In the lead-up to the Swans round 8 home match against Melbourne, which will celebrate the Club’s 30 years in Sydney, sydneyswans.com.au is collating the 30 Defining Moments of the Swans in Sydney in chronological order.

The 30 Defining Moments have been selected by Sydney Swans Chairman, Richard Colless, Deputy Chairman, Andrew McMaster, and Swans Hall of Fame inductee and former Club captain, coach, and director, Rick Quade.

#30 - Historic and emotional win in Geelong, 2011

It was a game the Swans weren’t given much hope to win.

Travelling down to Geelong had been a fruitless exercise for the boys in red and white over the years, having not won a game at Kardinia Park since round 8, 1999. Only co-captain Adam Goodes had ever played in a winning Swans side on the ground.

The Cats were defending a 29-game winning streak at their home ground and looking to celebrate the milestone 30th straight home win in style. Geelong had last tasted defeat at the ground against Port Adelaide in round 21, 2007, and were also looking to make it ten consecutive wins over the Swans in all games.

The Swans went into the game on the back of a highly emotional week for the club following the tragic passing of co-captain Jarrad McVeigh’s baby daughter, Luella. McVeigh didn’t take his place in the side, with both sides wearing black armbands on the day in memory of Luella.

The Swans were inspired by the leadership of McVeigh, who had led the team under the most difficult of circumstances in the two games prior to the Geelong match, and went on to record a famous 13-point win over the Cats, who would eventually go on to win the 2011 premiership.

"You couldn't help but think of the way Macca (McVeigh) led the team last week under pretty tough circumstances, and everyone just looked at that as an example and followed it,” Swans coach John Longmire said after the game.

The Cats started the game as the better team and had the first goal on the board within the opening three minutes, and were attacking again before a quick kick out of defence and some good body work by Gary Rohan, led to the Swans speedster pouncing on the loose ball and sprinting past Paul Chapman, taking two bounces, running his full measure and kicking one of the goals of the year from just inside 50.

Rohan’s goal got the Swans on the board, and another to midfielder Brett Meredith late in the first quarter gave the Swans an unlikely lead at the first change - a lead they would never relinquish for the remaining three quarters as Jesse White and Sam Reid extended it immediately at the start of the second term.

The Swans built up a 27 point lead midway through the last quarter, before the Cats got the last two goals and two points of the game to cut the final margin down to 13 points, but there would be no denying the dominance of the visitors.

McVeigh’s fellow skipper, Goodes was outstanding for the Swans as he racked up 30 possessions, one vital goal and three Brownlow votes, while Shane Mumford, Rhyce Shaw and Ben McGlynn were also key contributors in the landmark day for the club.

Mumford, the former Cats’ ruckman, was at his ferocious best, gathering 22 disposals - 17 of which were contested - nine clearances, seven tackles and 39 hit-outs, and helping the Swans to dominate the clearances 56 to 34.

“Beating Geelong down there, after no one’s been able to do it for so many years, was definitely a good win and helped us build a bit of confidence towards the end of the season,” Mumford said after the conclusion of the 2011 season.

For Shaw, who picked up 26 touches in the match as a rebounding defender and was crucial in quelling the many Geelong attacks (the Cats won the inside 50 count 58 to 52), the win and the week leading up to the match was the pivotal point in a season where the Swans made it to their second successive semi-final.

“It was the Geelong game (that was the pivotal point in the season) in terms of where we were going and where we’d come from that week,” he said.

“That was probably one of the toughest weeks I’ve been involved in at a footy club, and for the guys to play the way they did…in my 12 years now in the AFL that was one of the most inspiring moments I’ve ever seen. It was pretty hard and the boys just played out of their skin.

“Everyone thought we had no chance down there. The Geelong Advertiser had already printed a lift-out about their record number of consecutive wins. How about that!”