What a strange season it's been so far. 

Who, in their wildest imaginings, could have believed that two of the powerhouse teams of the past decade or so would be languishing at the bottom of the ladder after the first six rounds. Seeing the words Sydney Swans on the 18th rung at 0-6 had me in a time warp: surely that's South Melbourne - not the all-conquering Sydney Swans of the past 20 years! were my bewildered thoughts at the time.

Heading to the SCG for our first game, against Port, hopes were high, despite almost half our team out injured. Surely this loss was an aberration? 

We drove down to Melbourne for Round 2 against last year's heart-breakers. The result - a close one -  just brought back memories of that sad, sad day last October.

Then, Collingwood, at home: We'll be right! we all thought. It got as close as a game can get, without the four points. One lousy behind!

But, at least we were ahead of Hawthorn on the all-defining ladder!

From memory we got close at one stage against West Coast the following week, but another bad loss.

We're still ahead of those Hawks!

By the time we were to face those kids from across town the aberrations had long gone and footy alarm bells were ringing. I refused to listen to them. I also refused to listen to the doomsday media.

Round 6 rolls on. We can’t possibly lose to Carlton, can we? We fly down to Melbourne and watch my beloved Swans lose to a team in its infancy – what those media people call a rebuild. Not a particularly nice game to watch, from a Bloods' perspective.

And, to make matters worse, Hawthorn has now leapt one rung above us!

I refused to read, listen to or watch the negative comments coming from the football world. All I wanted to think about was how lucky we have been these past 20 years. Bloods people have been spoiled. We’ve had enormous success and the team has given us all wonderful memories.

But the strange thing is that in some ways, all these early losses were actually giving me a feeling of relief.  A selfish sort of relief. One that keeps my emotions in check: not having to worry about those oscillating highs and lows that either nourish you for seven days or keep you in a state of despair until the next high. 

Heaven forbid, I was even thinking about a Number One draft pick at the end of the year!

Big deal that we're 0-6, we'll fight back! were my thoughts as the team ran onto the SCG for our game against Brisbane. However, with fear rearing its ugly head, I found myself saying “If we lose this one, I’m definitely booking our overseas trip in September” to one of our O’Reilly Stand friends. “Me too”, he replied, with a knowing smile. We happily sing the song as the siren sounds and I get to wave my sad and neglected flag for the first time this year!

The Lions replace us on the bottom rung but Hawthorn is still hovering above us!

Now for the 10 day trip down to Melbourne for our two consecutive away games. SWANZ (my car) is probably wondering whether it will be its last road trip for the year, but the driver knows only too well that win or lose she would never miss a game.

Our win against the more fancied Kangaroos was a delight to watch. Our "grunt" was back and with Joey leading the way, the midfield back to its best, and our young guns showing enormous promise, our 42 point win leaves no doubt that our fortunes have turned.

Melbourne’s temperature climbed towards the end of our second week there, and as we strolled to Etihad to face the in-form Saints not only do my warmer bones tell me that today will be special but my relaxed state of mind visualises a joyous rendering of Cheer Cheer in a few hours time. I was right!

It was joyous. It was a tough, high-pressured game. Following on from the previous week, and with high calibre players back from injury, our mighty team performed as they know best. As true-believing Bloods supporters know best.

Wow! We’ve leapt five rungs ahead of Hawthorn – albeit on percentage – and two games away from 8th.

Footy talk is now all about the Bloods being back, but I refuse to speculate.  Others can do that.

One game at a time is my motto. It might be a cliché, but as this year has shown, One game at a time is more apt than ever before in our team's journey.

We go into Round 10 as the favourites against our most recent arch enemy: that wretched happy team from Hawthorn. They spoil our party. Two men down for most of the game certainly didn't help, and neither did a bad first quarter, but, despite our spirited fight-back, another close one has eluded us.

It was one of those heart-breaking, wake-throughout-the-night-feeling-depressed sort of results, especially given the significance of our previous three weeks' performances and the possibilities on the horizon.

My belief that I was relieved at losses earlier in the season has certainly come back to haunt me. I've been kidding myself! There is no such thing as relief when losing!

However, there are still 12 games to go, and who knows how our year will end. I, for one, am a true believer. Let's hope that the 50,000+ members also believe, and that, together, we can encourage our team onwards to victory!

P.S.  Where is that happy team from Hawthorn on the ladder now?  Who cares.

Jan Courtin attended her first game at Lake Oval in 1948, and moved to Sydney to be closer to her beloved Swans in 1998. Her book "My Lifelong Love Affair with the Swans" was launched by the Club at the SCG in August, 2016. See www.myswansloveaffair.com