club in 2003, ’04 and ‘05 with a best afield hat-trick. Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Lance Franklin, each with seven Round 1 votes, are next on the list. Kieren Jack polled three times in Round 1 for five votes, Greg Stafford earned four votes via two, two-vote games.
Errol Gulden is the only Sydney Swans player to have polled in his Round 1 AFL debut, picking up two votes for 19 possessions and three goals against Brisbane at the Gabba last year, while Tom Hickey polled one vote in his Swans debut, having had 23 possessions, nine clearances and 24 hit-outs in the same game.
Among other current players, Callum Mills topped the voting in the 2021 season-opener against Brisbane, Isaac Heeney was best afield in the Round 1, 2020 win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, and Jake Lloyd earned one vote in Round 1, 2018.
30+ possessions
Greg Williams has had most 30-possession Round 1 games for the club in this era with four, including his 40-possession haul in 1990, while Barry Mitchell had three. Luke Parker, Kieren Jack and Ryan O’Keefe, with two each, are the only other multiples.
Others with one 30+ game in Round 1 have been Josh Kennedy, Paul Kelly, Michael O’Loughlin, Wayne Schwass, Jake Lloyd, Gerard Healy, Tom Mitchell and Mark Browning.
Head-to-head Round 1 records
The Swans have never played Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast or the now defunct Fitzroy in a Round 1 game during the Sydney era. They are 0-3 against the Western Bulldogs – the only side they are yet to beat in Round 1 – and are unbeaten against Carlton (2-0), Collingwood (2-0), Melbourne (1-1-0), North Melbourne (1-0) and Richmond (1-0). They have a positive record against Adelaide (2-1), Essendon (2-1) and GWS (2-1), are square against West Coast (2-2) and in the red against Brisbane (1-3), Hawthorn (1-3), Port (1-2) and St Kilda (2-3).
Ground-by-ground
The Swans have split the 40 Round 1 games of the Sydney era over 13 different venues – three in Sydney, seven in Melbourne, two each in Perth and Adelaide, and one in Brisbane.
Without the burden of interstate travel, they are 7-4 in 11 games at the SCG, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium and 0-1 at the Sydney Showgrounds.
They are a combined 5-1-8 in 14 games in Melbourne – 1-1-0 at the MCG and 1-4 at Docklands, and 3-4 at venues no longer used in the AFL: Princes Park (1-2), Waverley (0-1), Victoria Park (1-0), Whitten Oval (0-1) and Moorabbin (1-0).
They are 1-1 in Perth, having lost their only Round 1 game at Subiaco before winning at Perth Stadium, and 2-1 in Adelaide after a 1-1 split at the old Football Park before a 1-0 record at Adelaide Oval. They’ve gone 1-2 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Round 1 Swans AFL debutants – 1982-2001
1984: Paul Hawke, Arthur Chilcott
1985: Darren McAsey, Mark Russell, Jamie Duursma
1987: Wayne Henwood
1988: John Brinkhotter
1990: Paul Kelly, Brad Tunbridge, Shane Fell, Jim West
1992: Andrew McGovern
1993: Nathan Irvin
1994: Brad Seymour, Damien Lang
1995: Shannon Grant
1997: Paul Licuria
1998: Jason Saddington
1999: Adam Goodes
2000: Ryan Fitzgerald
2002: Scott Stevens, Ricky Mott
2004: Jarrad McVeigh, Paul Bevan
2008: Craig Bird
2010: Lewis Jetta
2011: Bryon Sumner
2013: Dane Rampe
2015: Isaac Heeney
2016: Tom Papley, Callum Mills, George Hewett
2017: Ollie Florent
2021: Braeden Campbell, Errol Gulden, Logan McDonald
2022: Angus Sheldrick
Round 1 Swans debutants – 1982-2021
1983: Daryl Vernon
1984: Bill Picken, Craig Holden
1985: Andrew Smith
1986: Greg Williams, Gerard Healy, Bernard Toohey, Jim Edmond, David Bolton, Merv Neagle
1988: Craig Davis
1991: Warren McKenzie, Mark Athorn
1992: David Strooper, Darren Kappler, Simon Minton-Connell
1993: Michael Werner, Paul Bryce, Tony Malakellis, Richard Osborne, Scott Watters, John Hutton, Jayson Daniels, Dean McRae, Ed Considine
1994: Peter Caven, Peter Filandia, Matthew AhMat
1995: Tony Lockett, Paul Roos
1996: Craig O’Brien, Stuart Maxfield, Kevin Dyson
1997: Ben Wilson, Mark Orchard, Shannon Corcoran
1998: Robbie AhMat
1999: Andrew Bomford, Ryan O’Connor, Scott Russell
2000: Jason Ball, Andrew Schauble, Brett Allison
2001: Paul Williams
2002: Barry Hall
2003: Craig Bolton, Nick Davis
2005: Darren Jolly
2006: Ted Richards, Paul Chambers
2007: Peter Everitt
2008: Martin Mattner
2009: Rhyce Shaw
2010: Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn, Daniel Bradshaw, Shane Mumford, Mark Seaby
2011: Andrejs Everitt
2014: Lance Franklin, Jeremy Laidler
2016: Callum Sinclair, Michael Talia
2019: Ryan Clarke
2020: Kaiden Brand, Lewis Taylor, Sam Gray
2021: Tom Hickey
2022: Paddy McCartin
