PARTICIPANTS don't tend to dwell on history.

When Sydney Swans coach John Longmire is asked whether being defeated last year at the semi-final stage has acted as a spur to this week's game, he expresses the general sentiment well.

"You worry about, as coaches and players, your preparation during the week and you make sure you get that as right as you can. It's about mentally preparing for the game and really what has happened in the past is not that relevant," he said.
 
However, those of us who are more of the 'don't do, think' persuasion can't help but reflect when it's September, and you are watching the Swans train at the MCG.

Triggers to great moments reside every which way you look.

Assistant coach Stuart Dew stands talking on the half-forward flank about 80 metres diagonally and 1082 days from where and when he kicked the first of his two game-breaking goals in the third quarter of the 2008 Grand Final. 

There's Leigh Tudor lurking around the edges too. Now on the Swans' coaching staff, he is most famous as a player for centring the ball to Gary Ablett for his after-the-siren goal in the 1994 preliminary final.

The explosion of supporter mayhem that day stands in eerie contrast to the silent, empty stands reaching for the skies and surrounding the Swans now.

Tudor played in the next two Grand Finals with the Cats without winning one. But he has sat in the coaches box in the past four Grand Finals - two with Geelong and two with St Kilda - and has one premiership to show for it. Not many others can claim that without being household names.

There are five players - Jude Bolton, Ryan O'Keefe, Adam Goodes, Tadhg Kennelly and Lewis Roberts-Thomson - training who were around on September 24, 2005 - the Sydney Swans' greatest moment.

That's not exactly surprising. Amazingly, at least one of O'Keefe, Bolton or Goodes has been part of every Swans team since the 1998 second semi-final (which the Swans lost to the eventual premiers Adelaide).

Bolton and Goodes made their debut in 1999, O'Keefe in 2000.

Swans coach John Longmire strolls over to face reporters, his pleasant demeanour always on show.

He has MCG moments too. He played his final game for North Melbourne in the 1999 Grand Final. In the rooms under the Southern Stand that day, Longmire stood around reporters and expressed his relief at having played in a premiership at the age of 29. He had just made it to the line, but he had made it.

The fact it was his 200th game had faded into the background during an emotional week but when he handballed the footy during a tight third quarter the roar was palpable. When he took his medal it was a favourite son that took the dais. If he can remember that moment now, he hides it well. 

His champion, dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes is playing his 300th game and taking the same low-key approach as his coach once did.

Goodes has reached that milestone quicker than any man in history and in better form than most when passing that mark. Longmire laughs when asked whether it is amazing to see a player reach that mark in such rude health. He guesses it has taken Goodes as long to get to 300 as it took him to get to 200.

Then the Swans' recent record at the MCG is raised as if to taunt the giant. Does the venue control the team or the team control the venue?

"We just haven't played well," Longmire said. "I think that is what has happened."

While we look for hoodoos and storylines, the coach's manual suggests pointing to simple explanations in all cases.

He's got a point too. The Swans have won just one game at the venue in 13. They tied with Melbourne, lost three other games by less than a goal and nine of the losses have been against Hawthorn, Collingwood and the Bulldogs - hardly easybeats in recent times.

Remember, the Lions lost 12 of 13 at the MCG up until round 15, 2001. They then won the next three premierships (the Lions had won 5 from 40 at the venue until it played in the 2001 Grand Final). It won nine of the next 10 at the venue.

In other words, good teams can win on gravel.

The Swans have no fears. They have earned a title as this year's hoodoo breakers in recent times, defeating the Cats at Skilled Stadium (their first defeat after 29 consecutive wins) and the Saints on a Saturday night at Etihad Stadium last week.

The MCG, the venue where dreams come true, waits for the game to arrive. The Swans are here. They know what they're here for. "We are playing Hawthorn here at the MCG Friday night," said Longmire. 

That quiet, subdued Thursday afternoon will soon be a thing of the past.  

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs