Cheer, cheer the red and the white...

Here is Tricia (right), Will (middle) and I

celebrating the Swans' win!

Here is Jason, Will and I

going crazy after the big win!

Here I am at the SCG waiting for

the mighty Swans to arrive!

Big Jay and Will at the SCG on Sunday, 25 September, 2005.

Here are most of the team hanging out in front of us
as they wait to go up on the stage to be interviewed.
Paul Roos, their amazing coach and fantastic ex-Swans
player, is closer to camera with his arms folded.
One of Will's absolute favourites, Adam Goodes, is sitting on the ground in front of Roosy in the white t-shirt (he even gave Will a wave). The guy on Goodes' right (also in the white t-shirt) is Amon Buchanan, one of our rising stars and the Man of the Match in my humble opinion (I may be one-eyed but who the hell is Chris Judd anyway?!).

It has been a mind blowing weekend. For those of you who didn't hear me screaming hysterically from No. 30 just a quick reminder that the SYDNEY SWANS WON the 2005 AFL PREMIERSHIP!!!!!! What a game it was. Even if you weren't a fan you couldn't help but be entertained by the ferocity, the energy, the unrelentenessness of the game. Neither side was going to say die and it really did come down to the last second of the game. Leo Barry's last mark of the game, coming up like a Phoenix out of a mega pack with the ball clutched tightly in his rock steady hands, will go down in history. Like many others I have forgiven him for the all the kicks against us he's given away over the years (he is a fearless though notorious defender and often goes just a little too far - either that or the umpires all hate Sydney, which is my favourite theory).

Anyway, after a fairly calm and normal start to our Saturday we finished our chores by lunchtime and decorated the house and our front fence in red and white - streamers and balloons - it was beautiful! Then a traditional Aussie BBQ lunch and we were all set for the big game. My boss Bob went to Melbourne for the game as his friends had a spare ticket so his wife Tricia came to watch it with us. We have been going to support the Swans together for many years so it was good to be with Tricia on the big day.

There was much yelling, screaming and stomping coming from our house between 2:30 and 5:00 pm. It was incredible. The tension built up and up... there was no relief until the very final moment of the game... it could have gone either way until the siren blew. But how sweet it was when it did finally blow and it was the Swans who were victorious.

I enjoyed every second of the post match celebrations, the speeches, the handover of the Cup, the singing of the team song. I need to put on record how disappointed I was with the West Coast Eagles who were seen dispondently shuffling off the field in the middle of the speeches. Talk about sour grapes. I mean, what about a little professionalism, boys?! Really bad form in my opinion.

Sunday we woke up on a high. As Jason said it really was like Christmas Day! After a reasonably pleasant breakfast with Mommie Dearest, B and JB at Bronte Beach, we high tailed up to the SCG to wait for the gates to open - we wanted to be front and centre for the Swans' home celebrations. It was a real carnival atmoshphere. As we waited at the gates strangers talked happily, sharing their joy, singing the club song and generally having a great time. We even had a chat with a very friendly bloke who claimed to be Barry Hall's uncle (and we have no good reason to doubt him).

Then we were allowed in and we made ourselves a cosy nesting spot right by the fence so we could be up close and personal when our heroes arrived. There was a band playing, the game was replayed on the giant screen (amazing how you can still be anxious and tense watching a replay when you know that your team won), kids had their faces painted in the red and white colours and we made a small dent in our credit card at the T-shirt stand (we both wore ours to work on Monday).

When the boys finally arrived the cheer was huge. They certainly looked worse for wear as they stumbled in, beers in hand, dark glasses covering their sensitive eyes. Tadgh Kennelly walked past holding up the Cup and Jason put his hand on it - it was like a religious moment. It was really fun listening to the boys each give a little speech (though most were hoarse and barely able to string two words together). It was so much fun being part of the "family".

At the end they signed autographs for the fans (though I'm sure they would have much rather been having a Bex and a good lay down). Being at the front we were suddenly crushed by all these mad people. While I was full of the joy of the day I did get pissed off at how rude people can be. There were kids pushing in in front of us constantly, whinging that they couldn't see, going backwards and forewards. People (even Swannie supporters) suck!