Sydney v GWS Giants AFL Round 8: Live updates, SuperCoach scores, teams

News.com.au

03-05-2025

The 2024 qualifying final between the Swans and Giants was quite simply one of, if not the greatest, game of Australian rules ever played in NSW.
There have, of course, been highlight moments before. Think Tony Lockett in the 1996 preliminary final, Nick Davis's semi-final heroics against Geelong and even more recently Buddy Franklin's 1000th goal, which saw thousands of fans storm the field.
But no game has ebbed and flowed quite like the one that graced the SCG on September 7, 2024.
Sitting in the top floor of the Brewongle Stand, trying to concentrate on writing as the stadium shook to its core because Isaac Heeney had just drawn the Swans level is an experience I will never forget. In nearly 20 years of watching AFL games in Sydney, nothing, to me, has topped that moment.
But don't just take my word for it. Hear from some of the key people at the ground on the day that Aussie rules in Sydney truly came alive.
A NECESSARY RIVALRY
The GWS Giants were brought into the competition as a way to help grow the sport of Australian rules football in NSW, and in particular, give the AFL an entry point into the ever-expanding population in Western Sydney.
But there was also a sense of creating genuine competition for the Swans. The Showdown and the Western Derby had shown over the years what a perfectly fostered rivalry in a two-team town can generate; why shouldn't Sydney have one of its own?
'I think the rivalry is fundamentally the basis for why the AFL wanted to start another club in Sydney and why we're doing the same thing in Queensland,' Giants CEO David Matthews said.
'Everybody felt that what you see in the rivalries in WA, Adelaide, and other places, it doesn't matter where people are on the ladder. It's a fierce rivalry and you want people in Sydney to be going, 'When do the Swans and Giants play each other?'.'
It was a fact recognised from the red and white part of Sydney, with a genuine respect from day one for what the Giants were trying to achieve.
'It's one of the great stories in footy that probably gets overlooked a bit,' former Swans coach John Longmire said. 'The ability for both teams to be playing finals on a regular basis in the Sydney market is pretty significant.
'The people (the Giants) got on and off the field were really important. The initial foundations were built with strong intentions. While the challenges are still there for both teams (in Sydney), you can't knock the on-field competitiveness. It's added to a real sense of rivalry because they're a high-quality team.'
Since their initial meeting in 2012, the two teams had played on 28 occasions before last year's qualifying final. The three previous meetings in finals had all gone the Giants' way.
But the on-field competitiveness has become matched by a genuine dislike off the field. Whether it was Sam Taylor labelling the Swans as 'smug', little spotfires in pre-season matches, and even this week ahead of Sydney Derby 30, Giants midfielder Toby Bedford using the word 'hate' to describe his feelings.
After a year where membership records were broken and crowds filled the SCG like never before, the two teams finishing in the top four and meeting in finals after more than a decade of history was the perfect storm.
'I think what (Swans CEO) Tom Harley and I are really pleased about is that it's not confected, it's not manufactured,' Matthews said. '(The rivalry) is real and the players talk about it as being real.'
AN ATMOSPHERE LIKE NO OTHER
The 43,189 fans who crammed into the SCG for the match – the most for any Sydney Derby at the ground – certainly got their money's worth.
The top-four teams showed their class in different ways. The Giants were on top early, opening up a 28-point lead in the first half on the back of their relentless pressure and clinical attack.
But as the Swans had done all year, they saved their best footy until last to eventually chase them down.
Braeden Campbell's inspirational final quarter as the sub, Chad Warner turning it on at the stoppage with seven last-term clearances, Tom Papley's inch-perfect handball assists and Jake Lloyd's incredible goal on the run from 50 metres.
It all blended to create a melting point of emotion unlike the SCG had ever seen.
'With how loud the crowd was, it was hard to maintain your composure and not get too excited and ahead of yourself,' Warner said. 'The Giants played an amazing game of footy, and we had to stem the flow a bit.
'That home crowd, I've never heard it that loud as well. That is something really great about Sydney footy at the moment.'
'The atmosphere was electric,' GWS' Callan Ward said. 'It was amazing to play in, and even when they started to come back, even though it wasn't going great for us as a team, the atmosphere was amazing.'
The action on the ground was incredible, but as the siren sounded for the Swans' dramatic six-point win, you couldn't help but be drawn to what was occurring on the other side of the fence.
Swans fans, whether new or loyal from the South Melbourne days, were shedding tears of joy. The largest number of fans in orange and charcoal the SCG had ever seen were coming to terms with the heartache that only sport can provide.
And for photographer Phil Hillyard, who is yet to miss a Sydney Derby and has captured many of sport's greatest moments, it probably topped the lot.
'I would have to rate it as one of the matches that has provided the greatest atmosphere I can remember,' he said.
'The greatest thing for what we do is trying to capture when you're on the edge of your seat. You're like every fan in the crowd, waiting to see what's going to happen.
'To see that emotion on the spectators, it's unfortunate for the Giants, but it was pretty incredible. It's one of the great rivalries, and it's fantastic for footy in New South Wales to have two great teams that seem to bring out the best in each other.'
THE LOCAL KID WINS IT ALL
Despite the highlights and the incredible atmosphere of the game, there's only one man who comes to mind when remembering last year's qualifying final: Isaac Heeney.
One of the first graduates of the Swans Academy who traded rugby league for Aussie rules as a teenager to become one of the AFL's genuine superstars. Naturally, it had to be the 28-year-old from the Hunter who put the cherry on top of NSW's crowning footy moment.
'I think in finals like that, you see certain players, especially him, just do Herculean things,' Warner said. 'That's the great thing about finals and playing against cross-town rivals, so many players stand up and it breeds great footy.'
Heeney had already had a remarkable year. He was on track for a Brownlow Medal before a controversial suspension ruled him out, but his performances helped lead the Swans to the minor premiership and earned him his second All-Australian blazer.
However, when Sydney needed him the most, he rose to the occasion.
He took a one-handed mark and kicked an important goal before half-time to calm the nerves in the changerooms.
He emerged from the sheds to take what would have been mark of the year over Jack Buckley.
Then, the 'Rolls-Royce' kicked the goal with three minutes to go that brought the Swans level and blew the roof off the SCG.
All while carrying an injury that would later get the better of him in the grand final, and a broken nose to boot.
'It's always a combination of system and individual brilliance,' Longmire said. 'You hope that gets you there over the game.
'We had players step up in the biggest moments. Some great single acts, but also the little things like the Papley 1-v-2 contest.
'(Isaac) is a local boy, played all the different sports and would have been brilliant at all of them. To do what he did in that moment and arguably be the best player in the competition for the season, and have that final when he was clearly under duress injury-wise…with a broken leg…it was probably as good an individual performance as I've seen.'
Hillyard added: 'Taking the ball one-handed and then managing to kick a goal from 70 to basically give your side a chance to win a final. I think it's individually the best footy moment I can remember at the SCG.'
Longmire saw plenty of incredible moments from the SCG box over his more than two decades as both an assistant and head coach of the Swans.
But as he walked down Driver Avenue in the hour after the game, his adrenaline still getting back to normal levels, he realised nothing might ever top what he had just seen.
'You couldn't have written it any better,' Longmire said. 'To have that sense of anticipation, build-up and then the game itself, the way it finished, you couldn't have written a script better.
'When we walked back to the club, it was still electric. The supporters were on such a high. It was an incredible feeling, and the players and staff were pumped. Tired, but pumped.
'What we saw last year was a bit of a social movement, and that peaked in that final game with the Giants. Once you see that type of thing happening amongst younger people in Sydney, you think that's pretty special.'
'I had no idea what AFL was': Giant debutant's remarkable rise
Josaia Delana might not just have to prepare himself for his AFL debut, but also give his dad a crash course in the rules again ahead of Sunday's Sydney Derby against the Swans at the SCG.
The 18-year-old has been entrusted by Adam Kingsley to make his first appearance in one of the biggest games of the season. Delana was just the fourth Western Sydney player to be drafted by the Giants from their Academy, selected as a Category B rookie at the end of last season, and after a stellar start to the year in the VFL has been rewarded with a chance to impress.
Growing up in a family with Fijian heritage, rugby league was all Delana knew for most of his junior years. But after getting a glimpse of the sport when Israel Folau transitioned to the AFL with the Giants, Delana picked up a Sherrin for the first time at age 13 and will be following in the cross-code superstar's footsteps.
And for the first time in his life, Delana's father will be attending an AFL game as a result.
'This will be his first official, actual AFL game,' Delana said. 'He's very excited, I called him and mum first, and he was nothing but proud of me.
'You wouldn't believe (the ticket requests). The first thing my parents said after they congratulated me was, 'How many tickets can we get?'. They were saying if I could get 100 to 150 … they probably won't all be together.
'Young Joey Delana wouldn't have a clue. I had no idea what AFL was, what the rules were or what the teams were in the comp besides the Giants and the Swans. If you were to tell me when I was 11 I'd be making my AFL debut at 18, I'd say you were lying and that I wouldn't leave (rugby) league.
'Over the moon is a great way to put it, my head's still spinning. The squad got named yesterday … and I got nothing from the coaches, if anything, they spoke less to me, they were keeping their cards close to their chest.
'It's surreal the change I've gone through. I've put my head down and focused on my craft. We've got a great culture at the Giants, but I think young Joey would be pretty excited.'
Despite being so young, Delana knows he has a great chance to help put the AFL on the map for kids in Western Sydney. But he's equally as passionate about showcasing the talent that Polynesian athletes can bring to the game.
Speaking glowingly about the teenager, Kingsley believes his 'want to chase and tackle' will be his greatest attribute as he prepares to play a pressure role in the Giants' forward line. And as a kid from Sydney getting to debut on one of the sport's biggest stages, Delana knows there's no better chance to shine.
'Playing at the SCG in front of a great crowd, against a high-quality team, I'm very excited,' he said.
'I don't really appreciate the stigma that Polynesians can't play AFL because we're not fit for it. I'm glad that I'm able to be an outlier in that sense and show people that it doesn't matter where you're from and what people say, you can do anything you put your mind to.
'Give it a crack, regardless of what culture or background you're from. Just because it doesn't suit someone else, it doesn't mean it doesn't suit you.'
Delana is one of three big changes for the Giants with speedster Joe Fonti also named to make his first AFL appearance of the season. Irishman Callum Brown also returns with Jake Riccardi making way after suffering a hand injury.