Sam Newman torches Sydney Swans for ‘refusing to try’ after second AFL grand final smashing in three years: ‘They are a disgrace’

Sam Newman has launched a scathing spray at the Sydney Swans after Brisbane beat them by a whopping 60 points on the last Saturday of September.

Brisbane bounced back in stunning fashion from the heartbreak in last year’s grand final claim their first AFL premiership in more than twenty years.

The Swans’ dismal performance angered Newman, and he did not hold back.

“If anyone ever says, ‘You experience the pain of losing – in life or in sports – and that will serve you well’ – that is the most overrated, ridiculous comment,” the football great said in a video on X.

‘I watched the Swans. I tipped the Swans today. I saw the Swans being embraced by Geelong in 2022. They didn’t try. And today they came to the MCG. Took the oxygen out of the city.

‘Both sides, because there were no Melbourne teams playing. And we thought wow, here we go. And again they refused to try.

‘They’re a disgrace. They should be condemned by the AFL for bringing this competition into disarray.”

After being top since round nine and looking like they had their ducks in a row, the Swans were overrun at the MCG in the second term on Saturday.

The Swans had no answer to Brisbane’s attacking brilliance (pictured left, Charlie Cameron and Josh Dunkley with the Premiership Cup)

It follows their 81-point humiliation against Geelong two years ago.

Since John Longmire coached them to an epic grand final victory over Hawthorn in 2012, Sydney have lost their last four deciders.

The Hawks reversed the result in 2014 and two years after that the Western Bulldogs memorably broke their premiership drought two years later.

It’s not quite the Colliwobbles, but whoever lost on Saturday would face despair having seen Brisbane fall in the grand final last year.

The fact that these are two heavy losses in three years makes the pain even greater for Sydney.

“I don’t think we did our best, compared to what we did, and we didn’t do what we needed to do that day,” Longmire said after the game.

“I don’t think we made enough use of our run from the start. We threw away a little too much.

‘Then we got beaten on the ground and they were able to get it back, a little too easily back through us.

“We didn’t put enough pressure around the ball.”

Sydney’s fate was sealed when Brisbane scored seven goals in the second term, giving them a decisive 46-point lead at the main break.

The Brisbane Lions have made a stunning recovery from heartbreak in last year’s grand final, topping Sydney by 60 points to claim their first AFL premiership in more than two decades.

Nothing worked. Isaac Heeney, so influential in the two Sydney final victories, eventually succumbed to the stress fracture – Longmire called it a stress reaction – he had carried in a shin and had a bad day.

But Longmire has backed Sydney to rally, noting they have done it before after major heartbreak in the final and have the resilience to do it again.

“It’s hard to do – you’d much rather get in the ring and have a swing than stand outside and look in,” he said of making the grand final.

“Ultimately we managed to put ourselves in a position where we had a chance and we didn’t get that done today. We failed the test.

‘We have a group of people, right across the football club, who are capable of doing that. It’s very difficult to win that if you’re not in it.’

This is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in ’16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put a renewed focus on the pre-finals, introduced in 2016. While the Lions built a lead with three straight games ahead of the grand final, Sydney had a week off after winning their qualifying final.

“I’m not going to attribute it to that, but it’s not the advantage it once was,” Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.