It was always going to be something special – the Anniversary Dinner - celebrating the Sydney Swans 25 years in Sydney and also the 20 years of association with Principal Sponsor QBE.
And all of the 1800 who attended chorused as one that this was indeed a night to remember.
Not memorable for the torrential rain which threatened to cease the evening early when the video screens went blank, nor the sparkling performance by the opening act Tap Rage, or the keynote speech of Des Butterworth (aka Rhys Muldoon), or even the sheer magnitude of the event which was conducted in a 125m long marquee on The Showring at the Entertainment Quarter.
What made this magical night so special were the stories from the people who played such integral parts in the journey from 1981 through to the current day.
These stories were from an endless list of contributors which included Rick Quade, Ron Barassi, Ross Oakley, Tony Lockett, Richard Colless, Peter Weinert, Mike Willessee, Paul Kelly, Gerard Healy, Mike Sheahan, Dean Moore, Myles Baron-Hay, Barry Hall, Barry Round, Brett Kirk, Leo Barry, David Rhys-Jones, Bernie Evans, Paul Roos and that’s just naming a few. They gave an insight, in many cases never before aired publicly, into what a tumultuous journey the Sydney Swans had traversed to arrive at today.
Executive Producer Jason Bennett showed rarely seen archival footage covering the bitter feud prior to the 1982 move to the Harbour City, and from there he seamlessly took the audience on a roller-coaster ride through the many lows, and occasional highs, of this forever proud club.
With MC Craig Willis steering the ship, the crowd were kept enthralled through the different eras, which were sponsored by a collective of supporters – namely QBE, Peter and Anita Weinert, Andrew and Elizabeth Liz McMaster, the Blood Brothers, Centre Circle and Club 18.
Sydney Swans Chairman Richard Colless opened the evening with a promise that the audience was in for the ride of their lives, he was not wrong.
He was followed onto the stage by AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou for the toast; he spoke in glowing terms of the contribution the Sydney Swans make to the national competition.
And so the journey began.
Along the way past heroes were invited on stage to give even further insight into the 25 year history, there was Barry Round and Steve Taubert, Gerard Healy (pictured with Adam Goodes, Greg Williams and Paul Kelly) and Warwick Capper, Kelly and Barry Mitchell and finally Michael O’Loughlin and Paul Roos.
The audience was transfixed throughout each and every interview.
Some of the attendees had traveled from across Australia to be there for the night, of the 263 players to have run out for the Sydney incarnation of the Swans 146 were in attendance.
And then there were the celebrities and VIP’s.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma headed the list, along with fellow political heavyweights Reba Meagher, Annette Ellis and Meredith Burgmann.
There were representatives of nearly every major sport – Layne Beachley (surfing), Fraser Neill (rugby), Geoff Lawson, Dave Gilbert, Steve Rixon (cricket), Ben Buckley (soccer), Kate Palmer and Caroline Campbell (netball).
There were media heavyweights, Alasdair Macleod (News Limited) David Leckie (Network 7) and Jeff Browne (Channel 9), and the troops were also out in numbers with Mark Llewellyn, Samantha Armatyge (Network 7) and Richard Wilkins (Channel 9) all along for the ride.
Network Ten were also there in large numbers and there were, of course, the Sydney Swans “tragics” in their hundreds, they included Mike Willessee, David Wenham and Glenn Wheatley,
This was indeed a night for the true believers and nobody left disappointed at what was, without doubt, the biggest AFL function ever held in Sydney.
Not bad for a club that, as we heard last night, probably shouldn’t even be in existence today.