It was 22 minutes of football fantasy which played out to a script that nobody would dare to write. So much so that Anthony Hudson screamed in commentary “I see it, but I don’t believe it”.
Friday night September 9, 2005 … one of the great moments in Swans finals history in an all-or-nothing semi-final against Geelong at the SCG, when Nick Davis put on an extraordinary display of forward craft and goal-kicking wizardry on the big stage.
It is the headline story in this week’s football flashback as we continue to celebrate the Swans’ 40 years in Sydney. It’s week two of the finals … what other moment could it possibly be?
The Swans had won their last four games of the home-and-away season to finish third on the ladder but had to lost by four points to West Coast in a Subiaco qualifying final a week earlier. It was sudden death against the Cats, who had qualified sixth and thumped Melbourne by 55 points in the elimination final.
Coach Paul Roos recalled Paul Bevan at the expense of Luke Vogels in his only change, while Geelong counterpart Mark Thompson made two forced changes to cover the loss of Peter Riccardi and Nathan Ablett to injury, welcoming Corey Enright back from a four-week injury layoff and promoting David Johnson.
Astonishingly, in hindsight, it was a Cats side captained by Tom Harley, now the Swans CEO, and which included Charlie Gardiner, now Executive General Manager – Football. Plus, Henry Playfair and Steve Johnson, who would later spend time on the Swans coaching staff.
The Swans trailed by four points at quarter-time and 20 points at halftime at 2.6 to 5.8. Michael O’Loughlin’s second pin-point goal from a tough angle cut the margin to 16 points at the last change, but two minutes into the fourth quarter the deficit was 23 points.
Sydney needed something special. And they got it via Nick Davis, the Melbourne-born son of AFL journeyman Craig Davis, who had played 154 games with Carlton, North Melbourne and Collingwood from 1973-83, and, after a stint as a development coach and runner with the Swans, had made a comeback at 33 in 1988 to play nine games in red and white wearing jumper #60.
Davis Jr was four when the family moved to the Harbour City and played rugby league at school before switching codes. A product of St George in the Sydney Football League and a NSW/ACT Under-18 representative, he was drafted by Collingwood as a father/son pick on the back of his father’s 102 games in black and white.
He played 71 games for Collingwood from 1999-2002 but was never totally comfortable under the spotlight at Victoria Park, and after the Pies’ loss Brisbane in the 2002 grand final, he told the club he wanted to go ‘home’ to Sydney.
He was traded to the Swans for pick #21 in the 2002 National Draft, which later become Bo Nixon, a former captain of the famous Assumption College whose AFL career totalled three games with Collingwood and one game with Hawthorn.
It was a massive win for the Swans. Preferring jumper #2 to his father’s choice of #60, he played all 24 games in 2003 and kicked 32 goals to rank behind only Barry Hall and O’Loughlin on the Swans goal-kicking list.
After injury restricted his 2004 season to 12 games and 21 goals, which was still good enough to rank fourth behind Hall, O’Loughlin and Ryan O’Keefe, Davis was back to his best in 2005. He kicked nine goals in the last two home-and-away games, and three in the qualifying loss to the Eagles.
Little did he know then that a week later he would deliver a never-to-be-forgotten cameo which, in addition to untold football plaudits across the country, would be added in 2012 to the Swans Heritage List as one of the golden moments in club history.
A crowd of 39,079 had packed the SCG for the semi-final, but when Geelong led by 22 eight minutes into the final quarter at 3.13 to 7.11 things didn’t look good.
They were marginally better when Darren Jolly won a decisive ruck hit-out to space inside the Swans forward 50m zone. Davis pounced and snapped truly on his right. Back to 16 points. Then 15 after a Craig Bolton behind.
Ryan O’Keefe charged through the middle of the ground and kicked long to full forward where Davis was one-out with his Geelong opponent Tom Lonergan, who had fellow Cat Josh Hunt closing fast in support. Davis out-bodied Lonergan, marked on his chest and converted from 20m. It was 13 points with still 16 minutes to play. Game on.
Five minutes later Tadhg Kennelly, in his 99th game, fired a slick handpass to Davis in the opposite pocket from which he’d kicked his first goal. He pushed off Darren Milburn, steadied, and just as Milburn lunged again, Davis snapped across his body from 40m. Back to three points with five minutes to play.
It was frantic stuff from both sides in the closing moments but a desperate play from Luke Ablett summed it up. As Steve Johnson ran alongside the ball, hoping it would go out of bounds, Ablett let go a fierce round-arm swipe which not only kept the ball in but sent it deep into the Swans forward pocket.
There it stayed for what seemed like an eternity. The tackling was positively brutal and the pressure intense, prompting Hudson to ask in commentary “who wants it more?”
Inside the last minute, with a ball-up in the pocket barely 15m from the Sydney goal, Jason Ball expertly out-manoeuvred Playfair in the ruck to palm the ball beautifully with his left hand into the path of a running Davis.
In one motion he gathered, half juggled it and snapped on his left. He was halfway between the goal post and the behind post and hooked it back perfectly for his fourth.
“I don’t believe it,” said Hudson. “I see it, but I don’t believe it. Class with a capital C.” Before his fellow commentator Michael Christian added: “What a game of Australian rules football. Something from nothing.”
Officially there were 43 seconds remaining, but the Swans bottled things up at the bounce and jumped for joy as the final siren confirmed their 7.14 (56) to 7.11 (53) win.
The Swans’ premiership dream was alive. And after a 31-point preliminary final win over St Kilda at the MCG a week later they were off to the AFL Grand Final against West Coast.
Overall, in 40 years in Sydney the Swans have played in week two of the finals 12 times for a 3-12 record overall – 3-2 at home, and 0-7 interstate.
There have been countless memorable moments, including the 300th game for Adam Goodes and Jarrad McVeigh, and the last Swans game for a host of club favorites, including Mark Browning, Paul Roos, Barry Hall, Darren Jolly, Tadhg Kennelly, Goodes, Rhyce Shaw and Mike Pyke.
And while the Nick Davis cameo will forever be hard to beat for top billing among finals week two moments, the two other semi-final wins will always be fondly remembered by Swans fans.
2013 – McVeigh: The Man
It is a rare occurrence when a team can fail to score in the final quarter of a final, and see the opposition almost double their score, and yet still win by four goals. But that was the Sydney Swans in the 2013 semi-final against Carlton at the Olympic Stadium.
They were so overpowering in the first three quarters they could weather a Blues storm and still win 13.8 (86) to 8.14 (62) in front of 37,980 on a fine Saturday night.
The Swans, coming off a flag in 2012, had stumbled into third spot on the home-and-away ladder. They lost three of the last four games after a five-game winning streak to start the premiership defence and a nine-win streak midseason.
Hawthorn, beaten grand finalists in 2012, had given them a 54-point wakeup call in the qualifying final and it was all on the line against the Blues, who had finished eighth and upset fifth-placed Richmond by 20 points in the elimination final.
It was the Swans’ seventh final at the Olympic Stadium – after a first-up loss to Brisbane in 2003 they won five on the trot against West Coast, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Carlton and Collingwood in the 2012 preliminary final.
Harry Cunningham was included for his fifth game and his first final alongside a recalled Craig Bird as coach John Longmire lost Ben McGlynn to injury and dropped Gary Rohan.
It was a super performance made even better by the fact that the Swans were left with only two players on the bench after losing Kurt Tippett (knee) five minutes in and Tom Mitchell (ankle) five minutes later.
They led by six points at quarter-time and by 22 points at halftime after Jarrad McVeigh had a staggering 19 possessions in the second quarter – and kicked a goal.
The Blues were looking for a win to celebrate Kade Simpson’s 200th game, but the Swans had celebration plans of their own, with three-time knee reconstruction victim Nick Malceski playing his 150th in a wonderful achievement, and Dan Hannebery his 100th.
The third quarter was decisive. Sydney kicked five unanswered goals through Luke Parker (two), Kieren Jack, McVeigh and Cunningham, and led 13.8 to 4.8 at the last change. It was over.
McVeigh kicked two goals and finished with 42 possessions – a Swans record in a final – to be best afield. Hannebery (33), Heath Grundy (32), Jack (30 and two goals) and Ryan O’Keefe (30 and one goal) also had plenty of the ball as Parker topped the goal sheet with three.
The brave win put Sydney into a preliminary final against Fremantle at Subiaco, but it had taken a toll. With Tippett and Mitchell missing, the campaign finished with a 24-point loss in what turned out to be Jude Bolton’s 325th and last game.
2016 - Kennedy: Captain in Waiting
There was probably never any doubt that Josh Kennedy would one day captain the Swans, but if there was it was wiped away in the 2016 semi-final against Adelaide at the SCG.
In one of the truly great finals performances. Kennedy had an equal-club finals record 42 possessions (21 contested) and a game-high 10 clearances to lead the Swans to a 36-point win.
His inspirational leadership, recognised when he was appointed sole captain in 2017 to replace co-captains Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack, came as the Swans hit back from a confidence-sapping loss in week one of the finals.
Having finished top of the home-and-away ladder on percentage from Geelong and Hawthorn after winning their last six games, they were devastated to lose to cross-town rivals GWS in the qualifying final at Stadium Australia. They kicked just two goals in the second half.
Coach John Longmire was loyal to his men, making just two forced changes to replace the injured Kurt Tippett (jaw) and Callum Mills (hamstring). He included Jeremy Laidler and Toby Nankervis to take on the Crows, who had finished fifth and thumped North Melbourne by 62 points in the elimination final.
In perfect conditions on a Saturday night the Swans were hot early, kicking three goals in the first seven minutes through Gary Rohan, Tom Papley and Ben McGlynn. They were never headed despite losing Jarrad McVeigh to a calf strain in the first quarter and seeing Gary Rohan stretchered off in the second.
The Crows lost key defender Jake Lever, and the Swans took full advantage of the visitors’ disrupted defensive unit to skip 37 points clear at halftime. It was back to 19 points just before three-quarter time, but Tom Papley kicked a huge major just before the break to steady things.
The livewire forward then kicked two more in the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter as the Swans kick five unanswered goals to blow it out to 49 points.
Three late Adelaide goals made things look better for the visitors on the 18.10 (118) to 12.10 (82) scoreboard at the final siren, but the result was never in doubt.
Papley and Lance Franklin kicked four apiece and Ben McGlynn three as Isaac Heeney and Tom Mitchell, with 32 possessions and a goal, and Dan Hannebery, with 31 possessions and a goal, gave good support to the brilliant Kennedy.
The commanding win put Sydney into an MCG preliminary final against Geelong the following week, and after they disposed of the Cats by 37 points, into the grand final against the Western Bulldogs. Sadly, the late charge came up short on the big day.
