It’s time we start acknowledging what is unfolding before our very eyes, according to St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna.
Sydney’s start to 2024 is up there with the best we’ve seen in the modern era.
They’re sitting six premiership points clear on top of the ladder and are absolutely flying, with Montagna pointing to a near-perfect profile that if continued, could leave the Swans as one of the best teams in recent memory.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“We need to acknowledge what we’re witnessing in regard to the Sydney Swans,” Montagna said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.
“What they are doing at the moment, they are on track to have one of the great seasons in home and away history this century,” he said.
It is just the third time in the 18-team era that a side has sat two games clear on top of the table after round 11.
The Swans have a monster percentage of 150.1%, almost 30% bigger than the next best side.
No team this century has been 30% above the next best at this point in the season.
The Swans are in rare air.
Longmire relieved Swans hung on | 06:40
“We’re maybe overlooking how dominant the Sydney Swans are at the moment,” Montagna said.
John Longmire’s troops have a win-loss record of 5-0 against fellow top 8 sides in 2024 and a percentage of 156% against those challengers.
They rank first in the competition for points for and first for points against.
Those numbers are the sort of numbers that only dynasty teams have put up before.
“To put that in context, only five teams this century have ended the home and away season ranked first for points for and points against,” Montagna said.
“Essendon of 2000 when they went 21-1, the Geelong dynasty teams of 07-08, Collingwood in 2011 when they went 20-2 and the Hawks at the end of their three-peat.
“But none of them had the number one profile for points from turnover differential, points off clearance differential and pressure differential.
“The Swans are number one in all those facets, it’s almost the complete profile.
“There’s nothing that we’ve seen yet to suggest why it would drop off.
“It will go down as one of the great home and away seasons.”
Warner fires Swans past Bulldogs | 02:34
The Swans could be bolstered by the return of gun defender Tom McCartin as early as next week, while captain Callum Mills is also nearing his return from a shoulder/calf injury.
When Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin retired last year, some had concerns over whether or not the Swans had the stars to keep them at the pointy end of the ladder.
But the Swans have assembled a rock band of a midfield instead.
Superstar trio Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Errol Gulden are having a record-breaking campaign.
“We have never seen a trio of midfielders have as much influence on a team as we are seeing right now from Warner, Gulden and Heeney,” Montagna said.
The trio have scored or directly assisted a combined 505 points throughout the season so far, something that has never been done as early as round 11 before.
“The next best, you have to go back to the Cats of 2010 where Gary Ablett kicked 44 goals of his own,” Montagna said.
“One of those players have been involved in two out of every three scores in the whole season.
“67% of their scores have involved either Gulden, Heeney or Warner.
“They are going at phenomenal levels; I think we need to sit back for a moment at the halfway mark and just acknowledge what we’re seeing.
“If this continues, we will look back at the end of the year and go ‘they were one of the great home and away teams that we’ve seen’.”
Swans to appeal Parker VFL ban | 01:58
So how long will it be until teams start tagging not one, but TWO of these star midfielders?
“It begs the question, those three midfielders having so much damage on the game, at what point will someone tag both Heeney and Warner? Or Gulden? Pick your poison,” North Melbourne champion David King said.
“I think it’ll happen; they’re having such an influence.
“No one tags anymore, our system versus your system and that’s what you get.”
Montagna believes that teams will start putting the Swans under the microscope even more so, given their almost flawless start to the season.
“This is the only problem sitting on top for so long, teams are going to go to school on Sydney,” he said.
“Why not try to take out two of the three and limit two thirds of the scoring chains that the Swans are producing.
“They are defending, they are scoring, they are pressuring, they are doing everything. They are airborne at the moment.
The Swans have a bye in round 12, before taking on the Cats in round 13.
