In the lead-up to the 2024 AFL grand final, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire focused on not letting the past dictate the future. He had experienced the raw pain of losing three grand finals – 2014, 2016 and 2022 – but this year Longmire and his team had every reason to believe it would be different.
The Swans had won the minor premiership, then exorcised further demons. They beat the Giants for the first time in September in the qualifying final before demolishing Port Adelaide in the preliminary final, showing their crushing loss to the same team in round 21 was an aberration.
They had form, confidence and a team that had taken on the painful lessons of the 81-point grand final defeat by Geelong in 2022. The players were older and ready to thrive on the biggest stage.
Then, against the Brisbane Lions, the Swans inexplicably froze again. They lost by 60 points, and this time the pain of the loss stung worse than ever. What caused the Swans to lose their fourth consecutive grand final and can they recover ahead of the 2025 season? We speak to four experts.
The Bloods legend
Jude Bolton won two premierships with the Swans in 2005 and 2012 under coaches Paul Roos and Longmire, giving him a unique perspective on what went wrong against Brisbane and how it can be resolved.
Sydney Swans Jarrad McVeigh and Jude Bolton celebrate victory in the 2012 grand final.Credit: Pat Scala
As a player, Bolton was renowned for his toughness and willingness to throw his body into tackles. The Swans finished the 2024 grand final with 45 tackles, far below their season average of 58. Bolton believes the midfield defensive efforts can be questioned. “There’s some footage that would probably be a bit damning of certain mids at times, not willing to go the other way [in defence],” Bolton said.
Next year, it has to be different: “They’ve got to compete against some of those big body mids, [Carlton’s] Patrick Cripps and the like.”
Bolton was one of the players who helped forge the famed Bloods culture and believes this playing group can again reach a grand final. The critical issue is not athletic ability, but mental focus.
“I think they’ve got enough talent … but it’s the mental aspect of it, and that’s only going to grow now on the back of the loss of the [2024] grand final because … even if they have an incredible run … people are going to go, oh, they’ll choke at the final stage.
“You’ve got to be really strong in your mindset and have confidence that you’ve got to be able to deal with that when that comes.”
The sports psychologist
Michael Inglis has worked as a senior sports psychologist for the AFL’s North Melbourne, Tasmania cricket and rugby union’s Melbourne Rebels, giving him a wide range of experience in dealing with teams facing doubt and pressure.
He said talent was not in doubt at the Swans, so their biggest challenge next year would be mental rather than physical.
“This has been four [defeats] in a row for them, but I really focus on the last two because this particular group has only been the last two,” Inglis said. “I remember [2022] was like, you could put that down to a bad day once, but then it happens twice in three years …
Swans captain Dane Rampe speaks after the 2024 grand final defeat.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“So the most dangerous thing right now is this becomes this is a mental glitch that they have, and that becomes part of their story and identity, which is a really, really dangerous path.”
For Inglis, part of the solution is using brutally honest reviews to assess every player and the collective leadership group on what exactly went wrong in grand final week. But first, he believes the dust of the defeat needs to settle.
“There’s going to be time for self-reflection, and that’s actually really healthy,” Inglis said. “I’d want them to spend two months away considering all of this, but I wouldn’t be ignoring it.
“On day one back, I’d be like let’s start … understanding what actually happened for us [mentally] … that day and let’s address this now and try and get that environment open so we know how to build a program for the next year.”
After the review, Inglis would create a bespoke plan for each player to help them build psychological resilience.
“I would be putting that together between the review and round one next year. So all that [mental] skill-based work that needs to be done … I’d have it all done and ready to go, so they’re ready for the season ahead next year.”
The 2022 Swan
Former ruckman Tom Hickey has settled into life as a retired athlete working as a business development manager in Brisbane, but his affection for the Swans and his former teammates hasn’t dimmed. He understood the bitter disappointment of 2024 better than most, having experienced the brutal defeat by Geelong in 2022.
“It was pretty raw, I was really jealous all week, just for that opportunity for redemption, when you retire knowing that you’ll never get that chance [to play a grand final] ever again,” Hickey said.
“In that first quarter, we were just winning the contest, but not defending very well. And I thought, well, if we start defending, we’ll win, and then if we start losing the contest, we’ll lose, kind of a flip of the coin, and we start to lose the contest a little bit. That’s where they [Brisbane] got that run on. Obviously, it’s pretty hard to watch, and my heart went out to the boys.”
Hickey played one more season for the Swans after 2022’s devastation and feels there are lessons to be learnt for 2025.
“Horse [Longmire] is really good at dealing with [defeat] when it comes, and I think that’s what they’ll do. I don’t think they’ll shy away from this loss, I don’t think they’ll shy away from reviewing it,” Hickey said.
“My hope is that they don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. After ’22 everyone had a plan that all the talk in the media and stuff was that Swans are too small, and they need to put on weight, and I think there was a big focus on a lot of guys putting on weight, and then through that, there was a lot of injuries that preseason.
“One thing you can see, and it’s plain as day, is when teams stay healthy, they get that continuity, that’s when things start to click, and that’s when they win games.
“The Swans were the best team all year, for a big part of that. They had a couple of down days during the year, and the grand final was one of those down days, but they are still more than capable of doing it again and going one better.”
The chairman
Andrew Pridham became the Swans chairman in December 2013, giving him insight into the last four grand final defeats. Although each loss brought unique challenges, Pridham feels that against Brisbane it stung that bit harder for everyone at the club.
The AFL grand final was a tough watch for Swans fans.Credit: Justin McManus
“I think you’d find that everyone at the club would say that this was the most disappointing [defeat] and I think there are multiple reasons for that, not least of which, we just had such a great season playing such great football, we won more games than any other club. We were on top of the table for most of the year,” Pridham said.
“I think internally, there was a lot of expectation that this would be one that we would get, and you lose a grand final, you’re bitterly disappointed, I can assure you …
“We’ve been so consistent getting into grand finals and in 2012 we won, and then to have lost four consecutively that we’ve competed in, just makes it hurt that much more. But I can tell you, from a personal perspective, it makes me all the more determined going forward.”
Pridham fielded hundreds of calls in the leadup to the grand final with people looking for tickets and has similarly been in demand after the game with fans wanting to understand what went wrong against Brisbane.
In business, Pridham built a successful career in the financial sector by understanding a solution can generally be found through calm and efficient decisions. Pridham has no doubt that his club can respond next season.
“As you process it, I sort of think to myself, [I’m] disappointed, but not discouraged,” Pridham said. “We have been here before, obviously in ’22 we were absolutely demolished and a lot of people sort of said, well, that’s that for the team, and within two seasons, we’re in the grand final again, and finished minor premiers.
“So I think you’ve got to have perspective … our playing list was awarded more Brownlow votes than any other club, and we have a young list, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t grieve the loss and lost opportunity, but it also doesn’t mean you drop your bundle and don’t methodically work through what we can do better and what we did right and what we did wrong. You’ve just got to look at it calmly and move forward.”
