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.
#7 - First win after 26 consecutive losses, 1993
Six games into Ron Barassi’s stint as coach of the Sydney Swans, the club suffered its 26th consecutive loss when it was defeated by Footscray at the Western Oval by 25 points.
The following week, the Swans hosted Melbourne at the SCG. The Neil Balme-coached Demons went into the match as red-hot favourites after successive wins over Collingwood, and eventual premiers, Essendon, but no one could have predicted what would happen on this Sunday afternoon in late June.
The Swans went to the main change in front by three points after a high-scoring first half, and the small crowd of just 8,250 started to believe that perhaps this would be the day that the losing streak which they had endured since a win over the Brisbane Bears in round 8, 1992, would finally end.
Led by former Fitzroy star forward Richard Osborne, who the Swans had selected with their number one pick at the pre-season draft, the Swans went on a ten-goal to nil blitz in the third quarter to blow the margin out to 11 goals at the final break.
With the result of the game beyond doubt, emotions began to sweep over the SCG with many long-suffering fans breaking into tears as the Swans cruised home to win by 40 points - the club’s first win in 415 days.
“I cried a little,” admitted Barassi after the game.
“I feel extra good. I haven’t been here as long as those other guys. They’re really crying.”
The game was the high-point of Osborne’s brief 16-game stint with the Swans. The dead-eyed forward produced a sensational performance to finish with ten goals, and became the first Swans player to reach double figures in a game since Warwick Capper kicked ten against Richmond in round 8, 1986.
Remarkably for Osborne, his most celebrated Swans game came just over a month after he was driven off the SCG in an ambulance following a sickening, accidental head clash with team mate Dale Lewis that left the number 44 convulsing on the turf.
Osborne received two Brownlow votes for his ten-goal performance against the Demons, with current St Kilda coach Scott Watters voted best on ground with 20 touches. In just the 18th game of his AFL career, Swans youngster Daryn Cresswell was also instrumental with 18 possessions and three goals.
The Swans did not win another game for the 1993 season, but performances did improve and the darkest days of the club appeared to be in the past as the club began to turn things around on and off the field.
