JOHN Longmire has guided Sydney to another Grand Final – a fifth from 14 seasons in charge – to continue his stunning record for the Swans since taking over from Paul Roos ahead of the 2011 season.
The 53-year-old has one of the best coaching records (14 finals wins) and winning percentages (63%) of the modern era, but needs a second premiership to cement his status among the best coaches since the VFL became the AFL in 1990.
SWANS v POWER Full match coverage and stats
Longmire has now won five of six preliminary finals after Sydney made light work of Port Adelaide at the SCG on Friday night and will now get a chance to end a run of three Grand Finals without a win next Saturday against Geelong or Brisbane.
The 1999 premiership player guided the Swans all the way in his second season at the helm in 2012, but since then Sydney has been smashed in two deciders – Hawthorn by 63 points in 2014 and Geelong by 81 points in 2022 – around the 22-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in 2016.
While Jock McHale's record may never be beaten (seven premierships from 16 Grand Finals), Longmire is now level with more recent coaching icons Leigh Matthews (four from five) and Alastair Clarkson (four from five) for Grand Final appearances, ahead of Damien Hardwick (three from three) and Chris Scott (two from three).
Sydney won 13 of its first 14 games to start the year and has overcome a late-season malaise – it lost five of six at one point, including a 112-point thumping at the hands of the Power in round 22 – to claim its first minor premiership since 2016.
The 'Bloods' have generated one of the most revered cultures in the AFL this century. First under Roos and then under Longmire. The Swans are now heading to the final Saturday in September for a remarkable seventh time since the club ended a 72-year premiership drought.
And they did it by ending a quirky streak against Port Adelaide.
The last time Sydney beat the Power was the year Mack Horton won the 400m gold medal in Rio De Janeiro, the year the Chicago Cubs ended a 108-year World Series curse, and the year Leonardo Di Caprio finally won an Oscar for his performance in The Revenant.
After eight straight losses across the past eight seasons, the Swans have beaten the Power for the first time since 2016. They were never challenged after quarter-time. Sydney had the worst first-quarter record of all eight finalists, winning only nine of 24 before Friday night, including 13 opening terms with two goals or less. But after kicking four goals to two they were away at the SCG, coasting to a 25-point advantage at the main break, before reaching the three-quarter time 40 points ahead.
This time of the year is as much about the coaches as the players. Ken Hinkley absorbed the attention of the football world last weekend after a controversial finish to Port Adelaide's semi-final win over Hawthorn. The Power have now lost all four preliminary finals under Hinkley and will have to wait at least another year to play in the final game of the season for the first time since 2007. Losses on this weekend are haunting.
Luke Parker is the sole survivor from Sydney's last premiership and is heading back to a fifth Grand Final after surviving the most challenging season of his career to date. Longmire was in his second season in charge then. Jarrad McVeigh was a teammate, not an assistant coach. Jude Bolton was still playing, not commentating for Channel 7.
Dane Rampe arrived at Sydney months after that 10-point win over Hawthorn, after being overlooked in four national drafts. The Swans plucked the then 22-year-old from the local league down the road with minimal expectations.
Rampe had just won AFL Sydney's league best and fairest after starring for UNSW/Eastern Suburbs, but not much was expected of the Clovelly boy.
Since being selected at pick No.37 in the Rookie Draft a couple of months after the Swans last won the premiership in 2012, the now 34-year-old has become a club great, captaining the club over five seasons, winning a Bob Skilton Medal and All-Australian blazer.
Rampe is still here, still hunting a premiership medal, after playing a brilliant role in his 250th game for the Swans on Friday night.
Now the Swans are heading back to another decider in a game that will shape legacies of many – none moreso than the coach – in this part of the country.
