Jarrad McVeigh, Kieren Jack go out in style and steal the show in Lance Franklin’s 300th game
Swans champions Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh completed a fairytale farewell against St Kilda, but one of the day’s most memorable moments wouldn’t have happened if not for a quick-thinking fan.
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A punter in the crowd has been credited with instigating a magic moment that Kieren Jack will remember for the rest of his life.
Sydney Swans captain Josh Kennedy was catching his breath on the bench when a supporter leaned over the fence and implored him to get the club’s retiring premiership great out of the back-pocket and into a position to kick a farewell goal.
Without any input from the coaches box, Kennedy made the move happen and the footy Gods took care of the rest.
A roar followed Jack’s sprint into open territory up alongside the member’s stand, before exploding into a full-blown eruption when he landed the goal from a difficult angle with just five minutes left on the clock in the final match of his career.
Jack leapt into the arms of Sam Reid and was swamped by teammates. All thanks to a fan who had paid their hard-earned.
“It was actually a supporter when I was on the bench. ‘Can you get Kieren a goal?’ Kennedy recounted after the spine-tingling 45-point win over St Kilda.
“I said, ‘well we’ve got to get him out of the back pocket first, which we were able to do.
“Then for him to kick a goal just flying into the left-hand pocket, bringing it back through the goals – it was pretty special.”
Coach John Longmire doesn’t normally celebrate moments until full-time, but yesterday was an exception.
“You can’t help but do it a little bit today,” he said.
“What a wonderful way to finish.”
Lance Franklin bagged four goals in his 300th game before Jarrad McVeigh and Jack brought the house down with one each for the road, as Sydney delivered its champions an afternoon to remember at the SCG.
Sydney’s season ended many weeks ago, but the chance to honour some of the greatest players in club history made it feel like a little slice of September as the Swans ran out rampant 109-64 winners over St Kilda.
Franklin picked up where he left off after nearly 10 weeks out to star in his 300th game.
But the stage was stolen by two fairytale moments that belonged to retiring former co-captains McVeigh and Jack.
Early in the final quarter, Tom Papley bunted one off to McVeigh to slot from a tight angle and celebrate with the crowd and prompt the loudest noise of the day.
But the decibel count went off the chart in the dying minutes when Jack got himself into the clear and at the urging of teammates took a shot at goal from a difficult range and leapt into the arms of Sam Reid in a moment of pure ecstasy.
Few have influenced football in Sydney more than the two boys from Pennant Hills, McVeigh and Jack.
McVeigh was emotional.
“This is up there. I don’t have any words. It’s so overwhelming,” McVeigh said.
“I’m so thankful to these guys for the effort they put in, our coaches, our families and the rest of the team. It’s a dream come true.”
After the final siren, a moving ceremony took place where all Sydney’s milestone men were chaired off the field.
McVeigh fittingly had 2012 premiership teammate Dan Hannebery — playing for St Kilda — lifting him from the field, while Franklin and Jack were also carried off by teammates.
Not to be forgotten, two other heroes from 2012 who have retired but missed the entire year with injury — Heath Grundy and Nick Smith — were also chaired from the ground as fans stayed to applaud and lead a raucous rendition of the Swans song.
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Franklin might have kicked four in his 300th game, but it was the dominance of the young Sydney forwards around him that deep down is the real cause for real celebration at Moore Park.
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On a pristine day in Sydney, the Bloods honoured their champions in style with a 45-point thumping of St Kilda
It’s been a year to forget for the Swans, the first season they have missed the finals under coach John Longmire, but the one takeaway might be they’re no longer a one-man band.
As much as the Swans have missed their superstar Franklin throughout large chunks of 2019, Sydney’s young forward line has evolved in his absence.
Teenager Tom McCartin bagged three goals, Tom Papley was busy with two, and for three out of the four quarters there was a cohesion up front to give hope to a Sydney revival in 2020.
But first, yesterday was about farewelling the retiring champions from the 2012 premiership triumph — McVeigh, Jack and Grundy and Smith watching from the sidelines.
McVeigh — who nearly missed his farewell through a calf injury — had never gone a year in the AFL without a goal, and despite missing an earlier chance, he made no mistake second time around, prompting the biggest ovation of the afternoon as he was swamped by teammates.
After conceding the first goal of the afternoon, Sydney went on a six-goal charge in the first to signal party time at the SCG.
But the air went out of the balloons in the second as the game reverted to a stagnant dead-rubber and St Kilda managed to square the scores up at 39-39 at halftime.
The Swans rallied again however, kicking five straight in the third and then put together another chain of goals in the last to run away with it.
Franklin looked a tad nervous at stages in his 300th game but eventually found his stride.
SCOREBOARD
SYDNEY 6.2 6.3 11.4 17.7 (109)
ST KILDA 2.5 5.9 7.12 8.16 (64)
GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 4, McCartin 3, Kennedy 2, Papley 2, Parker 2, Blakey, Rowbottom, McVeigh, Jack
St Kilda: Bruce 2, Ross 2, Membrey, Long, Steven, Steele
BEST
Sydney: Kennedy, Parker, Dawson, Mills, Lloyd, Franklin
St Kilda: Hannebery, Dunstan, Ross, Marshall, Steele, Clarke
INJURIES
Sydney: McCartin (quad)
St Kilda: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Dalgleish, Findlay, Gianfagna
Official crowd: 33,722 at the SCG
HOW SWANS FAN CREATED JACK’S MAGIC MOMENT
Ben Horne