How will you remember them?

[vonn]

Share your favorite memories of the retirees... jog some memories Hopefully some older posters will contribute because I haven't watched footy all that long and I'm keen to hear the stories.

Michael O Loughlin.

My first ever game I could remember (2005 Grandfinal) watching Mick I had noo idea who he was... All I knew was that he kept missing goals. And that he could "catch the ball" better then most. I also remember Barry as the scary guy with a funny tattoo.

Ever since then when I watched the swans I found myself cheering for Micky. Everytime the ball entered the forward line I just knew something was going to happen. And the man to do it was Micky.
The one memory I have of him better than any was the 2006 kick in the finals that put us safely into the next round.

I didn't really know much about the swans, but from the moment I saw micky I just loved him as a player... he was a magician...

When Micky cried last night I don't think anyone in the SCG could not have broken down, and when he kicked the first goal in the first thirty seconds I just realised how great a player we were losing... it hit home.
Sydney without O'Loughlin is just the worst realisation.

​

Leo Barry
As I've already said, my first game was 2005 grandfinal and I didn't understand anything. No joke, I thought every legit tackle should have been a free kick and I wondered why the game was so slow. I don't know why I watched that game, but I did. I was just drawn to supporting Sydney... I didn't even know what the rules of the mark was. And I didn't know how big a deal it was until I followed Sydney more consistently. I know realise what Leo ment to the swans, and what the mark ment to the flag.

It symbolised everything about that day, desperation. It showed his character, willing to put his body on the line for the team. Leo Barry you STAR.​

​

Jared Crouch

Jared Crouch was never a big name. But it doesn't matter if the only man that remembers him is Aker. He's got the bloods heart and spirit, so many times we see his body being put on the line and although I have been guilty for callin for his execution before... Now that his permanently gone I regret every game I ever wished he was dropped.

The one memory I'll remember him by was that passage through the middle. Surrounded by eagles he did the team thing, he hit the ball forward to the running Buchanen and GOAL. That moment was something I remember extremly clearly in the 05. Even more so than leo's mark. For me that was just the ultimate team thing... The game was Sydney V WCE but it may as well have been Heart V Talent... and that man with that act symbolised it for me.
The man with the shockingly blue boots. I'll remember that too.

How will you remember them?


​

 

[SM]

My friend copy+pasted a comment to me on msn that a friend who now lives in England wrote to a friend who went with me to the game last night. Apparently the friend who came to the game last night had told her how I was basically in tears at the end, to which the friend replied, "I have a theory Alex is gay... I mean who cries at the football?" If that makes me gay, the SCG was a Mardi Gras festival in August. There's the usual "It's just sport..." comments which I put up with, but that sort of thing is on a whole other level.

The passion I feel for this club, these 40-something men who wear the red and white, and the 22 who run out each week to do battle for the guernsy is something quite inexcplicable to me. Before 2005 I all but hated sport. I recall possibly 2002-03 flicking through the channels on TV to watch something and seeing an AFL match on (the first I can recall seeing) and paused, thought how rediculous the ground looked being oval, and how strange the game was, and kept changing the channel. I can also recall my father watching the occasional Tigers game which I associated with the car racing he'd sometimes watched as boring things I'd never understand.

In 2005, there was a big deal made of the fact the Swans hadn't won the flag in 72 years, but had made the Qualifying Final against the Eagles. I don't think I watched the match because I thought 'the Swans haven't won in 72 years, why would they now?' and I thought I was right, they lost, that was it, game over. Then I learnt that they somehow had a second chance and thought I may as well watch it. I'd picked up some of the players names: O'Keefe (who I still managed to mix up with Buchanan somehow), Hall, Kirk, and Leo Barry and Michael O'Loughlin.

From that first match, I was hooked, thanks to the goals from Nick Davis in the Semi, and then the great come back against the Saints. Leo Barry's mark in the 2005 Grand Final is something I can't really recall live, I just remember being extraordinarily tense and not sure why, considering I'd never followed a sporting team before those few weeks. When the siren went though, I was so excited and exhilarated.

2006 I didn't watch the first few rounds because I didn't know it had started. I tracked down a schedule and started trying to watch as often as I could, and attended my first live match against Freo in mid-2006.

Since then, this team has been my life, and O'Loughlin and Barry have been two of the biggest names at the club. Crouch was struck by injuries almost as I started watchin (maybe I was the bad luck?) so I didn't know him as well, and only really saw him last year and then this year.

Micky, I remember for his goal in the 2006 QF, that Nick Davis-like come-to-save-us moment where he put us in the PF for a place in the Grand Final. I remember him for his pace and agility around goal, the ability to slip around any opponent and snap great goals around them.

Leo, I remember for That Mark. His run out of defence, flirting with danger, as he took on all in his path to push the ball up the ground. Leo Barry You Star!

Crouchy, the duels with Akermanis and now the moment last night when he posed for a photo from my friend. That despite the crushing defeat and heartbreak of his last game, he was still able to give that little bit extra to someone he didn't even know.

All three, plus Barry Hall, Tadhg Kennelly and Nic Fosdike have given so much to this club, and delivered the first Premiership in 72 years.

Barry Hall I'll remember for his ability to bustle the opposition out of the way and kick bags week in week out, the fact he didn't miss a game I watched until 2007, and the way he was constantly screwed over by the umps, but still gave it his all.

Kennelly, for the Irish jig on the stage when he got his Premiership medallion, the dashing run out of defence, and the shoulder he had to keep popping back in last year to the extent that Leo tried to play doctor and help him out.

Fosdike, I remember thinking was new in 2006 along with McVeigh and that they both looked the same. I never thought of him as a massive player, but last year despite only playing the one game, I can remember the way he was able to get up and down the ground in great displays of athletic strength.

All 6 of them are Premiership stars, and all 6 of them will be missed.

 

[vonn]

That's greeat alex. and you kno what I totally relate to you. im like your female version. before watchin the grand final I thought sport was stupid. I didnt get how people got worked up. and just like you I was tense at the siren and excited that we won.. any reference i saw on the news got me happy too.

We probably sound like complete bandwagoners to most but who ****in cares... we love our boys

 

[SM]

Yeah when reading that I felt kinda vindicated, because I felt really strange being the only person I knew who'd gone from not really caring about AFL to being SO bloody passionate in the space of about three weeks, so it's nice to know you did too.

Yeah on the main-board I've been attacked a couple of times for having started watching in 2005, but you know what? We didn't make the Finals this year. And I'm still here. We could win the Wooden Spoon next year (even though we'll be top 4) and I'd still be here (well, in England). Nothing's going to make me stop watching.

 

[kira]

great write up guys, interesting read

We probably sound like complete bandwagoners to most but who ****in cares... we love our boys

no, not really.... if you guys started to drop off with poorer performances, then you might as well piss off

anyway i started to fall for them in '96, whilst big tony lockett was around.... so i'm in a similar boat

 

[kira]

things i'll remember

MOL - superstar..... plenty of goals spring to mind..... my favourite would be a few years back the ball is in mid air, and he kicks it with the side of his boot (almost scissor style kick) and it bounces through..... the commentators acknowledged it wasn't a fluke but was intentional from the magic man

Crouch - consistent.... he had an incredible run without injuries, and stayed in the side every week..... but i will most remember the fact aker called him a pest.... and that wussy slap across the back

Leo - the mark.... also how he would completely dominate against people stronger and faster than him

all good players, in a succssful era.... they would be hard to forget

 

[vonn]

gone but not forgotten kira.

nice avator.

 

[kira]

gone but not forgotten kira.

nice avator.

thanks

 

[Swans120]

It is really really sad to know that i will never see these guys playing for the Red and White anymore. They have been at this club since before i started up as a supporter in '98 and it is just a really wierd feeling knowing that three of the guys i grew up watching as a 9 year old will never be out on the SCG again.

Anyway, champions all of them and love 'em to death. I must say i had tears in my eyes when they were lifted up to be taken off. Not tears flowing, but definitely holding back the tears. I was also really happy that CBolts, ROK, Goodesy, Macca, Jude and Kirky were the men to chair them off. They have been the guys who have been around the longest with the champs and it was great to see. Not a big thing, but it made me happy.

Crouchy - as has been said, not the biggest name in the league but anyone who plays 194 games from debut consecutively is a special player. The commitment and durability he has is just incredible. His focus and cocentration that he displayed time after time in shutting down the small quick mids and goalkickers amazed me. Concentration for 2 hours on the task. Sensational. Not just the defensive man that opposition supporters think he is, his slashing long kicking dashes were his trademark imo and he took 'em on as well as anyone. Went on to Juddy in the 05 GF and halted his progress in the 2nd half, his war against Aker. But most of all the way he went about it without a care for any recognition or plaudits. As long as he did what was necessary for our club to win, he did it. Legend.

Leo - that mark is of course what all know him for best outside of this club, but the courage he showed in '01 when he punctured his lung, the game on the G-Train in '04 when he kept him to 2 handpasses and had 20 touches himself, the many hangers he took, the many times he took on opponents and won, the many times he took on opponents and lost having a crack, the many times he took on gorillas and beat them hands down, the tv interview after the GF when he said ****, the leadership he showed as co-captain, the recognition he won as an AA and the courage, confidence and skill he showed every bloody week are why i will remember this bloke. Absolute champion of the Swans, champion of the 00's AFL decade and a champion bloke...and i guess that mark was noteworthy too.

Mick - love this guy like no other (maybe except for Goodesy and Kel). While some outside the club hve bagged him in the past for being soft, no man who can play 300 plus games on his knees, hamstrings and ankles is soft. And with about 4 weeks of preseason every year. His skill and magic are as good as i have seen so far and the young indigenous boys coming up through the league should be looking to this man as one hell of a role model. Gentleman of the highest order, and i loved it that he broke down in the lap of honour, this club means that much to him. I was also beside miyself with happiness that he dominated the forward 50 in his last game, and taht Goodesy fed him the ball for his first goal of the night, that was just brilliant, they were all actively looking for Mick last night to make his night as good as possible. Games of his i will remember most include his 6 goals against the Pies at the 'G in '01 (i think), game against WCE at SCG in '03 kicked 5 or 6, GF '05 when he towelled up Chick and the man of filth, Hunter and was marking anything that came to him (had he kicked straight he was an easy NS medallist), '06 QF vs WCE with that goal and that shout at the fatty WCE cheer squad member and his last month or so of footy have been Michael O'Loughlin at his pure best. Running, jumping, weaving and bamboozling like jsut about no other man in the AFL can. Love ya Mick!

I was heartbroken that these guys didn't get to end their careers on a win, but these guys deserved the way that our guys went about it and they deserve all the recognition that they get. All headed for the Swans HOF with Mick deserving of a place in the Legends category IMO.

 

[bloodsbigot]

O Loughlin: Always remember him kicking this really great goal in 2000 against Richmond in Round 20 I think. He dodged and suckered about three Richmond players before finally snapping it through.

Crouch: Always remember him in the opening minutes of the 2005 Grand Final running after a ball, getting surrounded by three eagles then tapping it unselfishly into the forward line where Schneider and O Loughlin combined to run it in for a goal. Great individual effort, that was.
I'll also always remember him for making Aker do a pancy slap.

Barry: I'll always remember him for the mark. What can I say?

 

[disgruntled goat]

Micky O versus the Fat Weagle fan and his gutless mate: fantastic.

So many great memories associated with all three.

I was at the Roos for Coach Richmond game at Homebush when we farewelled Kel and Dunkley, I can only imagine last night was similar.

But we move on.

Wonder who'll be the next players to wear the 19, 21 and 28 red and white jumpers?

 

[Swans120]

Micky O versus the Fat Weagle fan and his gutless mate: fantastic.

So many great memories associated with all three.

I was at the Roos for Coach Richmond game at Homebush when we farewelled Kel and Dunkley, I can only imagine last night was similar.

But we move on.

Wonder who'll be the next players to wear the 19, 21 and 28 red and white jumpers?

Yeh it was very similar last night to Kel and Dunks' farewell game. Strikingly similar really. Emotion of the players and crowd. Too bad the result wasnt quite the same...

Yeh i was wondering who will get these vacated numbers, there are so many numbers of some of our top premiership players to fill. 1, 12, 17, 19, 21, 28.

 

[SM]

Reckon 1, 19 and 21 will be retired for a year, but think Smith will get the 28, our 1st pick will get the 12, and MOD will get 17.

 

[vonn]

I think 19 will be rested for a long long time.

 

[AG]

Some of you thought Aussie Rules was stupid before the 2005 GF?

Michael O'Loughlin:
1995 Sydney v Adelaide was the first game of football I saw live and it was the debut game for Mick. I remember looking forward to seeing the big names like Kelly and Lockett but I left the ground buzzing with excitement at seeing O'Loughlin snag 3 goals on his debut. He has been my favourite player for that one reason really. His first game of football was my first live game.
His whole 1997 and 1998 seasons were brilliant. Running HF flanker who could find space anywhere.
Recent memories, the obvious one, kicking the winning goal in the 2006 QF and then sticking it up that fat Eagle supporter. Breaking the club games record, 300th game etc,. too many memories from the great man to write down. Legend.

Memories of the Barry and Crouch are pretty much the same as everyone else. Crouch v Aker. Leo's mark, his performance on Gehrig in 2004. Leo was one crazy SOB running out of defence who just couldn't resist taking the opposition on.

 

[SM]

Yep. Round field with a funny scoring system.

 

[No1SwansFan]

I cant add much more tha has already been said. This was the first group from my adult life I have watched from the beginning and now leaving. (I have been watching the swans since they became the swans but these guys have been the heart of our club. They have provided our highest highs and our lowest lows.

While I was on the boundary line last night crying along with my 5yo daughter I had micky o's cousin giving me a hug it was really sweet. But i did have a laugh when he told me his favourite ever was winmar. LOL.

The big thing I remember about mostly Crouchy was how giving with his time he was. We have fantastic photos of the kids with crouchy. My boys had a footy function at club swans one day and crouch was there my girls werent meant to be part of it at all be he included them. He even dragged them into the club photo asking where they were. When my little one wouldnt come he grabbed her and sat her on his lap. It was really sweet.

I have just waffled off nothingness here but I am still devestated they have gone. They were special and things wont be the same.

 

[vonn]

I sure did AG.
not really aussie rules.

Just sport, in general.

 

[AG]

Greatest sport ever invented. I popped out of mum with a Sherrin in my hands.

 

[vonn]

But my family didn't support AFL. in fact they discourage it. so it's pretty lucky i stumbled upon it by chance

 

[Dangas]

Very good read ppl, Micky in the 2005 GF nearly trying to lose us the game by is "yipps", Leo, well we all know, "Leo Barry You Star" and Crouchy and his antics and niggling with Aker and rat Milne. All will be remembered as champs of the footy club, no doubt. But not forgetting Baz, Fossie and also probs Tadhg.

 

[ssfc0203]

I don't remember a team without Crouch, Mick and Leo, and that was the last time I'd see them & I started crying when the siren went.

At least their last game was at home.

 

[Rhino5]

Leo will forever be remembered for 'that mark' and why not? Some might say it's unfair to have a whole career reduced to that one moment, but what a moment in the history of the club. I don't recall ever being so tense in my life as in the last quarter of that 2005 final. It still gives me a thrill to watch it (and the 2006 one, despite the result) and the relief when Leo grabbed that mark....well, we all felt it...and the exhilaration.

Micky was just all class and, while I don't have too many really specific memories, he has just been a great presence in the team - someone you knew would come up with the goods, with a bit of magic when we needed it most. And I've always thought of him as a really smart footballer - he was just so savvy in one on one situations and we even saw that in his last game.....always a step ahead of his opponent.

As for Crouch, even though he played all those consecutive games, I never felt as attached to him, didn't notice him as much.....but that's okay. Maybe it's just a testament to the way he played - nothing flashy, no nonsense. Every team needs players like that.

 

[kangars8]

First two posts where good read

Ill remember Baz for being the most intimidating forward i have ever seen along with being a gun CHF. It was shame he had issues.

Ill remember Micky for being a dangerous Forward but mainly for that Photo after kicking that goal showing his raw emotion, its what footy is all abo

"Leo Barry you star" remember him for the mark and his risky runs in the backline

Dont recall much of couch other than his good record with aker

 

[Swanee]

Share your favorite memories of the retirees... jog some memories Hopefully some older posters will contribute because I haven't watched footy all that long and I'm keen to hear the stories.

Michael O Loughlin.

My first ever game I could remember (2005 Grandfinal) watching Mick I had noo idea who he was... All I knew was that he kept missing goals. And that he could "catch the ball" better then most. I also remember Barry as the scary guy with a funny tattoo.

Ever since then when I watched the swans I found myself cheering for Micky. Everytime the ball entered the forward line I just knew something was going to happen. And the man to do it was Micky.
The one memory I have of him better than any was the 2006 kick in the finals that put us safely into the next round.

I didn't really know much about the swans, but from the moment I saw micky I just loved him as a player... he was a magician...

When Micky cried last night I don't think anyone in the SCG could not have broken down, and when he kicked the first goal in the first thirty seconds I just realised how great a player we were losing... it hit home.
Sydney without O'Loughlin is just the worst realisation.

Leo Barry
As I've already said, my first game was 2005 grandfinal and I didn't understand anything. No joke, I thought every legit tackle should have been a free kick and I wondered why the game was so slow. I don't know why I watched that game, but I did. I was just drawn to supporting Sydney... I didn't even know what the rules of the mark was. And I didn't know how big a deal it was until I followed Sydney more consistently. I know realise what Leo ment to the swans, and what the mark ment to the flag.​

It symbolised everything about that day, desperation. It showed his character, willing to put his body on the line for the team. Leo Barry you STAR.​

​

Jared Crouch​

Jared Crouch was never a big name. But it doesn't matter if the only man that remembers him is Aker. He's got the bloods heart and spirit, so many times we see his body being put on the line and although I have been guilty for callin for his execution before... Now that his permanently gone I regret every game I ever wished he was dropped.​

The one memory I'll remember him by was that passage through the middle. Surrounded by eagles he did the team thing, he hit the ball forward to the running Buchanen and GOAL. That moment was something I remember extremly clearly in the 05. Even more so than leo's mark. For me that was just the ultimate team thing... The game was Sydney V WCE but it may as well have been Heart V Talent... and that man with that act symbolised it for me.
The man with the shockingly blue boots. I'll remember that too.​

How will you remember them?​

Thouroughly enjoyed your description of how you became a supporter of AFL and the Swans in particular. I've been a supprter of South Melbourne/Sydney Swans for longer than I care to remember, but reading your's and Stat Machine's summary of why you love this game, this club and these players bought tears to my eyes.

I personally have too many memories to try and recall, I loved these guys, and I am not gay. Sorry to see them go. They will always be remembered for their efforts. Sorry I dont have more time to reminisce about some of my memories of them.