It was hard to tell the Swans were over 900 kilometres away from the SCG as the red and white faithful turned out in droves at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong on Sunday afternoon.
The club delivered with a resounding 92-point victory over West Coast, a performance CEO Tom Harley says wouldn’t have been as special without the loyal support of the Victorian fanbase.
“We were extremely fortunate to play a home game in front of Victorian members and fans," Harley said.
"We feel for our supporters in New South Wales who are enduring a lockdown, but hope our success against the Eagles brought them some joy during this challenging time.
"It was particularly special to play a home game in Victoria given our fan base down there didn’t have the opportunity to watch us last year through the Covid affected season. We simply couldn’t represent the club in the manner that we do without the loyal support of our members and fans.”
Sydney coach John Longmire also thanked supporters for turning out at GMHBA Stadium, particularly at such short notice.
“It was fantastic to see the Swans faithful turn up for us," Longmire said.
"Given the competition has been changing week-to-week to overcome the latest Covid challenges, it was great to still see such a huge turnout down in Geelong." Longmire said.
The Swans will remain temporarily based Victoria as Sydney continues to deal with a Covid outbreak. Following the Swans win over the Eagles, Callum Mills and Harry Cunningham revealed while it’s been tough to be away from family and friends, they are fortunate to be able to continue to do what they love.
“We just have to soldier on, everyone in Sydney is doing it pretty tough at the moment and we’re thinking of them. Hopefully today puts a bit of smile on their faces. We’re just so pumped we could go out there and perform," Mills said.
"There was about 11,000 people there and they were awesome, it was really loud. The stands were full of red and white which was awesome," Mills said.
"I’m so glad we could go out there and perform not only for Victoria and Sydney fans, but for everyone around Australia.”
“We’ve got a great heritage and great history down in South Melbourne, it was great to see some red and white in the crowd," Cunningham added.
"They were really vocal especially towards that second half which was great and it was pleasing to be able to come here and play some great footy in front of our home fans,” Cunningham added.
