You could almost hear Gerard Healy saying “I’ve seen this before …” as the Sydney Swans posted an excellent but curiously unbalanced win over the West Coast Eagles at the SCG last Friday night.

Why? Because for the first time in more than 30 years the Swans won without scoring a goal in the first or the last quarter.

And the last time it happened against St Kilda in Round 2, 1988 Healy, now 57, was best afield.

It was 10 April, 1988 when Healy had 35 possessions as the Swans, coached for the 50th time by Tommy Hafey, beat the Saints 9.12 (66) to 7.13 (55) at the SCG.

They trailed 0.4 to 1.4 at quarter-time, and after adding 9.8 to the visitors’ 3.6 in the middle two quarters, did not score in the fourth term, while St Kilda added 3.3.

Despite the Swans' poor final term, their 11-point win was enough for the to take all the votes in the Brownlow Medal, with Dennis Carroll (21 possessions) collecting two, and David Murphy (21 possessions and one goal) one.

Healy’s three votes were critical – they were his first in a season in which the then 27-year-old ruck-rover polled 20 votes to win the Brownlow Medal by four from Essendon ruckman Simon Madden and Hawthorn full-forward Jason Dunstall.

Stephen Wright missed the votes despite having 35 possessions of his own and kicking a goal, while Barry Mitchell had 26 possessions.

Leon Higgins and David Cordner, playing the first of his five games for the Club after 53 games at Melbourne, each kicked two goals.

Michael Parsons also made his AFL debut in a Sydney side in which 33-year-old Craig Davis was the oldest player and 19-year-old Higgins was the youngest.

Rod Carter, in his 248th game, was the most experienced player.

In the St Kilda side, coached by Darrel Baldock, Brad Gotch had a team-high 25 possessions and Rod Owen led the goal-kicking with three.

Ken Sheldon played his 150th game.

It was the start of a long year for St Kilda, who finished with a 4-18 win/loss record and the wooden spoon, while Sydney finished with a 12-10 record but missed the finals by a game plus percentage.

It took 712 games, but this statistical oddity reoccurred last Friday night when Sydney knocked off the ladder-leading West Coast at the SCG in Round 13, 2018.

They trailed 0.3 to 1.3 at quarter-time, added 10.3 to the visitors 4.7 through the middle two quarters, and won by 15 points, despite kicking 0.6 to the Eagles’ 2.5 in the fourth quarter.

With Cordner and Parsons listed at #1170 and #1171 on a Swans all-time playing list that now numbers 1414, no less than 243 players had debuted for the Club in between Friday’s unusual win and that of Round 2, 1988.