Nick Malceski will always be the guy who kicked that goal in the 2012 AFL Grand Final against Hawthorn. The 20m left-foot snap over the shoulder after a slick handball from Dan Hannebery in the closing seconds to secure the Swans’ fifth AFL premiership.
It was one of the great wins in one of the great grand finals, as the rank underdogs came from nowhere to beat a side that would go on to win the next three flags in 2013, ’14 and ‘15.
Malceski, who had survived a torturous run with injury in a career that seemed done more times than he would care to count, kicked the first and the last goals of the 2012 decider in a feat so special it became part of the Swans Hall of Fame Heritage List.
It all came after three knee reconstructions and was the crowning joy on a career that had begun in Round 11 2005, when the Swans played Carlton at what is now Marvel Stadium – and it’s the headline story in the ‘Remember When’ series for Round 11.
Malceski, claimed by the Swans from the Eastern Ranges with pick #64 in the 2002 AFL Draft, had done it tough. He’d had a knee rebuild even before his AFL debut after a pre-season mishap and would have two further knee reconstructions via the revolutionary LARS (ligament augmentation and reconstruction system) in 2008 and 2011 before his career-defining moment.
By then Malceski’s first game would have been a distant memory to most, but never to the Melbourne-born left footer of Macedonian heritage. He knew what he’d been through, and that by that stage Brendon Goddard, pick #1 to St Kilda in the same draft, had played 52 games.
Malceski didn’t set the world on fire in his first game, collecting eight possessions and a goal in an 18.8 (116) to 14.7 (91) win in which Barry Hall kicked five goals and Jude Bolton was best afield. But he was up and going.
In 40 years in Sydney the Swans have an aggregate 22-16 win/loss record in Round 11 matches, with two byes, and have gone 9-6 at home and 13-10 away. Not extraordinary overall but odd in that they lost seven Round 11 games in a row from 1989 but since 1996 they have gone 16-7. It’s become a lucky charm.
In other Round 11 highlights:
1983 – A confidence booster
Still looking to establish themselves in the Harbour City, the Swans sent a powerful ‘get on board’ message to Sydney fans in Round 11, 1983 when they came from behind to beat the old Footscray at the SCG by 19 points.
They trailed at every change, and after being as many as 24 points down at quarter time were still five points down at three-quarter time. But they kicked 6.3 to 2.3 in the final term to win 17.19 (121) to 15.12 (102).
In just his fourth game in red and white, Darryl Sutton kicked five goals and Craig Braddy four goals to lead the way. Greg Smith (34) and Mark Browning (30) topped the possession count for coach Ricky Quade.
It was 39 years ago, but even then, the Swans were a team of spirit and character.
1996 – Big day for boom recruits
Paul Roos and Tony Lockett had played a combined 39 games against the Swans before they played together in red and white. But in Round 11, 1996 they shared a special moment with their adopted club.
Roos played his 300th game, celebrating with 30 possessions and two goals, and Lockett kicked 10 goals in a 69-point win over North Melbourne at the old Princes Park. Almost predictably, the similarly iconic figure of Paul Kelly picked up three Brownlow Medal votes as a 19-year-old Leo Barry played his third game under first-year coach Rodney Eade.
2007 – An MCG morale-booster
Coming off a 2005 premiership and a 2006 grand final loss, the Swans had slipped to 9th after Round 10 of the 2007 season and had suffered a one-point loss to Essendon in which Mark McVeigh, now caretaker coach at GWS, had kicked the clincher for the Bombers.
They faced third-placed Hawthorn in Round 11 in front of 48,398 at the MCG. It was a key moment. Do they slide, or do they bounce back strongly and quickly.
When a 20-year-old Lance Franklin kicked the first three goals of his 45th game for the Hawks it looked more like the latter. He was on his way to six, an equal best in what turned out to be 17 games against the Swans for 46 goals.
Sydney were 18 points down at quarter time and weren’t going well. But as was the common deed of the side back then, they found a way. They kicked 10 of the next 13 goals to get 23 points up midway through the final term, and not even two late goals for the Hawks, including Franklin’s sixth, could save them.
Brett Kirk had 25 possessions and nine tackles for three for three Brownlow Medal votes, and Nic Fosdike 29 possessions for two votes.
2012- A Jetta gem
In the premiership year of 2012 the Swans finished third on the home-and-away ladder with a 16-6 win/loss record. It was close. They were level on points with Collingwood and a game clear of West Coast and Geelong so even one extra slip-up could have denied them the home preliminary final that would eventually help seal the flag.
So, what turned out to be a four-point Round 11 win at Marvel Stadium over an Essendon side that at the time sat second on the ladder was crucial.
It shouldn’t have been. The Swans led by 47 points at three-quarter time – 11.8 to a wildly inaccurate 2.15 after kicking nine goals in a row – before the Bombers found their radar.
Three Essendon goals in six minutes to start the final term wasn’t too concerning, especially when Jude Bolton kicked a steadier for the Swans. But five Essendon goals in the next 12 minutes to pull within four points definitely was.
Lewis Jetta, already with two goals, kicked what turned out to be the winner when he received a handball from Kieren Jack, playing his 100th game. Yet with still 4min 15sec to play the job wasn’t done.
Especially when Jobe Watson kicked Essendon’s ninth goal of the final term, which had been broken only by a rushed behind. They were back within four points and would get one last crack.
Courtenay Dempsey marked right on 50m. He was within range. There were plenty of anxious Swans fans. But just as Dempsey moved to play on and take his shot the siren sounded. Time was up. There would be no after-the-siren heroics. Sydney won 13.8 (86) to 11.16 (82).
Bolton, with 29 possessions and nine tackles, was best afield in his 290th game while Jetta, with 29 possessions to go with his three goals, picked up two Brownlow Medal votes.
It was the second win of a nine-win Sydney streak that, despite a poor August, would be enough on which they could build a win-win-win finals campaign to claim the flag.
