There is a very special rivalry between the Sydney Swans and the West Coast Eagles that was born out of two classic grand finals and a record-breaking sequence of close finishes.
The Swans and the Eagles met in consecutive grand finals in 2005-06 for one nail-biting win each, and played six games in a row in 2005, 2006 and 2007 that were decided by a total of 13 points.
Never in AFL history has there been such a prolonged run of tight games between two clubs.
The nail-biting sequence began when West Coast beat Sydney by four points in the 2005 Qualifying Final at Subiaco in Perth, and continued when Sydney won by the same margin in the ’05 Grand Final at the MCG.
That was the day the Swans’ Leo Barry took a remarkable pack mark deep in defence in the closing seconds to extinguish the Eagles’ last forward thrust and secure Sydney’s first premiership in 72 years.
When the two teams met again in Round 15, 2006, at Subiaco the Eagles prevailed by two points before the Swans took the 2006 Qualifying Final in Perth by one point.
Three weeks later, in the 2006 Grand Final at the MCG, the Eagles got home by one point. Coincidentally, the following Round 1 battle of 2007 between the same sides at ANZ Stadium in Sydney produced the same result and the same margin.
The margins in the six games went 4-4-2-1-1-1 points, giving the two clubs the AFL record for the lowest aggregate margin in any three, four, five or six consecutive meetings.
But one of the six games holds a unique place in Swans history – the 2005 Grand Final.
Having finished third on the home-and-away ladder with a 15-7 win/loss record before losing to West Coast in the Qualifying Final, Sydney beat Geelong by three points in the Semi Final at the SCG and St Kilda by 31 points in the Preliminary Final at the MCG to earn another crack at the Eagles.
The Swans, under third-year coach Paul Roos, used just 23 players throughout the four finals.
The odd man out was Luke Vogels. He played ahead of Paul Bevan in the first final and thereafter Roos had the rare luxury of playing the same team three weeks in a row.
West Coast, coached by John Worsfold, had beaten Adelaide by 16 points in the Prelim and made two changes for the Grand Final, with Sam Butler and Kasey Green replacing Michael Braun and Rowan Jones.
Teams for the 2005 grand final were:
SYDNEY:
B: Jared Crouch, Leo Barry, Lewis Roberts-Thomson
HB: Ben Mathews, Craig Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly
C: Sean Dempster, Adam Goodes, Amon Buchanan
HF: Ryan O’Keefe, Barry Hall (c), Jude Bolton
F: Paul Williams, Michael O’Loughlin, Nick Davis
R: Darren Jolly, Brett Kirk, Luke Ablett
INT: Jason Ball, Paul Bevan, Adam Schneider, Nic Fosdike,
WEST COAST:
B: David Wirrpanda, Darren Glass, Adam Hunter
HF: Drew Banfield, Travis Gaspar, Daniel Chick
C: Tyson Stenglein, Ben Cousins (c), Andrew Embley
HF: Daniel Kerr, Ashley Hansen, Brent Staker
F: Kasey Green, Michael Gardiner, Ashley Sampi
R: Dean Cox, Chris Judd, Chad Fletcher
INT: Adam Selwood, Mark Nicoski, Sam Butler, Mark Seaby.
The Swans led by two points at quarter-time, 22 points at half-time, and two points at three-quarter-time.
As the clock ticked over into the final minutes the Swans were five points up but were under pressure deep in their back half.
Tadhg Kennelly rushed a behind to cut the margin to four before Dean Cox won possession for the Eagles from the kick-in and with 10 seconds to play sent the ball back into the danger zone.
Barry flew high in the pack and grabbed one of the game’s most famous marks, prompting Channel 10 commentator Stephen Quartermain to scream four words that have become part of football folklore … “Leo Barry you star!”
That mark.
With the scoreboard showing Sydney 8.10 (58) to West Coast 7.12 (54) the siren sounded before Barry could take his kick and at last the Swans had their first flag since 1933.
West Coast’s Chris Judd, who had a game-high 29 possessions, won the Norm Smith Medal, while Nic Fosdike (26) headed the Swans possession count from Brett Kirk (22) and Adam Goodes (20).
Sydney captain Barry Hall and West Coast’s Adam Hunter, each with two goals, were the game’s only multiple goal-kickers.
And, in one of the better trivia questions, Lewis Roberts-Thomson was widely acclaimed as the Swans’ best player from Adam Goodes, Amon Buchanan, Kennelly, Fosdike and Kirk.
Twelve months later, after two further epic finishes between the sides in the 2006 home-and-away season and the Qualifying Final, they met again in the 2006 Grand Final.
There were four changes to the Sydney side from 2005, with Jarrad McVeigh, Stephen Doyle, Ted Richards and Nick Malceski replacing Jason Ball, Paul Bevan, Jared Crouch and Paul Williams.
There were six new faces in the West Coast side - Steven Armstrong, Michael Braun, Rowan Jones, Brett Jones, Quentin Lynch and Beau Waters in for Michael Gardiner, Travis Gaspar, Kasey Green, Mark Nicoski, Ashley Sampi and Brent Staker.
Teams for the 2006 grand final were:
SYDNEY:
B: Nick Malceski, Leo Barry, Ted Richards
HB: Craig Bolton, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Tadhg Kennelly
C: Luke Ablett, Brett Kirk, Amon Buchanan
HF: Jude Bolton, Michael O’Loughlin, Ryan O’Keefe
F: Ben Mathews, Barry Hall (c), Adam Schneider
R: Darren Jolly, Adam Goodes, Jarrad McVeigh
INT: Nick Davis, Sean Dempster, Stephen Doyle, Nic Fosdike.
WEST COAST:
B: David Wirrpanda, Darren Glass, Adam Selwood
HB: Beau Waters, Adam Hunter, Brett Jones
C: Michael Braun, Ben Cousins, Andrew Embley
HF: Daniel Chick, Ashley Hansen, Tyson Stenglein
F: Chad Fletcher, Quentin Lynch, Rowan Jones
R: Dean Cox, Chris Judd (c), Daniel Kerr
INT: Steven Armstrong, Todd Banfield, Sam Butler, Mark Seaby
West Coast led by 25 points at half-time and 11 points at the final change, but when Adam Goodes goaled 15 seconds into the final term it was on. It went goal for goal in an intense finish and as they entered the final minute the beaten grand finalists of 2005 led by one point.
Sydney had one last chance as Fosdike bombed it long to half forward.
They needed a Barry-style mark but West Coast’s Darren Glass saw the ball safely over the boundary line, and as it was thrown back in the siren sounded. West Coast won 12.13 (85) to 12.12 (84).
It was the first Grand Final decided by one point since St Kilda claimed its only flag over Collingwood in 1966.
From the very highs, to the very lows, of AFL football... Goodesy and Kirky walk off the MCG in 2006 heartbroken.
Judd, with 28 possessions, topped the list for the second decider in a row ahead of Kirk (27), Norm Smith Medallist Andrew Embley (26), Waters (26), Fletcher (25), Goodes (22), Kennelly (21) and Fosdike (20).
The Eagles’ Lynch and Swans pair Nick Davis and Michael O’Loughlin kicked three goals, while Fosdike was acclaimed as the Swans’ best from Richards, Kennelly, O’Loughlin, McVeigh, Kirk and Goodes, who had won his second Brownlow Medal in Grand Final week.
It was a rivalry to match all rivalries – and better than most.
Eleven years on it continues.
The clubs, who will meet again at Subiaco Oval in Perth, in a critical Round 4 match Thursday night, have met 47 times since the Eagles entered the competition in 1987 with Sydney enjoying a 27-20 advantage.
It’s 18-8 to Sydney since 2000 and, most significantly, Sydney has won nine of its last 10 meetings against West Coast including five of its last six meetings in Perth.
Dual Brownlow Medallists Goodes and Judd have dominated medal voting in games between the sides since 2000, with 12 and nine votes respectively, while in head-to-head meetings six current players have polled votes – Sydney’s Luke Parker (5), Dan Hanneberry (5), Kieren Jack (5) and Jarrad McVeigh (3), as well as West Coast’s Luke Priddis (3) and Elliot Yeo (1).
Hanneberry holds the record for most possessions in a game between the sides since 2000 with an equal career-best 42 in 2012. He also had 40 against the Eagles in 2013.
Dan Hannebery's career-best 42 disposals was compiled against West Coast.
Best for West Coast against Sydney in the same period was Ben Cousins' 38 disposals in 2001 and 2007.
Big bags of goals in games between the sides have been rare, with only six hauls of five goals or more in the two sides’ 26 meetings over 16 years.
Daniel Bradshaw, a dual Brisbane premiership player, who played nine games for Sydney in 2010, shares the record of six goals with O’Loughlin who kicked a half dozen in 2003.
Hall kicked five goals in a game for Sydney against West Coast three times (2004, 2006 and 2009) while Phil Matera holds West Coast's best at six after a big day out in 2004.
West Coast’s Josh Kennedy, among the fancies for the 2017 Coleman Medal, has kicked 18 goals in seven games for the Eagles against Sydney, while Swans trump Buddy Franklin, needing five goals for a career 800, has played only twice for the Swans against the Eagles for three goals.
Thursday night’s game will be the seventh time the AFL’s two match-winning Josh Kennedys will play against each other.
Sydney’s Kennedy, who began his career at Hawthorn in 2008 before moving north in 2010, has a 5-1 advantage in head-to-head meetings between the pair and has had 18-23-29-25-31-31 possessions (average 26.2) and one goal.
West Coast’s Kennedy, who began his career at Carlton in 2006 before moving to West Coast in 2008, has kicked a total of 15 goals – an average of 2.5 with 3-1-4-2-3-2 goals on a game-by-game basis – and has averaged 13.1 possessions.
