Swans coach John Longmire has been sure to pack new ‘lucky charm’ James Jordon as he travels to Perth this weekend to tackle a curiously disappointing record against Fremantle.
The Swans record against Fremantle in Perth under Longmire is 3-6 (33.3%) – equal with that against 2017, ’19 and ‘20 premiers Richmond as the worst of their travel record against any side.
That, despite the fact that in his 13 years as coach, the Swans have finished ahead of the Dockers on the ladder nine times. Plus, they have enjoyed a 9-1-8 (52.8%) overall record against them and a 5-1-2 split (68.8%) against them in Sydney.
In a competition in which interstate wins are being more and more valuable, Longmire has an even or positive record ‘away’ against 12 of 17 clubs. Only against Fremantle and Richmond (33.3%), Port (37.5%), Carlton (42.8%) and Geelong (44.4%) are they below an even split.
The Swans have won their last two games against Fremantle in Perth – by 17 points in 2022 and 29 points in 2023 – but are still 2-3 against them at the new Perth Stadium, where they will play on Friday night, after going 1-3 against them at Subiaco.
Oddly, that is despite the fact that under Longmire the Swans have an enjoyed a 6-2 record in Perth against West Coast, who, before their campaigns of 2022-23 when they finished 17th and 18th, they finished ahead of Fremantle in nine of the previous 11 years.
For James Jordan, it’s his first trip to Perth with his new club. It is a destination that offers nothing but the sweetest of memories for the now 23-year-old, who enjoyed his greatest football moment in the WA capital in 2021 and is unbeaten in six visits to Perth Stadium.
In his 25th game, still only 20 at the time, Jordan was a member of the Melbourne side that beat the Western Bulldogs by 74 points in the 2021 grand final.
It was the famous day when he suggested he had “the best seat in the house”, sitting on the interchange bench all day as Melbourne broke a 57-year premiership drought.
It was a matter of some media consternation at the time, with many asking why coach Simon Goodwin did not give him a run as the Demons kicked 9.3 to 1.1 in a final quarter blowout after they’d led by 24 points at three-quarter time.
Regardless of what he may have thought privately, Jordan was outwardly unconcerned as he left the playing arena with a premiership medal around his neck.
He told afl.com.au the time: “You just have to be prepared for any situation. You have to come into the game thinking that you're going to play and with the mindset that you could go on in the first minute or in the last quarter.
"You'd obviously rather be out there but my position on that day was to be ready. I didn't get to go on, but I couldn't have been more happy for my teammates and seeing the joy and happiness that they had out there put a smile on my face.”
In six games in Perth, Jordan has enjoyed an average winning margin of 58 points, topped by an 83-point triumph over Geelong in the 2021 preliminary final, when he played 36 minutes as the substitute. And when not on substitute duty he’s put together some good individual performances.
He had a then personal-best 27 possessions against West Coast in Round 9, 2022, and 20 possessions and a goal against Fremantle in Round 20 of the same year.
Jordan will be one of as many as six Sydney players to take an unbeaten record in Perth into Friday night’s game against the Dockers, who sit sixth on the AFL ladder with a 5-3 record after back-to-back home wins over the Western Bulldogs (24 points) and Richmond (54 points).
Errol Gulden (3-0), Justin McInerney (3-0), Perth boy Logan McDonald (2-0), Joel Amartey (2-0) and Braeden Campbell (2-0) have never tasted defeat at Perth Stadium.
With Tom McCartin to miss the trip west due to concussion, the Swans player who has played most games at Perth Stadium will be hoping for a fairytale call-up.
Joel Hamling, new to the red and white this year after six years with Fremantle, has played 25 times at Perth Stadium and would love nothing more than a chance to make his Swans debut against his former club at his former home ground.
If included, Hamling would be the second player to play for Sydney and Fremantle after Troy Cook, who played 43 games for Sydney (1997-99) and 150 games for Fremantle (2000-07).
He would build on a connection between the clubs that began even before the Dockers joined the competition when ex-Swans player Gerard Neesham was appointed the new club’s inaugural coach. He’d played nine games for Sydney under Ricky Quade in 1982 after a long career in the WAFL.
Chad Warner is the other member of the Swans WA connection, but the trip ‘home’ will be nothing new for him. He’s played at Perth Stadium four times for a 3-1 record, an average of 21 possessions, including a career-best 35 against Fremantle in Round 18, 2022, when he picked up his first three-vote rating in the Brownlow.
Also, with fond memories of Perth Stadium is forward/ruckman Hayden McLean, who is one of eight Swans players to have debuted in Perth during the club’s 48 previous visits.
McLean had 13 possessions, five marks, 16 hit-outs and eight tackles in Round 18, 2019, when the Dockers won by a point despite being held goalless for the last half hour.
The other Perth debutants have been Darren Holmes (1991), Daryn Cresswell (1992), Paul Licuria (1997), Amon Buchanan (2002), Simon Phillips (2006), Alex Johnson (2011) and Zac Foot (2020).
Foot has perhaps the most bizarre chapter in the Swans’ Perth history – he only played two games but both were at Perth Stadium – against Fremantle and GWS.
He had 10 possessions and a goal in a Thursday night debut in Round 12, 2020 against the Giants, when the Swans won by 41 points, and four possessions against Fremantle nine days later, when they lost by 31 points.
Overall, since West Coast (1987) and Fremantle (1995) joined the now national competition the Swans have posted a 19-29 record in Perth split between the WACA (2-4), Subiaco (12-22) and Perth Stadium (5-3).
They are 12-16 against the Eagles, 5-14 against the Dockers and 1-0 against GWS.
The club’s first game in Perth was the Eagles’ third game – Round 3, 1987 at Subiaco in front of 35,719 people on Sunday afternoon, 12 April. They visitors won by 27 points after being 10 down at the last change as Greg Williams (33 possessions, three votes) and Warwick Capper (five goals, one vote) led the way with Gerard Healy (33 possessions), Barry Mitchell (31 possessions), and Mark Bayes (four goals)
The first Sydney side to play in Perth (in notional positions) was:
B: Ian Roberts, Rod Carter, Bernard Toohey
HB: David Bolton, Dennis Carroll, Mark Browning
C: David Murphy, Greg Williams, Merv Neagle
HF: Tony Morwood, Mark Bayes, Craig Holden
F: Stevie Wright, Warwick Capper, Wayne Henwood
R: John Ironmonger, Gerard Healy, Barry Mitchell
INT: Craig Potter, Glen Coleman
COACH: Tom Hafey
MILESTONES
Perth has been the scene of a string of significant Swans milestones, headed by Stuart Maxfield’s 200th and last Sydney game in 1996. Others have been:
250 AFL Games – Tony Lockett (1998)
200 AFL Games – Mark Bayes (1995), Brett Kirk (2009)
150 AFL Games – Jarrad McVeigh (2011), Josh Kennedy (2015),
150 Swans Games - Craig Bolton (2009),
100 AFL Games – David Bolton (1990), Jason Saddington (2002), Leo Barry (2003), Craig Bolton (2005), Shane Mumford (2013)
BROWNLOW MEDAL VOTES
In 44 games in Perth in which medal votes were awarded the Swans have polled 120 votes, while West Coast (87) and Fremantle (57) have combined for 144 votes.
Luke Parker (13) and Dan Hannebery (13) head the Sydney tally from Daryn Cresswell (9), Adam Goodes (8), Jake Lloyd (7), Kieren Jack (7) and Lance Franklin (6), while Peter Matera (13) heads the West Coast vote against the Swans from Chris Judd (7) and Ben Cousins (6), while Luke Ryan (5) has polled best for Fremantle against the Swans, from Nat Fyfe (4) and Rory Lobb (4).
HIGH POSSESSION WINNERS
In 44 games the Swans have recorded only 35 games of 30-plus possessions, including five games of 40-plus. West Coast have had 15 games of 30-plus, and Fremantle players have topped 30 possessions eight times, including two games of 40-plus.
Yet in Round 19, 2016, when the Swans posted their biggest win in Perth by 90 points over the Dockers at Subiaco, four players topped 40 – Josh Kennedy had a Sydney record 45 and Dan Hannebery 41, while David Mundy had a Fremantle record 44 and Lachie Neale 41.
Hannebery was the Sydney ball-winning ‘king’ in Perth – he had six 30-possession games, including three of 40-plus. Jake Lloyd had an equal career-high 42 against Fremantle in Perth in Round 18, 2019 after 42 against West Coast at the SCG in Round 12 of the same year. Josh Kennedy also had a career-best 45 touches against Fremantle at Subiaco in 2016.
Ben Cousins holds the West Coast record against Sydney in Perth – he had 38 twice in 2001 and 2007. This was one short of his career-best 39.
MAJOR GOAL-KICKERS
Lance Franklin holds the Sydney goal-kicking record in Perth, having kicked eight against West Coast at Perth Stadium in Round 1, 2018. He also had a bag of six in his hometown, while Tony Lockett kicked one six and three bags of five, Barry Hall kicked five goals twice, and Warwick Capper once.
Ironically, the Fremantle goals record against Sydney in Perth is held by an ex-Sydney player – John Hutton. The former #1 draft pick, who had one season each at Brisbane (1992), Sydney (1993) and Fremantle (1995), kicked eight at the WACA in Round 6 that year.
Peter Sumich holds the West Coast record of eight against Sydney in 1990.
BIGGEST CROWDS
The biggest crowd to watch the Swans play at Perth Stadium has been 53,553 against West Coast in 2018. The biggest crowd for a Swans game against Fremantle at Perth Stadium has been 46,956 in 2022.
