Sydney have made their best start to a season in more than a century, overcoming a dreadful start to win by 30 points at the SCG on Sunday evening.
The victory came after the Swans trailed by 35 points midway through the second quarter without a goal. John Longmire’s side kicked 16 majors to seven after quarter-time. It was an imposing victory from the untouchable top team over another contender. The Cats were third at the start of the round.
Sydney were cheered home by a near-capacity crowd of 44,714, their third-best home and away attendance at the SCG, giving them an average crowd across six home games of almost 40,000.
It marks the Swans’ best start to a season since their old South Melbourne days in 1918, when they recorded 15 wins from their first 16 games.
The Swans were cruising to victory, only for the Cats to come charging back with three consecutive goals late in the game, reducing a 29-point deficit to 12 points before the rampant hosts blew it out again. Two came from Geelong’s best player Jeremy Cameron, who attempted to lift his team.
The Swans’ midfield were outstanding once again. After five goals in 10 minutes a 35-point deficit had been reduced to just five points by half-time thanks to Sydney’s gold-plated engine room, Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney and Errol Gulden.
Tom Papley celebrates a goal during the Swans’ remarkable come-from-behind win over fellow flag fancies Geelong.Credit: Getty
The addition of All-Australian ruckman Brodie Grundy and the hard=bitten Taylor Adams made the gold plating even thicker, with Grundy not only in the ruck but at ground level, where he plays as an extra big-bodied midfielder.
Warner made mistakes at times in his relentless drive to take the Swans forward, but it was his relentless drive which was pivotal to them taking control of the game. It was fitting that he sealed the game, winning a race towards goal to chip through the posts amid pandemonium.