In the lead-up to the Swans round 8 home match against Melbourne, which will celebrate the Club’s 30 years in Sydney, sydneyswans.com.au is collating the 30 Defining Moments of the Swans in Sydney in chronological order.

The 30 Defining Moments have been selected by Sydney Swans Chairman, Richard Colless, Deputy Chairman, Andrew McMaster, and Swans Hall of Fame inductee and former Club captain, coach, and director, Rick Quade.

#20 - Adam Goodes’ Brownlow medals, 2003 & 2006

Despite the Swans falling just short of a Grand Final appearance in 2003, there was still reason for the club to celebrate in the build-up to the AFL’s biggest game.

On the Monday following the Swans 44-point defeat to the Brisbane Lions in the preliminary final, Swans champion Adam Goodes tied with Collingwood’s Nathan Buckley and Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto for the 2003 Brownlow Medal.

The count was the most thrilling Brownlow count in many years, with Goodes awarded two votes in Sydney’s final round win over Melbourne at the MCG to tie with Buckley and Ricciuto on 22 votes and claim the highest individual honour in the AFL.

The awarded was a fitting reward for Goodes who had produced an amazingly consistent year in the ruck, finishing the home-and-away season with 396 disposals, 134 marks, 254 hit-outs and 20 goals having played all 22 games.

Goodes only received three votes for a best-on-ground performance twice, in round 5 against Adelaide and again in round 14 against West Coast, but the then 23-year-old polled one or two votes in nine other games across the season.

The Swans' number 37 thanked coach Paul Roos for the turn-around in his form, saying “he just told me to go out and play like I did at school.”

Goodes also paid tribute to his mother, Lisa May, who he took to the Brownlow count and was elated as she watched her son collect the Medal.

“Being able to share this moment with her is sensational,” Goodes said. “She’s always been there for me, which is great.”

Goodes became just the second Indigenous player to win the Brownlow Medal after Essendon’s Gavin Wanganeen in 1993, and also claimed his first Club Champion award and All-Australian selection in 2003.

Just three years later, Goodes would claim his second Brownlow and become just the second player in the club’s history, alongside Bob Skilton (three), to win the medal on multiple occasions.

Goodes beat the field with 26 votes to finish three votes clear of Western Bulldog Scott West, with West Coast pair Daniel Kerr (ineligible) and Chris Judd the next best vote-getters with 22 and 21, respectively.

Despite not polling a vote in the first five rounds, the Swans champion was voted best-on-ground in four of the next five rounds, and led the count by just one votes after 21 rounds.

The hot favourite ahead of the count, Goodes was a standout in the Swans round 22 win over Carlton with 26 touches, nine marks and four goals, and subsequently polled three votes to become the first dual Brownlow medallist since Robert Harvey claimed his second in 1998.

Repeating his 2003 effort, Goodes won the 2006 Club Champion award and was named All-Australian alongside teammates Craig Bolton and Ryan O’Keefe.