Sydney’s priests spent so long praying for the Bulldogs this year, they forgot about the Swannies. To be fair, I did too.
Probably because this year the premiership finally seemed it wouldn’t just be in the bag, but would hop into the bag all on its own.
The Brisbane Lions had other plans, slitting the bag from underneath and snatching the top prize for themselves in an underdog 120-60 thrashing at the MCG in last Saturday’s AFL Grand Final.
I was slightly uneasy going in. I couldn’t stop thinking back to the Swans’ last grand final, two years ago, an unheard of 80-point thrashing at the hands of Geelong.
Though their appearance on the final day in 2022 did feel a bit premature for a club still rebuilding at the time, the signs were there that the red and white were coming.
And come they did in 2024. Such was their dominance this year that they didn’t let go of top spot on the ladder after round eight, a crazy 16 week run into the finals.
In their 150th year as an organisation, the stars were aligned all on their own almost without the need for any extra priestly oomph.
But by halfway through the second quarter, my fears had well and truly kicked in, at half time the déjà vu was real and before the first bounce of the third quarter, I’d switched the TV off.
Five Grand Final losses in their last six appearances. Two in a row by more than 60 points. Maybe even God can’t change the Swans’ fortunes.
I left home early in bitter disappointment and was one of the first in my seat to see Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric theatre later that night, hoping to see at least one show on Saturday that actually delivered (though even that played a fine line).
Around the same time as about the second act, as American politician and lawyer Aaron Burr sung to the audience of his desperate desire to enter the Senate, Brisbane were probably drenching each other in XXXX Gold in the change room with the premiership flag.
The Sydney outfit will keep marching on, as the team song suggests. With a squad of their strength, it’s tough to think they wouldn’t have another legitimate crack come 2025.
But for now, like Burr, they’ll still have to wait even longer to be “in the room where it happens.”