The Sydney Swans will open the AFL season for just the second time in club history when they host Melbourne at the SCG on Thursday night.

The only previous time the club has been afforded a standalone season-opener was in 2012 when Sydney met the GWS Giants at the Olympic Stadium as the League welcomed it’s 18^th team.

More about the competition newcomers than the foundation stalwart, the first Sydney ‘derby’ was played on Saturday March 24 – five days before what has been a semi-regular season opener between Carlton and Richmond at the MCG on the following Thursday night.

The remaining Round 1 matches followed on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It was a night to remember. The Swans, beginning their second season under coach John Longmire, won by 63 points in Adam Goodes’ 301^st game and Harry Cunningham’s debut.

Josh Kennedy, in his third season in Sydney, picked up three Brownlow Medal votes for 27 possessions and two goals, while Kieren Jack received two votes for 30 possessions and one goal, and Shane Mumford one vote for 11 possessions, a goal and a dominant 35 hit-outs.

Only four members of the Swans side on that memorable occasion are still playing in the AFL – Luke Parker, Sam Reid, Cunningham and Gary Rohan, now at Geelong,

Eight members of the Giants first side under Kevin Sheedy are still playing, but only four – Stephen Coniglio, Toby Greene, Adam Kennedy and Callan Ward – are still in orange.

Jeremy Cameron is at Geelong, Will Hoskin-Elliott is at Collingwood, Dylan Shiel is at Essendon and Adam Tomlinson is at Melbourne.

In what is vindication of the AFL’s introduction of ‘Opening Round’, it is a statistical anomaly that the season-opener has been dominated entirely by Richmond and Carlton.

In 34 years since the concept was featured in the AFL fixture for the first time in 1985, Richmond (16) and Carlton (13) have enjoyed regular top-billing from Collingwood (6), North Melbourne (6), Melbourne (5) and Essendon (4).

The other 12 clubs have enjoyed the spotlight in this fashion a combined 18 times – Adelaide (3), St Kilda (3), West Coast (3), Brisbane (2), Western Bulldogs (2), Sydney (1), Fremantle (1), GWS (1), Geelong (1), Hawthorn (1), Port Adelaide (0) and Gold Coast (0).

Only seven times has a standalone season opener been played outside Melbourne. West Coast hosted Essendon in Perth in 1989, Adelaide hosted Hawthorn in 1991, Brisbane hosted St Kilda in 2005 and West Coast hosted St Kilda in 2006, and after the Sydney-GWS games in 2012 Adelaide hosted Essendon in 2013 and Collingwood hosted Fremantle in 2014.

The standalone game is in total contrast to what was a standard policy from the inception of the VFL in 1897, when all games started at the same time on a Saturday, or were split over Saturday and Monday at the same time if Round 1 fell on a long weekend.

The first time the League ensured all eyes were on one game to open a new season was on Friday night March 29 1985, when Collingwood beat North Melbourne at the MCG by 38 points.

Brisbane’s first game in 1987, when they upset North Melbourne at the MCG, was a standalone game, while Adelaide’s first game was a standalone game against Hawthorn at Football Park in 1991.

The Swans have had eight wins, a draw and three losses in Round 1 games under Longmire, including a 3-1 record against GWS. They’ve beaten Essendon and Collingwood in Sydney, West Coast in Perth, Adelaide in Adelaide, Brisbane at the Gabba and Gold Coast at Carrara.

Their only other Round 1 losses under Longmire were to Port at the SCG and the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

Luke Parker, having played 12 consecutive season-openers under Longmire since 2012, will miss for the first time this week, allowing Dane Rampe and Cunningham to potentially play their 12^th season-opener to equal the club record under Longmire that Parker shares with Kennedy.

In 42 years since the Swans moved to Sydney in 1982 Adam Goodes (15) has played most Round 1 games (or equivalent) from Kennedy (13), Jude Bolton (13), Jarrad McVeigh (13), Heath Grundy (12), Parker (12), Mark Bayes (11), Cunningham (11), Rampe (11), Kieren Jack (10), Paul Kelly (10), Brett Kirk (10) and Ted Richards (10).