Swans chat Swans rivalries

[bloodspirit]

This article on the club website today - On this day: March 24, 2012 - The first Sydney derby (sydneyswans.com.au) - prompts me to ask: who are our greatest rivals?

I would suggest that, in this century we have built significant rivalries with Hawthorn and Geelong, and also (more so in the noughties) with West Coast, as the teams we competed with most for success. We often seemed to have the wood on Geelong, and Hawthorn had the wood on us. (I'm not sure if stats bear this out but I imagine in the past 10 years we've beaten Geelong 2-1 and Hawthorn have prevailed over us by a similar margin. I reckon we would have a better record against Geelong over this period than any other club.)

Who would rate the Giants as our biggest rival? Are there some here that, post-2016, most love beating the Bulldogs? Others might revel in crushing Collingwood. Personally, I'm not especially fussed about the Bulldogs or the Pies, but I do like beating the Giants, especially since they have become stronger opposition. By far and away I most savour victories over Hawthorn. I also enjoy having the edge over Geelong and like beating West Coast. I have greater than average enmity for Carlton but they have never seemed that significant for me to particularly care about beating them, more than anyone else, when we play.

Of course it's always great to win, and to defeat our opposition, but there are some opponents who it is more bitter to lose to and sweeter to beat. Who do you think they are for us? Who are they for you?

[Blue Sun]

Bulldogs for me. I will never forgive nor forget the injustice of the 2016 GF.

The Hawks deserved their victories, so too the Eagles in ‘06 (despite the drug controversies).

I feel that one day we will have a genuine rivalry with the Giants, but this will take time to develop.

[Markwebbos]

Bulldogs for me. I will never forgive nor forget the injustice of the 2016 GF.

The Hawks deserved their victories, so too the Eagles in ‘06 (despite the drug controversies).

I feel that one day we will have a genuine rivalry with the Giants, but this will take time to develop.

AFL has definitely tried to manufacture one. I think it may genuinely exist with the players. A bit harder between fans until GW$ actually have some of their own

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Geelong was actually our first rivalry, it emerged when the newly amalgamated South Melbourne/Albert Park club was repeatedly shaded by Geelong before replacing it as the VFA's superpower.

Our second oldest was Port Melbourne - which was a weird rivalry as the two teams played in different leagues (Ports surprise exclusion from the VFL in favor of St Kilda was possibly due to South's skulduggery). In any case that rivalry was still alive when I was a kid. I'd hoped to see it rekindled in the East-Coast-Whatever-it-is-now-League, but we haven't been fixtured against them this year.

After that, Collingwood and Carlton have been intermittently fierce rivals for more than a century.

Wet Toast, Bulldogs appear to be the most ephemeral of things.

Whereas GWS seem likely to irritate the Swans by their mere existence for years to come.

[KSAS]

St.Kilda were also our traditional rivals back in the days when both teams occupied opposite ends of Albert Park Lake (battle of the lake). 1970 Semi Final and regular player movements between both teams over the years added spice to the rivalry.

Carlton in 1993 who wanted to dance on our graves by requesting to play their away games at the SCG at our pending demise (and almost got away with it). Poached Peter Bedford, Rhys-Jones, Bernie Evans, Greg Williams and attempt at Papley.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Yep, adjacency and predation are good sources of acrimony.

You forgot Ian Stewart from list of Carlton predations - possibly the most debilitating of all. We were really going somewhere under Ian, his departure opened the door to the disasterous Daniher deal.

[KSAS]

Yep, i forgot about Ian Stewart! Thanks for the reminder RNR! I'd thought at the time had we retained all the Morwood & Daniher bros we would've been perennial finalists!

[barry]

I don't think we have any real long lasting rivals. This year, of there is a team of like to beat, it would be Collingwood, but probably 17 other sides day that too

[Goal Sneak]

Pies are the team I enjoy beating the most. That winning run they had against us a few years ago was hard to take. I still can't get my care factor to register in regard to GWS, despite T Greene being the dirtiest, smarmy little grub in the league.

[royboy42]

Indulge me for a sec with a tiny thread drift. But Fitzroy/Collingwood for a hundred years was the daddy of all rivalries. Coll/Carlton is new stuff..Queens parade was the border for hundreds of battles. Back to business....sorry.

[neilfws]

We often seemed to have the wood on Geelong, and Hawthorn had the wood on us. (I'm not sure if stats bear this out but I imagine in the past 10 years we've beaten Geelong 2-1 and Hawthorn have prevailed over us by a similar margin. I reckon we would have a better record against Geelong over this period than any other club.)

You know the word "stats" will bring out some nerd with the numbers, don't you

If my numbers are right: for seasons 2011-2020, 8 wins from 18 games versus Geelong, or 44.4%. Interestingly, we've done better at their ground over that period (W4 L4) than at the SCG (W2 L4).

Better than any other club? Well we are up there in the top 3. Collingwood have beaten Geelong in 8 out of 17 (47.1%) and West Coast in 6 out of 12 (50%).

I was surprised too. I think our memories have been deceived by memorable wins, like the 110 margin at the SCG in 2014, and the win "for Jarrad" at Kardinia in 2011.

Versus Hawthorn: 8 wins from 21 games, 38.1%. Which still puts us in the top 4 against them by percentage wins. Incredibly GWS have won 44.4% of games vs Hawthorn, but that's only 4 wins from 9 total games.

As to rivals, for me the mid-2000s West Coast was a big one. There was that classic period when 4 consecutive games were decided by something like a total of 13 points. I think teams go through interesting periods of time versus one another but I don't know that I'd call it rivalry as such, which seems to be deeper-seated with a long history and often geographical (neighbouring suburbs for example - does that make North rivals?) I do still like beating Hawthorn, due to that period when the Swans seemed to be at their mercy after the 2014 GF humiliation.

[bloodspirit]

You know the word "stats" will bring out some nerd with the numbers, don't you

If my numbers are right: for seasons 2011-2020, 8 wins from 18 games versus Geelong, or 44.4%. Interestingly, we've done better at their ground over that period (W4 L4) than at the SCG (W2 L4).

Better than any other club? Well we are up there in the top 3. Collingwood have beaten Geelong in 8 out of 17 (47.1%) and West Coast in 6 out of 12 (50%).

I was surprised too. I think our memories have been deceived by memorable wins, like the 110 margin at the SCG in 2014, and the win "for Jarrad" at Kardinia in 2011.

Versus Hawthorn: 8 wins from 21 games, 38.1%. Which still puts us in the top 4 against them by percentage wins. Incredibly GWS have won 44.4% of games vs Hawthorn, but that's only 4 wins from 9 total games.

As to rivals, for me the mid-2000s West Coast was a big one. There was that classic period when 4 consecutive games were decided by something like a total of 13 points. I think teams go through interesting periods of time versus one another but I don't know that I'd call it rivalry as such, which seems to be deeper-seated with a long history and often geographical (neighbouring suburbs for example - does that make North rivals?) I do still like beating Hawthorn, due to that period when the Swans seemed to be at their mercy after the 2014 GF humiliation.

Well thanks for putting that in the context of some actual facts. It seems I was wrong in every way! Hence the value of actually reviewing the data. I'm glad you did this and was kind of hoping someone would. Of course it would have been better if I had been vindicated. Then again maybe not because I think you have shown that overall our record was better than I had feared.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

neighbouring suburbs for example - does that make North rivals?

North and South aren't really neighbours (that's possibly why the amalgamation was a failure). But Port and St Kilda were our nearest neighbours, and we did have rivalries with them.