Scintillating Swans: The Ultimate Season
Round 2 – HARD. DISCIPLINED. RELENTLESS.
Port Adelaide v Sydney - Qualifying Final 2003
In January 2003, rookie coach Paul Roos enlisted Ray McLean of Leading Teams to address his players on a pre-season camp in Coffs Harbour. This would be the formation of the now fabled ‘Bloods culture’. McLean ascertained that the group needed a trademark; needed to stand for something. The players wanted to be renowned for playing a style of football that opposition teams respected – hard, disciplined, and relentless. The values were agreed upon, but those values would prove meaningless unless the players acted them out.
In June 2003, the last of 21,529,464 Volkswagen ‘Classic’ Beetles rolled off the production line at the car manufacturer’s plant in Puebla, Mexico. Although perhaps unlikely, our Sydney Swans are now the VW Beetles of Footy; they are iconic. They are stylish, dependable and sincere. They are honourable, true hearted and extraordinary. The Beetle is one of the few cars in the pantheon of ‘true classics’, just as this class of ‘03 were endeavoring to become. In many ways, they were pioneering in their vision, much like VW’s lead engineer in 1938 – Mr. Ferdinand Porsche.
In September 2003, in the Qualifying Final, in hostile territory, our boys truly became Bloods. This was one for the annals – backs to the wall stuff. In the final round of the season, Michael O’Loughlin had injured a hamstring, adding to an injury list that included Jason Ball, Ryan O’Keefe and Jason Saddington. Tough midfielder Jude Bolton recalls the plight. “I remember us being crippled heading across to take on the minor premiers Port Adelaide at home. Micky O had injured himself in the final round against Melbourne the week before. He was just one of a number of injuries, even Roosy was on crutches!”
During the course of this match, Tadhg Kennelly, Stephen Doyle and Brad Seymour would also suffer injuries, leaving the team with just 19 fit players.
“It felt like all the odds were against us but in a way, that was how we liked it. It was something that we had drawn upon the entire year. That every pundit had tipped us to finish the bottom of the ladder & that they didn’t believe we could achieve anything in season 2003.” Bolton added.
The team left Sydney as rank outsiders facing a fierce opponent who were notoriously problematic when playing at home. According to Bolton, who led the team in hard-ball-gets and clearances that year, the situation simply fed belief. “Throughout the year, we had proven to be a tough, uncompromising opponent and it was clear to us that opposition teams knew this. We rolled into Adelaide to just be as combative as we could and to silence the crowd early,” he recollected.
And combative they were. The aggression and ferocity in the way that these Bloods attacked the contest caught the Power and their legion of parochial patrons by surprise. Bolton, Kirk, Maxfield, Cresswell. Hard. Disciplined. Relentless. Three early goals went a long way to silencing that crowd and with Goodes near unstoppable in the ruck and Hall likewise in the forward line, the early signs were good.
Confirmation of the collective spirit arrived in the second quarter. Fearless football was on display from the men in red and white, which resulted in a seven goal to one term, ensuring a forty-point lead at half time. Highlighting the attitude of the day, were two key acts of courage, epitomising the newly-formed culture – one from Leo Barry in his trademark kamikaze manor, charging back with the flight of the ball ahead of oncoming traffic. The other – from Brett Kirk – a Blood if there ever was one.
He describes the moment in his book ‘Brave Heart’ – ‘The human cannonball Byron Pickett had unleashed a textbook hip-and-shoulder move. My first thought was, where is my opponent? I had a job to do and didn’t want to let down any of my teammates. With a shake of my head, I continued to dig in with the rest of the team to pull off a great and remarkable victory’.
Hesitation had no place among them. Not today.
Barry Hall, who was irrepressible with six goals, said that the match was vindication for all that had been put in place prior to the season and what the team had lived by all year. Paul Roos described this match as one of the most outstanding victories in which he had ever been involved.
Along with the attacking feats of the second quarter, the defensive efforts of the last were equally as important. With the locals growing more vocal with each Power point, the play seemed to hardly venture beyond our defensive fifty. This is where the grit and grindstone embedded into the values of the Bloods culture came to the fore. Significantly, these values live on today.
Jude Bolton speaks of how this match would be referenced by the team in future years. “This game was something that we definitely drew upon. Despite then losing the Preliminary Final to a dominant Brisbane on their way to a 3-peat it taught a young nucleus of players that we could match it with anyone. It taught us that we could not have any excuses as a team. No matter who pulled on the red and white, no matter what venue or what decisions may go against us, that we had the resolve to compete and could win.”
The match even served as a motivator in the historic 2012 Premiership. “I remember John Longmire asking a couple of the older players to relay a memorable finals game to the younger group in a small team function in 2012. This was one of the key games that we highlighted.” Bolton recalls.
Captain Stewy Maxfield described his team as ‘honest workers’ after the match and after such a fighting display, one of our greatest ever wins as a football club, I cannot imagine a greater compliment to the players who gave their all that day. Honest to a man.
