Scintillating Swans: The Ultimate Season
Round 12 – The Underdogs
St Kilda v Sydney – Preliminary Final, 2005.
The general consensus surrounding our Sydney Swans at the beginning of the 2005 season was one of impending gloom. However, in true Bloods fashion, the team surprised many to advance to the finals after finishing the season in third place.
Classy forward Adam Schneider recalls the rising confidence entering the business end of that season. “After a rocky start, from about midway through the season and onwards from there, I just remember as a team going into games feeling extremely confident.” He continues, “We knew we had a really good system going, we knew we were playing some really disciplined footy with our one-on-one brand and we always made it really hard for other teams to score. There was a lot of confidence going into this finals series.”
Two years previously, the team had failed to secure a Grand Final berth in front of a home crowd against the almighty Brisbane Lions and this time around, it was going to be just as tough. Dual-premiership winner, Jude Bolton recalls the unique set of emotions experienced on Preliminary Final nights. “There is something unsettling about Preliminary Finals because you are so close, but the potential heartbreak of ending your season can really play on your emotions.”
St Kilda had begun the Preliminary Final of 2005 as overwhelming favourites due to not only their rising status within the football world, but also because of the vastly different finals paths that both teams had travelled to get there. The Saints were well rested and playing at home. Our Swans were largely expected to tire due to their already grueling finals campaign.
When Brett Kirk was assisted from the MCG, with blood gashing from a head wound, everything that typified this team was captured in one magnificent metaphorical image. As he re-entered the fray, fourteen stitches later, bandaged and helmeted, the Bloods spirit came to the fore. Our co-captain continued and the early ascendancy was gained through a five goal first quarter.
But, while the team had started well, an incident in the first quarter loomed large as Barry Hall had been reported for striking after landing a punch to the stomach of the Saints’ Matt Maguire. Over the next two quarters, the Saints wrestled back momentum and looked to be the fresher, more energised team.
What transpired over the next quarter of football, will live long for our bevvy of Bloods, as Jude Bolton recalls. “Obviously, I have very fond memories of the final quarter against the Saints. After a fast start, we had lost momentum and probably a bit of confidence as a group.” Bolton also recalls a famous three-quarter time huddle. “Kirky had pulled us in for a huge rev-up and demanded we give everything in the last term. He had donned the helmet that I would ultimately wear the following Saturday. To kick 7 straight in the final term was beyond belief to be honest.”
For Schneider, it would be a career-defining quarter, which he credits to the forward group that he was a key part of. “Working with the forwards especially, I know we were all very diligent with everything we did instructionally and being a really on-one-one focused team, we all had to play our role, that was one of the most important things and having that mindset really worked for us,” he adds.
Bolton however, is full of praise for Schneider and fellow half-forward, Ryan O’Keefe. “I understand that many of our supporters would sit down to watch games during that period and expect that the scoring would often be tight and the finishes, gripping.” He adds, “However the scintillating efforts of Adam Schneider and Ryan O’Keefe drove us to the big dance in style.”
It was an incredible seven-goal final term, and one that both players remember fondly. “It all happened so fast and things really fell our way a few times to be honest.” Schneider recalls, “The bounce of the ball worked for us, Micky O kicked a goal after the ball bounced off Max Hudghton’s head. There were just things like that, that all went our way. I think we might have been underdogs for that game as well, I know St Kilda had a very talented list, but again our persistence kept us hanging in games and ensured we competed until the last minute and it was a phenomenal quarter.”
Bolton could feel the enormity of the moment building as the match wore on. “I distinctly remember the celebrations and excitement on the ground after each goal; the sense that we were gaining the ascendancy on the opposition. It was a luxury we rarely felt, just thinking ‘We’re in, holy shit, we’re playing in a Grand Final…. I’m playing next week in a GF!”
With a place in the Grand Final – a first for the vast majority of the side – now secured, a balance between celebration and focus needed to be found. Some found that easier than others. “There was definitely a core of us back in ’04, ’05 & ’06 who really enjoyed celebrating our wins. I won’t name any names but we definitely enjoyed our wins!” Schneider quips. “But we were so focused on this. I remember being back in the rooms and there was a real sense of there still being ‘one to go’. That was the first message – ‘one to go’. We’ve given ourselves the opportunity, we’re going to have the whole town behind us back in Sydney and we’ve earnt this, let’s just make sure we make the most of it because you may never, ever get this opportunity again. That win was just unbelievable.”
The scenes in the victorious rooms in the bowels of the MCG remain vivid for Bolton too. “Afterwards, it was elation amongst the boys, the supporters and the wider club but there was a focus. That we had to remember that we would be turning up the following weekend on the very same ground that we had just performed, with even more on the line.” He continues, “All of the preparation had to start then and there, but after icing up and dinner back at the hotel, I did open one beer in my room to take a quiet moment to reflect. I had watched and dreamt about Grand Finals as a kid and it was important to soak in the thought of playing in such a game.”
The 2005 season holds a special place in Swans’ hearts and this match remains one of the most unforgettable of that glorious year, as premiership-winner Adam Schneider agrees. “This was one of my most memorable games and it put us in to the 2005 Grand Final which is a day I will never forget.”
