Over 123 years the Swans have had lots of centuries, a good number of double centuries and a sprinkling of triple centuries. But very few quadruple centuries.
There were more than 400 games at Lake Oval (697 to be precise) and the Swans have recorded more than home wins over the club’s history (658 of the 1170 wins to date). Bob Pratt, Michael O’Loughlin, Barry Hall, Adam Goodes, Tony Lockett and Bob Skilton each kicked more than 400 goals in their careers, and the 400th Swans player was Rolland Fairley, a 22-year-old lad from Shepparton who played 10 games with South Melbourne in 1927-28.
On Saturday afternoon there will be another quadruple century when the SCG hosts the Swans for the 400th time.
It will extend a proud and rich history between the Swans and the hallowed turf, which had hosted Australian football since 1881, Test cricket since 1882 and, among other sports, tennis, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, cycling, baseball, motor racing and the 1938 Empire Games.
It is a union that began on Sunday afternoon 15 June 1980 when the Swans, still known at the time as South Melbourne, based in Melbourne and sitting fifth on the 12-team VFL ladder, played fourth-placed Geelong.
Coached by Ian Stewart and captained by Barry Round, the Swans had won the Round 1 encounter between the sides at Kardinia Park, but in Round 12 the Cats, under coach Billy Goggin and captain Ian Nankervis, led all the way and prevailed by 63 points.
David Clarke, a 1972 All-Australian, 14-time Victorian representative and three-time Geelong best and fairest winner, was best afield with 29 possessions and four goals. Kevin Goss topped the Swans possession count with 24, while Michael Smith kicked four goals.
The often controversial John ‘Sam’ Newman, in his 292nd game and two months short of retirement, had 19 possessions, kicked one goal and conceded nine free kicks.
The Swans’ first game at the SCG was part of a pre-cursor to the AFL’s push into New South Wales, which later saw South Melbourne play each of their home games in Sydney in 1982 and relocate to the Harbour City in 1983.
Already eight AFL premiership games involving other clubs had been played at the SCG. There were two in 1903, one in 1904 and one in 1952. As talks of a possible Sydney-based team in the AFL began behind closed doors there were two more games in 1979.
In Round 5 of 1980 Footscray played North Melbourne, and in Round 9 it was Essendon against Carlton. In Round 12 a crowd of 13,209 turned out to see the famous red and white of the Swans on show for the first time.
The Swans side for this historic occasion in notional positions was:
B: David Ackerly, Rod Carter, Russell Campbell
HB: Francis Jackson, Max Kruse, David McLeish
C: Paul Morwood, Greg Smith, Kevin Goss
HF: Tony Morwood, Graham Teasdale, Wayne Carroll
F: Bernie Evans, John Roberts, Michael Smith
R: Barry Round (capt), Peter Morrison, Stevie Wright
INT: Stephen Eather, Mark Fraser
The Swans’ first SCG win came in their next visit to the ground in Round 17, 1981 when they beat Collingwood by 18 points. Their first SCG win after the club had relocated to Sydney was in Round 1, 1982, when they accounted for Melbourne by 29 points. It was the club’s third game at the SCG.
The Swans’ 23rd game at the SCG was the ground’s first AFL night match for premiership points. It was Round 19, 1983 against Geelong. And since then it has been one memorable moment after another.
Game 41 – Mark Browning became the ninth player to post 200 games for the Swans and the first to do so at the SCG.
Game 55 – Rod Carter kicked the only goal of his 293-game career. It was his 215th game – a League record for the longest wait by any player to their first goal.
Game 66 – The Swans kicked 13 goals in the final quarter to beat Essendon 26.20 (236) to 11.7 (73) in Round 17, 1987 and post the club’s highest score and biggest win. Warwick Capper (6), Stevie Wright (5) and Gerard Healy (4) led the goal-kicking onslaughts, while Brett Scott, with 31 possessions and three goals, collected three Brownlow Medal votes.
Game 89 – Greg Williams accumulated a club record 53 possessions against St Kilda in Round 19 1989. He had 25 kicks and 28 handballs. And he kicked six goals. Next best on the Swans possession list at the SCG is Greg Smith, who had 44 against St Kilda in Game 9 in 1982. Barry Mitchell had 43 possessions in Game 81 against West Coast in 1989. Josh Kennedy had 42 possessions in Game 361 – a 2016 semi-final against Adelaide, and Jake Lloyd 42 in Game 391 against West Coast in 2019.
Game 91 – Stevie Wright played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 100 – Sydney, coached by Col Kinnear, hosted Brisbane in Round 20, 1990 and won by 31 points. Mark Eustice collected three Brownlow Medal votes but sadly the crowd of 5,272 was the smallest recorded in SCG history.
Game 101 – Richmond’s Michael Mitchell kicked the 1990 AFL Goal of the Year in Round 22 against the Swans, converted after a seven-bounce run.
Game 110 – Dennis Carroll played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 129 – The Swans broke a club record 26-game losing streak in Round 13, 1993 when they beat Melbourne by 40 points.
Game 131 – In Round 18, 1993 a pig bearing the name ‘Plugger’ written on its side was released by patrons onto the SCG during the game against St Kilda. The game was delayed until Sydney’s Darren Holmes removed it from the playing arena.
Game 136 – In Round 7, 1994 Tony Lockett, then playing with St Kilda, collided with Sydney’s Peter Caven in one of the most frightening incidents seen in an AFL game. Lockett was handed an eight-match suspension. Caven missed 12 weeks with a cheek-bone fracture but returned to play the last four games of the season. The pair were teammates at the Swans the following year.
Game 137 – Geelong’s Gary Ablett Sr kicked an SCG record 14 goals in Round 8, 1994 against Sydney.
Game 154 – Tony Lockett, playing with Sydney, kicked the 1000th goal of his career in Round 21, 1995 against Fremantle.
Game 165 – Tony Lockett kicked 12 goals for Sydney against Richmond in Round 19, 1996 – a club record at the ground. Lockett also kicked 12 goals for Sydney in Game 188 against Port Adelaide at the SCG in Round 16, 1998. Lockett also kicked 12 goals for St Kilda against Sydney in Game 105 in 1991, while Brian Taylor kicked 12 goals for Collingwood against Sydney in Game 43 in 1985.
Game 176 – Sydney posted a club record 17th win in a row in Round 17, 1997 against the Western Bulldogs.
Game 177 – The SCG hosted its first AFL final when Sydney played Hawthorn in the 1996 qualifying final. Craig O’Brien kicked five goals for the Swans as they came from three points down at three-quarter time to win by six points on route to the 1996 Grand Final against North Melbourne.
Game 198 – Tony Lockett kicked his 1300th career goal against Collingwood in Round 22, 1998 to break the long-standing League record of 1299 held by Collingwood’s Gordon Coventry since 1937.
Game 200 – In Round 14, 1999 Sydney, coached by Rodney Eade, led the Western Bulldogs by 40 points at quarter-time but lost by 22 points.
Game 216 – Paul Kelly played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 229 – Daryn Cresswell played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 235 – Tony Lockett played his 98th games for the Swans and his 281st and last AFL game overall in Round 12, 2002 against Geelong. At 36 years 98 days ‘Plugger’ was then and still is the SCG’s oldest player.
Game 260 – Michael O’Loughlin played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 282 – Adam Goodes played his 200th game for the Swans
Game 268 – Nick Davis kicked the last four goals of a low-scoring semi-final in 2005 against Geelong, including the match-winner 10 seconds from full-time. The Swans won by three points. Two weeks later they won the premiership.
Game 300 – In Round 3, 2010 the Swans hosted Richmond and after a 6.4 to 0.4 first quarter cruised to a 55-point win.
Game 327 – Jarrad McVeigh played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 355 – Heath Grundy played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 373 – The SCG hosted a ground record attendance of 46,323 in the 2017 elimination final against Essendon. After the Bombers kicked the opening goal the Swans posted the next 10 and won by 65 points.
Game 378 – Josh Kennedy played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 379 – Dan Hannebery played his 200th game for the Swans.
Game 396 – Lance Franklin played his 300th AFL game as Heath Grundy, Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh and Nick Smith retired.
Overall, Swans games record-holder Adam Goodes has played most games at the SCG at 143. Michael O’Loughlin (136), Jude Bolton (128), Mark Bayes (125), Daryn Cresswell (123), Jarrad McVeigh (122), Paul Kelly (116), Andrew Dunkley (115), Leo Barry (103), Stuart Maxfield (102), Ryan O’Keeffe (102) and Dennis Carroll (100) also played 100 games at the SCG.
Tony Lockett is the all-time leading goal-kicker at the SCG with 295, followed by Michael O’Loughlin (246), Lance Franklin (205), Adam Goodes (190) Barry Hall (176), Warwick Capper (176), Daryn Cresswell (130), Tony Morwood (117), Barry Mitchell (112), Paul Kelly (108), Dale Lewis (107), Stevie Wright (103), Mark Bayes (100).
