The early 1990s was a tough period for the Sydney Swans, with the club winning 28 of just 130 games from 1990-95 before Rodney Eade took charge. They’d started the 1996 campaign with a 90-point loss to Adelaide in Adelaide and a 29-point SCG loss to Fremantle. A 34-point SCG win over Collingwood steadied things, but it was still a long road ahead.

But in Round 4 everything changed. The Swans pulled off a stunning one-point win over Richmond at Waverley to spark a run that would transform a struggling team into one of the genuine top-flight clubs in the AFL.

They came from 21 points down at three-quarter time in the headline act in this week’s ‘Remember When …’ series, which will recount special moments round by round through the club’s 40 years in Sydney since 1982.

Eade,  a 229-game four-time premiership player at Hawthorn before 30 games in three years with Brisbane, had coached Reserves premierships with Brisbane in 1991 and North Melbourne in 1995. He was appointed to succeed Ron Barassi at the Swans after Barassi took charge at Sydney from mid-1993.

Eade had been in contention for the coaching job at Fitzroy at the same time but chose the Swans, content that Tony Lockett and Paul Roos had joined the club in 1995, and that the start of the rebuild was underway. Sydney had gone 8-14 in his last season to finish only two wins plus percentage outside the finals, having stunned eventual premiers Carlton by 72 points in Round 8 and knocked off finalists Essendon and North Melbourne in Rounds 13-15.

There wasn’t a huge change in personnel. Stuart Maxfield, later to captain Sydney, was the big recruit from Richmond, with Kevin Dyson from Melbourne and Craig O’Brien from St Kilda. But they’d lost Darren Kappler and Leon Higgins to Hawthorn, Darren Gasper to Richmond, Peter Caven to Adelaide, and Jayson Daniels to St Kilda, while Neil Brunton and Ed Considine retired.

Maxfield played against his former club and ex-Swan Gasper for the first time in Round 4 as Roos returned from injury and a 20-year-old Matthew Nicks, having debuted the week before, played his second game.

The Tigers led by 11 point at the first change, 17 at halftime and 21 points at three-quarter time. It was 8-13 to 5-10. Not an impossible margin but Sydney would have to kick as  many goals in the last term as they did in the first three to win.

Lockett kicked his fourth goal after a free kick against Gaspar and his fifth after a neat pass from Nicks. Back to nine points with 16 minutes to play.

The impressive Nicks gathered a loose ball and ran inside 50 to goal on the run and make it three points. Lockett kicked a long behind and, after Roos had sent the Swans forward, snapped the go-ahead major. Sydney by four.

Wayne Campbell, in his 101^st game at 23 and wearing a long ponytail, took a big fly and goaled from 30m to put Richmond back in front before Lockett took a juggling mark on Gaspar for his sixth. Sydney by four with 10 minutes on the clock.

Brendon Gale missed from 25m, Matthew Richardson, in a fantastic battle with best afield Andrew Dunkley, put one out on the full on the left and Jason Torney did likewise on the right. Richardson marked on the lead but from 49m pushed it left. Swans by one. Three minutes to play.

Both sides had their chances and inside 90 seconds Chris Bond snapped from 30m across his body for the Tigers. It went through but the umpire awarded a free kick against Richardson for interference on Dunkley on the goal line. No score.

The last 60 seconds seemed to take an eternity. Mick O’Loughlin made a key gather and crucial tackle, and Nicks a superb smother before clearing the danger zone. Lockett was one on three, but the big man kicked it off the ground just before time expired.

Sydney won 10.11 (71) to Richmond’s 9.16 (70). Dunkley, superb in his 79^th game, earned three Brownlow Medal votes, and Maxfield, with 24 possessions and a goal, one vote. Kickett’s 25 possessions was a team high for Sydney. Lockett, with 6-4 from 12 kicks, was crucial, while Mark Merenda’s 26 possessions earned him two medal votes for Richmond.

With renewed self-belief the Swans went win-draw-win in the next three weeks and were equal third on the ladder at the mid-point of the season with seven wins and a draw from 11 games. They went 9-2 in the back half of the season to finish minor premiers and beat Hawthorn in a qualifying final by six points.

Sydney beat Essendon by a point in the preliminary final on the famous ‘Plugger’ behind after the siren to qualify for their first grand final since 1945. Although the result – a 43-point loss to North – wasn’t the result the club wanted, the Sydney Swans had come a long, long way from their epic Round 4 win.

In the 39 Round 4 games since the Swans moved to Sydney, the team has a 19-20 record overall and 10-12 at home.

Other special Round 4 moments …

1986: A 76-point SCG win

With Tom Hafey in charge of a new-look outfit the Swans posted the biggest Round 4 win of the Sydney era against the Western Bulldogs, then known as Footscray, at the SCG.

The 20.22 (142) to 9.12 (66) win was built on an 8-7 first quarter assault – the equal sixth-biggest first-quarter score in club history and the second biggest at the SCG. They stretched a 46-point quarter time lead to 60 points by halftime, and did it with plenty in check in the second half.

Warwick Capper and Tony Morwood kicked four goals apiece and off-season imports Gerard Healy (35) and Greg Williams (33) led the possession count. The Brownlow votes went to fellow newcomer Merv Neagle, Williams and Healy.

1999: A Raging Storm - Twice

A violent hailstorm went through Sydney’s eastern suburbs on the Wednesday evening before the Swans’ Round 4 clash of 1999. The players were forced to run from the ground 30 minutes into their main training session as countless SCG windows was shattered, 2000 seats were damaged beyond repair, and cars nearby copped smashed windscreens and major hail damage.

By the Saturday night everything was pretty much back to normal aesthetically, some seats aside, as North Melbourne travelled to the SCG for what had become something of a grudge match.

It was the real ‘home’ side against the ‘intruders’ after North had done a deal with the AFL whereby they would play four ‘home’ games in 1999 at the SCG.

The Swans, desperate to correct a 0-3 start against the eventual premiers, were nothing short of angry as evidenced by Tony Lockett’s pre-match prediction it would be “one hell of a grudge match”.

But initially this didn’t translate to anything like the performance coach Rodney Eade was looking for when shortly before halftime the Roos led by 47 points. It was 9.6 (60) to 1.7 (13).

North veteran Glenn Archer gave Jared Crouch a late clip behind the ear in a marking contest and after Crouch marched 50m to the edge of the square and banged it home things started to role. It was 9.7 (61) to 3.7 (25) at halftime.

Paul Kelly, in his fourth game back from a knee reconstruction suffered in Round 16 the year before, soccered one off the ground before a Matthew Nicks snap cut the deficit to 24 points.

John Stevens received a handball from Stefan Carey in a goalmouth struggle to snap truly, and moments later found himself in a one-on-two marking contest after Stuart Maxfield kicked long to the pocket. He marked and split the big sticks perfectly. Ten minutes before three-quarter time and it was 12 points the difference. Then 11 at the last change.

Peter Bell got a steadier for the Roos early in the last quarter, but it was all Swans. Wayne Schwass, playing against his old club, marked in the pocket and kicked truly from 30m, before Kelly, refusing to accept defeat, gathered a loose ball in the pocket, shrugged off two tackles and snapped across his body.

So impressed was veteran journalist Mike Sheahan with the Kelly goal that he described it in the Herald Sun as “a creation of desperation, courage, belief, strength, balance and skill”.

Then, 68 seconds from time, Maxfield snapped the winner on his trusty left. Without the injured Tony Lockett, the Swans prevailed 10.12 (72) to 10.10 (70) despite losing ruckman Greg Stafford with a serious knee injury, leaving fourth-gamer Adam Goodes to battle against North’s Corey McKernan.

Maxfield’s 21 possessions and two goals earned him maximum Brownlow votes while ex-Fitzroy defender Rowan Warfe, in his 37^th Swans game and the 63^rd game of his 110-game career, picked up the only two votes of his career for his 18 possessions.

2002: Cresswell: My Moment of Glory

Daryn Cresswell received 232 free kicks in his 244-game career, but none more special than his 210th. It set up his “every kid’s dream” moment when he kicked an after-the-siren goal for an epic Sydney Swans win.

It was Round 4, 2002 when Sydney hosted North Melbourne at the SCG. It was a roller-coaster affair, with the lead changing 10 times. The home side led by seven points at quarter-time, scores were level at halftime and North led by 14 at three-quarter time.

The Swans kicked the first three goals of the final term via Barry Hall, Nic Fosdike and Hall again before North veteran Brent Harvey found himself in just the right spot to mark an absolute  floater from ex-Swan Shannon Grant. “A beautiful pass,” quipped Channel 10 commentator Stephen Quartermain.

Inside the centre square, Harvey quickly fired a long bomb which sailed over the goalmouth pack and bounced through for full points. North led by four points with six minutes to play.

Paul Kelly sliced a running shot just wide to make it three points with five minutes to play. The Swans dominated field possession but couldn’t add to their score. Four minutes to play. Three. Two. One minute.

With 22 seconds on the clock there was a boundary throw-in 30m around from the Swans goal. North full forward turned ruckman Sav Rocca punched the ball out of bounds on the full. Free kick. Mick O’Loughlin went long to a giant pack. No mark. Fosdike gathered but was tackled immediately. Another ball-up with TV replays later showing there were 4.5 seconds to play.

Cresswell, socks down as always in his 207^th game, set up facing the goals, with 46-game Roo Shannon Motlop locked on. He was giving him nothing.

Ever the thinker, Cresswell called on every last bit of his experience and, just before umpire Dore bounced it, he pushed Motlop away. Motlop retaliated and collected Cresswell high. Dore, one of the League’s most experienced and respected umpires, signalled a free kick.

“I saw it,” screamed Quartermain. “It was technical, but it was there.”

Time expired as Cresswell lined up from 35m on a 45-degree angle. It never looked like missing. Sydney won 15.13 (103) to 14.16 (100). One of their best.

Kelly, the ever-gallant Swans captain, was judged best afield for his 26 possessions, one goal and seven clearances. The minor votes went to North’s Harvey (21 possessions, two goals) and Glenn Archer (18 possessions, one goal). And Cresswell had a moment never to be forgotten.

2018: Lucky ‘13’ for Ollie

Wearing jumper #13, OIlie Florent played his 13^th game for the Sydney Swans against the Western Bulldogs in Round 4, 2018. But it was anything but an unlucky afternoon for the 19-year-old speedster.

With scores level at three-quarter time after the Dogs had the better of the first half, Sydney grabbed the ascendancy via goals from Lance Franklin and Dean Towers. Caleb Daniel and Luke Dahlhaus answered for the Dogs, leaving the Swans a point up with six minutes to play.

Time wore on without further addition, and with 45 seconds to play the home side just had to hang on to possession. Josh Kennedy crumbed a marking contest at centre wing and went by hand to Isaac Heeney, who threw it on his left boot.

“That was close … was he out?” asked Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson before quickly returning to the call. “This one’s got through … he’s out.”

And out he was. Florent, the closest player to goal but barely forward to the centre, marked the ball on his chest and took off. With athletic Dogs ruckman Tim English “in his rear-view mirror”, as Hudson put it, Florent had a bounce, ran inside 50 and steadied just enough.

“There’s been some big moments in the last quarter, but this is the one that counts,” Hudson added as Florent’s spearing drop punt landed in the middle of the square and bounced through.

It was just the fifth goal in a career tally which now boasts 35 goals, but it was one he’ll always remember as the Sydney Swans, led by Luke Parker’s 21 possessions, three goals, 10 tackles and three votes, and Franklin’s three goals and two votes, won 13.8 (86) to 11.13 (79).