Swans show what Sydney's 'Bloods' culture is supposed to look like in Brisbane boilover

Sydney looked like an easy path to a deep finals run for its rivals after five players were suspended. Instead, the Swans dismantled Brisbane, showing on the field why their famed “Bloods” culture has been respected for so long.

The suspensions appeared to make winning a final almost impossible. Sydney had been decimated just as the finals began, while Brisbane received the apparent advantage of facing the Swans in a qualifying final after edging Hawthorn on percentage. The weekend quickly overturned those assumptions.

The Pullman Hotel scandal had prompted questions about what Sydney's culture really meant, and the club acknowledged that its standards off the field were not what they once had been. But the match against Brisbane offered a sharply different picture on the field. Sydney played with its familiar effort, intensity and refusal to give in, regardless of the personnel available.

The SCG crowd grew louder as the Swans took control, and the players responded by lifting their performance again. The relationship became a feedback loop, with supporters and players driving each other forward until Brisbane was overwhelmed. A banner before the match paid tribute to the club's “Bloods” culture, but the performance itself became the more convincing statement.

Sydney had gone 18-5 during the season yet remained under the radar until the hotel scandal and the resulting suspensions changed the finals picture. Against the two-time reigning premiers, the Swans reminded observers why the club has been regarded as one of the AFL's model organizations over the past two decades.