In the lead-up to the Swans round 8 home match against Melbourne, which will celebrate the Club’s 30 years in Sydney, sydneyswans.com.au is collating the 30 Defining Moments of the Swans in Sydney in chronological order.

The 30 Defining Moments have been selected by Sydney Swans Chairman, Richard Colless, Deputy Chairman, Andrew McMaster, and Swans Hall of Fame inductee and former Club captain, coach, and director, Rick Quade.

#19 - Qualifying final win over Port Adelaide, 2003

In Paul Roos’ first full season in charge of the Sydney Swans, the side finished the home-and-away season in fourth position on the AFL ladder after winning 14 of the season’s 22 games.

In the first week of the finals, Sydney travelled to Football Park to tackle Port Adelaide who had finished the season on top of the ladder with four more wins than the Swans.

The Swans went into the qualifying final against the Power in enemy territory as rank outsiders and without the services of key players Michael O’Loughlin, Jason Ball, Jason Saddington and Ryan O’Keefe who were all missing through injury.

However, the Swans went into the final with a distinct game plan focused on stopping Port Adelaide’s run through the middle of the ground and to put pressure on their ball-carriers with aggressive tackling.

The tactic worked, and when a frustrated Stuart Cochrane gave away a down-field free kick after tangling with Jared Crouch late in the first quarter, Daryn Cresswell kicked an easy goal to give the Swans an eight-point buffer at the first break.

A desperate effort and tap on by Jude Bolton in the middle of the ground ended with Swans captain Stuart Maxfield streaming into goal to begin the second quarter, and from there the Swans built their lead even further before half-time. Spearhead forward Barry Hall kicked three goals for the quarter, and when Cresswell goaled again following a transfer of play which began with a desperate Leo Barry spoil in front of Port’s Gavin Wanganeen, the Swans took a 40-point lead to the long change.

The Swans held their lead around the six-goal mark for the majority of the third term, but back-to-back goals from Brendon Lade and Chad Cornes in the dying stages had Port Adelaide back to within 24 points and with all the ascendancy at the final change. 

The Swans got on the board first in the final term following a great piece of play from Hall which resulted in a one-handed mark and steadying goal to Nick Davis. Minutes later Port’s Byron Pickett came through the middle of the ground like a steam-train and laid a heavy bump on Swans midfielder Brett Kirk which left him flattened on the ground. Many of Pickett’s bumps throughout his career had cut short opponent’s games, but on this occasion Kirk quickly rose back to his feet and continued on playing in an inspired showing.

Port Adelaide kept coming throughout the contest, but the Swans held strong against every challenge and went on to record a famous victory by 12 points. The win was the Swans first ever finals win outside of Sydney or Melbourne, and was made all the more difficult considering Tadhg Kennelly, Stephen Doyle and Brad Seymour had suffered injuries during the game.

Speaking after the match, Cresswell said the victory was a throwback to the way the club used to be played.

“It was a victory for the Bloods today,” Cresswell said.

“We really dug deep, like the old South Melbourne days.”

Hall led the scoring for the Swans with six fine goals, while Kirk was dominant with 24 touches.

The Swans bowed out the finals two weeks later after a spirited showing against the powerful Brisbane Lions in the preliminary final, but the foundations for future finals appearances had been set with the upset victory over Port Adelaide.