Only 16 Swans players have had 40 possessions in a game since the start of AFL records in 1965. Only three times have two Swans players reached this mark in the same game. And only once did two Swans have 40+ in a loss.

It was Round 12, 2009. The Swans hosted Collingwood at Stadium Australia. It was 10^th against 5^th. A side that would go on to finish 12^th against a visiting team that would play in the preliminary final.

And Swans led just before three-quarter time but conceded the last five goals of the game to lose by 23 points. A not totally unexpected result and, more significantly, a moment in club history.

So, it is the headline piece this week for the flashback series on the Swans’ 40-year history in Sydney … “Remember When – Round 12”.

Brett Kirk and Ryan O’Keefe, heart and soul players who epitomised the never-say-die spirit of the club, had 41 possessions each. They picked up the minor votes in the Brownlow Medal behind the Magpies’ Alan Didak, who had 34 possessions and two goals for three votes in Mick Malthouse’s 600^th game as an AFL coach.

It was a lesson for every Sydney player, from Michael O’Loughlin in his 293^rd game down to Nick Smith in his third game. And all who have followed.

Collectively, the 16 names on the Swans 40-Possession Honour Roll boast a total of 42 entries, headed by Greg Williams’ club record 53 possessions in 1989.

Josh Kennedy (7) and Dan Hannebery (7) have had most 40-possession games, from Barry Mitchell (6), Williams (4), Bob Skilton (3), Jake Lloyd (3), Stevie Wright (2), Tom Mitchell (2) and seven one-timers – Kirk, O’Keefe, Greg Smith, Gerard Healy, Paul Kelly, Jude Bolton and Luke Parker.

Skilton’s hat-trick of 40-possesions came after he played his first nine seasons and 139 games without statisticians keeping tabs of what would undoubtedly have been many more.

Among the 42 games of 40+ are three which statistically at least rank with the very best of all-time. Oddly, all three were against St Kilda.

Williams’ 53-possession haul at the SCG in 1989 was spiced with six goals. Skilton’s 42 possessions at Lake Oval in 1968 came with seven goals. And Smith had a career-best 44 possessions and a career-best five goals at the SCG in 1982.

Overall, in 40 years in Sydney the Swans have had an 18-1-17 record in Round 12 matches, with four byes. They’ve gone 11-8 at home and 7-1-9 away.

Other Round 12 highlights include:

1985 – Browning’s double century

The Swans won only one Round 12 game in their first five years in Sydney – in 1985 – and it came after consecutive losses in Rounds 7-8-9-10-11. But happily for one of the club’s most loyal servants it came on a special occasion – Mark Browning’s 200^th game.

Captain of the club at the time after being a key senior figure in the relocation to the Harbour City, Browning posted his double century in a bottom-of-the-table showdown with St Kilda at the SCG.

It was 11^th hosting 12^th on a Sunday afternoon in front of just 7,811 people. After a tight opening the Swans delivered Browning a commanding 23.21 (159) to 13.14 (92) win.

The man of the moment had 19 possessions as Anthony Daniher, Paul Hawke and Stevie Wright each posted 26 possessions and a goal. Bernie Evans kicked four goals.

Browning, aged 28 years 198 days, was the ninth member of a Swans 200-Game club that now numbers 34, and remains the seventh-youngest. Set to turn 68 in November, he remains an avid Swans fan, watching closely each week while still vitally involved in the AFL’s talent pathway in Queensland.

1989 – A favourite adopted son

Among the Swans’ 34 200-gamers only four started their AFL career elsewhere. In the Sydney era Stuart Maxfield, Ted Richards and Josh Kennedy have quickly won the hearts of club fans, but only after a no-frills fullback originally from Banyule in Melbourne’s north-east did the hard yards in the adoption process.

Rod Carter, most famous for having kicked just one goal in 293 career games, was the trail-blazing import, having played 76 games for Fitzroy from 1974-79 before joining South Melbourne in 1980.

Yet ask him now and you’ll be told in no uncertain fashion that he’s a Swans man through and through. He still lives in Sydney and follows the team closely.

Round 12, 1989 sits prominently among Carter’s Swans career highlights as he played his 200^th game for the club against Essendon at Windy Hill.

It was a double milestone day, with Barry Mitchell playing his 100^th game, and it was a clinker. After jumping 24 points clear in the first quarter of a low-scoring slog-a-thon, Sydney led by six points at halftime and four points at the last change before winning 7.13 (55) to 7.8 (50).

Fittingly, the Swans’ win snapped a six-game losing streak. Mitchell led the possession count and kicked a goal, while the Brownlow Medal votes went to David Murphy (21 possessions and a team-high two goals), ex-Bomber Merv Neagle (26 possessions) and Mark Bayes (12 possessions). Carter, the club’s oldest 200-gamer at 34 years 231 days, had 11 possessions and no goals.

1991 – The lowest-scoring draw

In 2,503 games the Swans have played 22 draws. The club’s highest scoring draw at 126 points apiece was against Hawthorn at the old Glenferrie Oval in 1968. And the lowest was Round 12, 1991 against the Western Bulldogs at the old Whitten Oval.

It was an extraordinary slog in the wet, with pools of water all over the ground. The Swans, down by 13 points at halftime, hit the front eight minutes into the final quarter. It was 5.5 to 4.10. And there it stayed for 21 minutes. Not a single score.

With 78 seconds to play an 18-year-old Leon Cameron, playing his 30^th game for the Dogs, had a flying shot from 30m. Out on the full. Neil Cordy brought it back into play. There were two ball-ups before the ball was forced out of play.

With 18 seconds on the clock the late great Drew Morphett declared “the Swans are going to win” in commentary. But as he said it Dogs ruckman Scott Wynd pulled off a masterplay, hitting the ball over the back from the throw-in. Steve MacPherson ran onto it perfectly. His shot from 30m slid right but it snuck it in for a behind.

“You and your big mouth,” replied co-commentator Dennis Cometti as the siren sounded just before the Swans could kick the ball back in.

It finished Sydney 5.5 (35) to the Western Bulldogs 4.11 (35). Barry Mitchell topped the Swans possession list with 31 and kicked a precious goal, while Cordy, with 21 possessions, picked up one Brownlow Medal vote.

 It was a game also noteworthy for a free kick count that favored the home side 49-37. A total of 86 free kicks in a game of nine goals. Only two Swans – Dave Bolton and debutant Justin Crawford – did not concede a free kick, while Dale Lewis, Dennis Carroll and Troy Luff gave away five and Barry Mitchell and  Craig Nettlebeck received five.

Yet as much as 86 free kicks seems outrageously high today it was not even close to what is believed to be the record for most free kicks in a Swans game.

In an extraordinary whistle-fest, umpires Kevin Smith and Harvie Lyons whistled 132 free-kicks in South Melbourne’s game against Essendon at Windy Hill in 1977, won by the Bombers 9.9 (63) to 6.15 (51). More than one free a kick a minute.

The free kick count favored Essendon 67-65. Brian Woodman, who kicked three of the Swans’ six goals, had a 3-7 free-kick tally against him, while at the other end of the scale, Norm Goss finished at 8-4 in favor. Essendon’s Ken Mansfield was 10-2, and Ken Roberts 4-10.

Most free kicks awarded to a Swans player since AFL records began in 1965 is 12 to John Murphy in 1978. Bob Skilton received 11 free kicks in a game in 1967, and Hayden McAuliffe, John Pitura, Stevie Wright and the same Norm Goss got 10 in a game.

Frees against?  Pitura’s 12 free kicks against in 1971 is the highest from Wayne Walsh’s 10 in 1982.

2010 – A double win in Adelaide

Since Port Adelaide joined the AFL in 1997 to create a second team in the SA capital the Swans have beaten both SA sides in Adelaide in the same year only twice.

The first was in 2010 when they were still playing at Football Park. After beating Adelaide by 43 points in Round 2 they returned to take on Port in Round 12.

It was a critical moment in the season. Seven teams filling from 6^th to 12^th on the ladder were split by just one game, with Sydney 7^th at 6-5 and Port 11^th at 5-6.

The Power kicked the first two goals and led by four points at quarter-time before an explosive second term from the Swans swung the contest. They kicked 7.2 to 2.2 to jump 26 points up and were never headed.

They held the home side goalless for the last 45 minutes, much to the chagrin on the local fans, and won 141.9 (93) to 8.7 (55) in what turned out to be Mark Williams’ fourth-last game at the Port helm. It was the fifth loss in an eight-game losing streak that saw him resign at Round 15.

Paul Roos, also in his last season as coach of the Swans, would take his side to the finals after an outstanding win in which the Brownlow Medal votes went to Nick Malceski (35 possessions), Jude Bolton (26 possessions, two goals) and Ryan O’Keefe (28 possessions).

2019 – A double best for Papley

Tom Papley’s highest possession count in an AFL game is 27. His highest goal tally in a game is five. And in Round 12, 2019 against West Coast at the SCG he posted both.

In the 72^nd game of his now 127-game career, Papley picked up his first three-vote rating in the Brownlow Medal as he spearheaded the Swans to a 45-point win over the defending premiers.

In Dane Rampe’s 150^th game and Jarrad McVeigh’s 234^th and second-last game, Papley kicked two goals in each of the third and fourth quarters to ensure both celebrated in style.

Jake Lloyd chipped in with a career-best 42 possessions to better all but Rampe’s 32, while Lance Franklin matched Papley’s five goals for two Brownlow votes in the 18.8 (116) to 10.11 (71) triumph.