On Tuesday June 22, 1897 South Melbourne played Fitzroy in the first drawn match in the VFL. It was Round 7 of the League’s first season and was played on a Tuesday to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
In Britain they declared a public holiday and promoted a global celebration in honour of the Queen who ruled 450 million people. The monarchy gathered for a monstrous celebration attended by George Reid, at the time NSW Premier and later Sir George Reid, Prime Minister of Australia, plus the Premiers of each Australian state and royalty from across the globe.
And at Brunswick Street Oval in Melbourne it was 5.13 (43) apiece between the Swans and the Maroons, as Fitzroy were then known, with neither side kicking a goal in the final quarter as Fitzroy added nine behinds.
Almost 99 years later, on June 8, 1996, the two clubs met for the last time.
It was Round 10 of the AFL’s Centenary Season and the emotion and historical significance of the match, played on a cold afternoon at Melbourne’s Whitten Oval, see it headline this week’s ‘Remember When’ flashback for Round 10.
It was the 185th meeting between two of the foundation members of the VFL turned AFL. South took a 76-104 record, with four draws, into the last meeting with the club which they’d played in their first grand final in 1899, losing by a point.
Sydney were seventh on the ladder with five wins and a draw from nine games, with Fitzroy second-last with just one win and fresh from a 105-point loss to ladder leaders North Melbourne.
While the Swans were working nicely towards what would be their first grand final appearance since 1944, the Lions, as Fitzroy were now known, were in disarray.
While confirmation of the merger with the Brisbane Bears was still 12 days away, media speculation was rife. Everyone knew the cash-strapped club had gone beyond the point of no return, and after a proposed union with North Melbourne was shut down it was only a matter of time.
That the Swans would record their 78th win against Fitzroy was never in question. They cruised home 21.11 (137) to 10.7 (67), with Tony Lockett kicking nine goals in the 299th AFL game for adopted Swans favorite and former Fitzroy champion Paul Roos.
A 19-year-old Leo Barry played his second game as Daryn Cresswell and Wade Chapman topped the possession count with 28 apiece and the Brownlow Medal votes went to Stuart Maxfield (3), Lockett (2) and Paul Kelly (1) in front of a crowd of 9,701.
Strangely, it was just the Swans’ third Round 10 win in 15 years as a Sydney-based club. Twenty-five years on, the record stands at 15-23, with two byes, and 8-11 at the SCG.
Lockett replicated his nine-goal haul of 1996 against Fitzroy with nine against Collingwood at home in 1999 to top the Round 10 goal-kicking, while three players have each had 40+ possessions in Round 10 games – Jude Bolton (41) against the Bulldogs at the SCG in 2012, Dan Hannebery (42) against Gold Coast at Carrara in 2014, and Tom Mitchell (41) against North Melbourne at the SCG in 2015.
In other Round 10 highlights of the Swans’ 40-year history in Sydney:
2006 – The first win in Canberra
AFL football was first played in Canberra in 1998, but it wasn’t until 2001 that the national capital was a regular on the annual fixture. The Swans played there in 2003, ’04 and ‘05, losing to North Melbourne each time, and it wasn’t until Round 10, 2006 that they posted their first win.
It was worth the wait … eventually. But after leading 5.3 to 0.6 at quarter time things went badly off script for a Sydney side that sat fourth on the ladder against the 14th-placed Kangaroos. They trailed by seven points at half-time and 11 points at three-quarter time.
After some well-chosen words from coach Paul Roos, Barry Hall kicked the first goal of the final term before David Hale answered for North and Michael O’Loughlin pulled the Swans to within a kick again.
It all came down to the last 10 minutes, and it was all Sydney. Hall, Ryan O’Keefe and Adam Schneider found the big sticks for a 16.9 (105) to 14.14 (98) win in front of a crowd of 14,922 – the second biggest in 54 AFL matches at Manuka Oval where the Swans now boast a 12-8 record.
2011 – Ben McGlynn’s big moment
Ben McGlynn is the answer to one of those annoying trivia questions … who was the ‘other half’ of the trade that moved Josh Kennedy from Hawthorn to Sydney at the end of 2009.
McGlynn himself was also a valuable player. He played 127 games in red and white from 2010-16, including the 2014 and ‘16 grand finals, kicked a not insignificant 167 goals, and in 2014 polled 12 Brownlow Medal votes.
And in Round 10, 2011, as Sydney (8th) played North Melbourne (14th) at Docklands in John Longmire’s first season, McGlynn had a moment he will never forget.
After the Roos led early it was close. An inspirational goal from Adam Goodes put the Swans nine points up seven minutes into the final stanza before Daniel Wells and Drew Petrie replied for the Roos. They were five points up when Lewis Jetta ran through 50 and kicked long to the far pocket.
McGlynn was one out against Brady Rawlings, and the North veteran infringed. McGlynn had a free kick from 15m on the tightest of angles. In the days before the ‘around the corner’ kick it was tough, but he drilled it. Sydney by one, and as it turned out, McGlynn had kicked the winner.
But there was one problem – there were 10 minutes still to play. The ball rebounded between the 50m arcs but neither side could score. In the dying seconds North went forward. Sitting under a high bomb were Petrie and Heath Grundy.
Whoever won this contest would win the game. As he did so often, Grundy was equal to the challenge. He out-bodied the North veteran to mark on his chest. Game over. Sydney won 10.12 (72) to 9.17 (71).
It was a memorable afternoon for Longmire in his first game coaching against the club where he played 200 games, and a dream debut for 20-year-old Swan Lewis Johnston, who kicked a beautiful long, angled goal in the third quarter. Tadhg Kennelly took three Brownlow votes after a team-high 27 possessions.
2012 – A hundred for Heath
The Swans were premiers in 2012, winning 12 of the last 15 games. But they’d lost three of four from Round 6 and had slipped to fifth on the ladder, two games behind West Coast and Essendon.
Hosting the Western Bulldogs at the SCG in Round 10, they needed a spark. The Dogs were playing for 200-gamer Ryan Hargrave, but Sydney had a milestone man of their own. Heath Grundy was playing his 100th game one day after his 26th birthday.
It was all the extra motivation the home side needed. They kicked nine goals straight in the first term and, with Lewis Jetta bagging a career-best four goals, won 20.12 (132) to 5.10 (40). Jude Bolton (41 possessions), Dan Hannebery (35) and Rhyce Shaw (30) took the votes to help make it a day to remember for the former rookie from SANFL club Norwood.
2015 – Another Special Century
Mike Pyke was a rare sportsman. The first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an AFL premiership team. And in Round 10, 2015 he celebrated a special AFL century.
Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Pyke was a basketball and soccer player in his youth until he went to St Michael’s University, a strong rugby school and the former home of an NBA superstar turned current coach of the Brooklyn Nets, where Australian Ben Simmons is now playing.
But at St Michael’s Pyke found rugby, and by 2004, aged 20, he was playing professionally in Edinburgh. By 2007 he’d played 17 times for Canada, once winning world acclaim when, playing at fullback, he ran the length of the field to score a famous intercept try against the New Zealand All Blacks.
But after injuries slowed his rugby career he was convinced by a mate he had all the attributes to play Australian football. Together they sent a highlights tape to Melbourne-based AFL player agent Michael Quinlan. And in August 2008 Pyke, all 200cm and 105kg, was signed as a Swans rookie.
And so began one of the great recruiting stories. He debuted in 2009, was judged the Swans ‘Most Improved Player’ in 2010 and after injury restricted his 2011 season to two games he played 18 in a row from Round 8 to become a premiership player.
When #1 ruckman Shane Mumford was subbed out of the grand final against Hawthorn in the last quarter with hamstring problems it was left to Pyke to carry the role against David Hale. He was magnificent, finishing with a career-high 16 possessions, 29 hit-outs and six marks – three contested. Only one player in the grand final had more contested marks – a 161-game Hawthorn star called Franklin. He had four did Bud.
Pyke was up and going. He played 25 games in 2013 and 19 games in 2014 including a grand final loss. And in Round 10, 2015 he played his 100th AFL game against Gold Coast at Carrara. Sydney won 13.15 (92) to 5.11 (41). Franklin, now in Sydney colours, kicked three goals as five Swans topped 30 possessions.
Dan Hannebery (42 possessions) got three votes, Tom Mitchell (33) two votes, and Lewis Jetta (31) one vote. Jarrad McVeigh (39) and Dane Rampe (32) went unrewarded. After a semi-final loss 14 weeks later the big Canadian hung up the boots, retiring a veteran of 110 AFL games.
