Someone has to lose the AFL grand final – but losing like this?

It was over by the end of the first quarter. Twenty-three rounds and a nail-biting preliminary final, all leading up to thousands of Sydneysiders making the migration to Melbourne for the grand final and our hearts were broken by the end of the first quarter.

The Swans team that turned up at the MCG on Saturday looked nothing like the team that had stared down Collingwood the week before, the team that had clawed its way into the finals. Of course there’s never ever anything wrong with losing — someone has to do it — but losing like this?

Sydney supporters turned up in droves but it didn’t take long for the mood to shift. Credit:Justin McManus

The afternoon started as well as it could. A crisp and sunny spring day, a joyous and convivial atmosphere as 100,000 fans poured into the stadium. And even though us Swans were clearly outnumbered, in the stands the bright red and white stood out, and if you were in a Sydney-dominated section you could almost convince yourself we had the numbers.

But it didn’t take long for the mood to shift.

It was hard to muster up the energy to cheer “Syyyyyydney” when the on-field action was so grim. The cheers quickly turned to loud swears and frustration. One Sydney fan yelled at Buddy, “One more year? We don’t need you for another year — we need you today!”

Early on it was tempting for some to blame the umpires (it always is) but this result had nothing to do with the umpires. It was all about the competition’s best team destroying the second best, a team that could have and should have played much better.

Going into the game no-one thought the Swans were the favourite. And making it into the grand final is an extraordinary enough result. But watching your team make mistakes they had avoided all year, watching a beloved forward line fail to deliver, watching the grins on Geelong fans get wider and wider … it was hard to not be disappointed with the performance. The thrill of sitting in the stands of one of the world’s greatest stadiums to watch your team play can dissipate quickly when what you’re watching is your team being drubbed.

Even those of us with realistic expectations of Sydney’s performance were hoping for something more like the 2016 clash against the Bulldogs, rather than the 2014 annihilation we faced at the hands of Hawthorn. In the end this was even worse. It’s hard to be angry at a team that played so beautifully all year, and finished as runners-up — but it’s easy to be disappointed when you know how good Sydney is, and how far from their best they performed.

What else is there to say? Thank god for the gorgeous weather and Robbie Williams.

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