IT HAD been a long summer for Charlie Curnow and his ex, the Carlton Football Club.

Their reunion was an awkward first half, his every move closely followed by Jacob Weitering.

But after a few false starts, Curnow finally got on the board in the third term with a goal, which was immediately followed by a huge scuffle as tensions built up over months – exacerbated by Ollie Florent and Will Hayward also swapping allegiances – bubbled over in a testy match.

Curnow's major came amid an astonishing 12-goal onslaught of a third term for the Swans that set up a statement-making 63-point win, with Matt Roberts just one of the surprise stars for the quarter with two absolute stunners.

It was a near-unbelievable turnaround from the Swans, who were jittery, slow and riddled with errors in the first half, before Isaac Heeney, Errol Gulden and co found their legs, securing the 20.12 (132) to 10.9 (69) victory at the SCG.

It's hard to believe, but at half-time, the Matildas up the coast were comfortably lapping Sydney when it came to goals on the board (just two for the Swans), until Justin McInerney and Logan McDonald kicked off the scoring onslaught, combining for three in four minutes.

Curnow's second was the 12th of the third term. Carlton had led by 22 three minutes into the third quarter after gentle giant Marc Pittonet snagged his third, and trailed by 39 at the final break, after a seemingly never-ending 41-minute term, watching the ball sail over their heads through the big sticks time and time again.

Brodie Kemp – coming off a season decimated by a torn Achilles – had kicked the opening goal of 2026, but that bright spark and the forward's strong first half was a distant memory for Carlton fans.

All eyes were on Curnow, but it was Hayward who struck the first major blow against his ex-side, taking advantage of a frazzled Swans backline who were particularly vulnerable to the fast ball in the first half, celebrating to the crowd with a "calm down" motion.

Prized draft pick Jagga Smith might have had to wait a year to debut due to a torn ACL, but made up for lost time, the Blue recording nine disposals in his debut quarter, while Jai Serong couldn't get a game at Hawthorn but had eight touches in his first term for the Swans.

The Blues moved the ball in waves and looked particularly dangerous out in space in the first half, but were let down by their disposal into attack, and ultimately didn't take advantage of their early dominance.

Debutant and father-son Harry Dean can hold his head up high after a baptism of fire in defence, but Carlton was seriously exposed for foot speed on the outside of the contest in the second half, and was seriously undisciplined as the game unravelled, including skipper Patrick Cripps.

Adding salt to the wound, Adam Saad was pulled from the game in the fourth term with hamstring tightness.

Sydney's pseudo sub
In lieu of the official substitute of years past, Sydney appeared to opt for partial subs throughout the game with its fifth rotation. The boisterous Tom Papley was nearly exploding on the boundary, waiting until the 20-minute mark of the game to get on the field, while skipper Callum Mills also spent a good 18 minutes of the first term on the bench. The Swans appeared to change tact after the first term, reverting to normal rotations.

A statistical onslaught
Sydney recorded 108 disposals to just 56 Carlton touches in the third term. Contested possessions read 40-30, inside 50s a thumping 24-11. And the score? 75 to 26. Sydney became just the third VFL/AFL team to have both a goalless term and at least 12 goals in a quarter in the same game, with both other occurrences happening in the high-scoring 1970s.

A stray knee and a possible nervous wait
Isaac Heeney was the victim of an accidental/maybe accidentally-on-purpose knee to the head as former teammate Florent attempted to hurdle the superstar who was lying on the ground. Heeney required a concussion test, but was cleared to play out the second half. Commentating on SEN, Toby Greene called it a "Shane Mumford special", and it'll be curious to see what, if any, action the MRO takes.

SYDNEY            0.3     2.6     14.9     20.12 (132)
CARLTON          2.2     4.4     8.6        10.9 (69)
 
GOALS
Sydney: Curnow 3, McInerney 3, Amartey 3, Roberts 2, Heeney 2, Warner, Sheldrick, Rowbottom, Rosas, Papley, McDonald, Grundy
Carlton: Pittonet 3, Ainsworth 2, Moir, McKay, Kemp, E.Hollands, Hayward
 
BEST
Sydney: Gulden, McInerney, Heeney, Warner, Serong, Roberts
Carlton: Walsh, Lord, Smith, Pittonet
 
INJURIES
Sydney: Nil
Carlton: Saad (hamstring tightness)
 
Crowd: 40,372 at the SCG