‘Embarrassing': Rival player labels Swans ‘a rabble' after SCG horror show
The Sydney Swans are bracing for the fallout of a humiliating 90-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday night as a Crows player labelled them 'a rabble'.
Adelaide demolished the Swans to claim a 21.5 (131) to 5.11 (41) victory at the SCG, cementing their position in the top four as they push for a first finals berth since 2017.
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The Swans were celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their droughtbreaking 2005 premiership, with Adam Goodes, Barry Hall and Leo Barry among the former players who did a lap of honour with ex-coach Paul Roos.
But what was supposed to be a landmark night for the club turned into a football massacre and a black eye for the club.
The 90-point defeat was Sydney's heaviest loss at the SCG since 2000.
Haydn McLean kicked the first goal of the game, before Adelaide kicked five goals to one in the first quarter.
The Crows piled on seven unanswered goals in the second term as the Swans completely fell apart.
The SCG crowd gave Bronx cheers when the Swans kicked two behinds just before halftime, such was Sydney's difficulty in hitting the scoreboard.
Apart from a 10-minute period to start the third quarter, Sydney continued to get hammered in the second half and in a humiliating sign, thousands of Swans flans left the SCG at three-quarter time.
It meant the SCG seats were empty mostly by the time the final siren sounded as Swans supporters couldn't bare to watch.
Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson described the result as a 'humiliation' for the Swans.
Speaking post-game Crows defender Wayne Milera described the Swans as a 'rabble', adding he was pleased with his side's contested ball work and even contribution across the ground.
'You could sort of feel it as a group … they were sort of a bit of a rabble, just hearing them on the ground,' Milera told ABC Sport radio.
That remark pricked the ears of Fox Footy's Super Saturday panel, who debated whether it went too far or was simply a fair description of a hapless Swans outfit.
'It's going to reverberate through two footy clubs, too, I think,' Fox Footy reporter Jay Clark said.
'It's the most damning post-match assessment of the season, and it's come from Adelaide's Wayne Milera ... That is a damning assessment from an opposition player — 'they were a rabble'.
'This is one of the proudest clubs in the competition. We know the history of the Sydney Football Club over the past two decades, and the champions that have played. They've been so consistent, and they've just been branded 'a rabble' by an opposition player from what he could hear them talk about on the field.
'Now, that is a big question mark. I think that'll send shockwaves through the Swans, and I'd be interested — how do the Adelaide Crows handle a comment from (one of their players). Is it disrespectful? Is it just honest?'
'One hundred per cent that's disrespectful (from Milera). Yeah, calling an opposition team 'a bit of a rabble' in a media sense,' Riewoldt stated.
'We've just come off the conversation with Matthew Nicks about they dropped Josh Rachele (last year) for 'values'. I'd love to know where a comment like that sits in the values of the Adelaide Football Club.
'So, there's clearly some big questions on that going forward, too.'
Premiership Kangaroo David King questioned whether Milera meant his comment to sound as damning as it came across.
'He's a guy that doesn't have a history in this space. I can't remember hearing him speak. I can't remember hearing an interview from Wayne,' King said.
'I'd love to know what he was trying to say, whether he got his words wrong … I think it's something you can fix with a phone call. I'd be surprised if Matty Nicks didn't get on the phone and say 'look, we were out of line here, we made a mistake, can we step through this and move on?'
'It's just a simple error. I think he's got his words wrong, and I hope this doesn't become the story that maybe you think it will.'
The result leaves Sydney languishing at 14th on the ladder with no hope of making finals, based on their current form.
'It was unacceptable and embarrassing,' Swans coach Dean Cox said of the result.
'Massive night for the footy club when you have a 20-year reunion.
'For a team that played desperate, uncompromising, ruthless football, and that (Saturday's performance) was far from it, so we need to strip it back and get to work real quick.
'We are going to fight our way through this, everyone that's involved at the footy club, and there's going to be no easy way through it.
'I said to them 'expect some tough sessions'. That'll happen.'
'I've got huge confidence in this playing group, but we need to make sure we spend time where we need to and to turn it around as quickly as possible.'
The Swans take on Richmond next week before their mid-season bye.
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