AFL news: Former Swan Luke Parkers believes scars from 2022 decider cost Sydney last season

As Sydney prepare to launch another flag assault this year, former Swan Luke Parker has lifted the lid on the scars from the 2022 Grand Final that plagued their 2024 defeat to Brisbane.

Former Sydney co-captain Luke Parker concedes an element of mental “scarring” from previous grand final losses contributed to the Swans freezing against Brisbane in last year’s disastrous MCG decider.

Parker says he accepts some of that blame for failing to properly prepare his teammates in a game that saw new coach Dean Cox spending seven hours in a forensic review of the team’s failings.

Parker held up his end of the bargain with three last quarter goals after being shifted into the midfield but at one stage the Swans trailed by 73 points in an eventual 10-goal defeat.

It followed an 81-point loss to Geelong in the 2022 grand final, a 22-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in 2016, and a 63-point loss to Hawthorn in 2014 after the Hawks turned the tables from Sydney’s 2012 grand final victory.

Luke Parker after the siren in the 2024 grand final. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Parker with Selwood after Sydney’s 81-point loss in 2022. Picture: Michael Klein

It was Parker’s final game before moving to North Melbourne on a three-year deal, with the brilliant mid-forward aware by then it was likely his Swans farewell.

He told the Herald Sun the dramatic nature of the 2022 defeat might have played into the meek nature of the Swans’ surrender.

“I think the most frustrating thing this time round was how we handled it mentally. (In) 2022 we had been a young side that had come through almost on a wave of confidence and it was almost like it was going to keep rolling and in 2022 we had written our story before it happened. You forget to actually play the game,” he said.

“It was almost like how good would it be (to win) or, ’Once we do this’. So I can forgive 2022.

“2024 was probably the most frustrating one, because we’ve been through that.

“I just personally think there were probably a few little scars from the 2022 one.

“It was a bit back and forth at the start. We kicked a few goals, and they kicked a few and there was just a little period in that second quarter where they got a bit of a run on with a few centre clearances and direct goals and I think there might have been a little bit of sense of just, “Oh no, not again”.

“And as much as the boys tried to come out of themselves and grow from that experience, it potentially just got the better of us. We just couldn’t stop that momentum. And I think that’s a hard thing with football is there’s such big momentum swings in a normal season, then on grand final day, when that occurs, it’s almost like you feel like the opportunity is gone.”

Sydney couldn’t stop Brisbane when the Lions got rolling. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“So you drop your bundle, and I think you sense that a lot of time in big moments, in big games, that people do things that they don’t normally do or make mistakes that I normally make, and unfortunately, once again it happened to us. So that was kind of the hardest thing, probably the harder pill to swallow.”

Parker said he did not absolve himself from responsibility in the game given his role as a Swans senior elder.

“I played my role in the game but I think I pride myself on building up the team, not just myself. And building up a team ready to compete in that moment. So that’s what disappoints me, in terms of my role in that. You are always reflecting on what I could have done. What could I have done pre-game, during the game? So that’s the hardest part.

“The boys were all a bit shocked that week and you talk about it and it’s a moment in time but within two weeks the world has moved on and everyone focuses on the trade and the pre-season and the ball is rolling again to go back into that challenge again of climbing the mountainside.”