Well done super Swans

In this week’s edition of Let’s Talk Sport 990 4RO’s Aaron Stevens joins Today Group journalist Liam Emerton to discuss winning streaks and congratulate the Yeppoon Swans.

Liam: Aaron, Yeppoon Swans have had their streak snapped and lost a game after 128 straight wins.

Mate, they’ve fallen to the sword of the Glenmore Bulls and it’s got us thinking about some of the biggest streaks in sport.

Obviously, the first one that came to both of our minds is the Queensland State of Origin and their impressive run over the last decade.

But we thought of some others. There’s a fair few around, I know you want to talk about those Queensland wins first, so go ahead mate, enjoy it and bloat about it.

Aaron: Well let’s just put gloating aside for just one minute while we congratulate the Swans on such an incredible winning streak, 128 games, as you said.

And it was funny because over the last couple of years since you and I have started working together we always knew the more that they won, the closer they were to a loss and it was just a matter of when it would happen.

And I think you and I even had a bet on the fact that it might have happened during the season last year.

But the Yeppoon Swans just kept getting up game after game, which is so tough to do when you know that you’re running out against opposition at varying levels of professionalism.

All teams, it doesn’t matter what sport you follow, it doesn’t matter what level of sport you play, your team goes through good and bad times.

And for the Broncos it’s been a tragic last couple of years through 2020 and 2021 for a famous club that’s had so much success over the years.

And that was hard to go through. But you look at the Yeppoon Swans, to be able to continue at the level that they did is outstanding.

And I remember asking the coach Christian Burgess last year, how do you do it?

What are you saying to the players? How do you get players up one game after the next? And he said that it was just that level of professionalism that they put into their game, it was about making sure that you were competing at that top level.

You’ve gotta remember that they had players coming in and out all the time, just like any other team.

They had players go away to representative competitions. And Christian Burgess was one of those who I remember talking to him when he went up to Cairns and I said are you worried about your team being under strength? And it didn’t worry him.

They got up, they always set the bar very high.

So congratulations to them for winning that 128 in a row, which is an Australian rules record.

And it’s just incredible to think that they’re able to maintain that period of that kind of success for so long. So congratulations to them. And also congratulations to the Glenmore Bulls, who, you’d have to say, Liam, came awfully close to them a couple of times over the last couple of years.

Liam: Yeah, they certainly did. They had that grand final a couple of years ago where they led for a few quarters before the Swans flexed their muscles essentially.

The closest that really got to it since I’ve been here was the BITS Saints who came awfully close to breaking that streak in the Grand Final of 2022.

But Yeppoon and you touched on it a lot, their professionalism is what put them over the line.

When I talked to Tim Higgins, the Glenmore captain-coach, he almost thanked the Swans for what they’ve done for the competition.

It sounds a bit weird to say that a team that’s won eight straight premierships has been good for the competition, but he said it’s really lifted everyone and the competition has just grown and grown since then.

This season has been the most competitive. We’ve seen teams go against the Swans and do well and I think that’s just because everyone’s starting to catch up to what they’re doing. And of course, then we get to see this win by the Glenmore Bulls, which wasn’t I guess a fluky win in any sense. It was by three goals.

And that’s a big margin when it comes to AFL.

So a fantastic performance by the Bulls.

An almost unbreakable record, you would think from the Swans who took it from a team that made 89 games in a row in the seventies.

So add an extra almost 50 to that.

Aaron: You were there when the Bulls won. I know you gave me the call, you were racing to the ground to make sure that you saw those final minutes. Can you describe to me the feeling of both teams?

You mentioned how the Bulls reacted.

What, what was the reaction from the Swans?

Liam: It was a weird one, obviously, I’ve never seen the Swans lose a game. So it’s hard to predict how they would react.

But they were obviously disappointed but still respectful.

The players especially were respectful. They shook all the hands of the Bulls and they continued on their way.

I think as much as this is speculation, Aaron, I think it’s a bit of relief for the Swans.

They don’t need to keep up this incredible streak it’s not all about them anymore in this incredible run. It’s just about them winning the flag.

And I think that takes a lot of pressure off a team and maybe that’ll relax the Swans.

You’ve gotta take into account they haven’t lost a game in eight years.

So how are they meant to react? How are you meant to be extremely disappointed that you’ve lost one game in eight years? I think they just took it on the chin.

And I’d be scared Aaron if I was that team coming up against the Swans next.

It’s a positive thing that I saw when I was down there and I’m just happy that they reacted that way.

I know there were a few not-so-grateful fans but it’s good to see that the players were obviously respectful of that loss and just got on their merry way as they caught their first L in eight years,

Aaron: Let’s get to some of those other great winning streaks and of course Queensland’s eight in a row. The incredible thing about the eight in a row from Queensland was that it started at a time when Queensland was really struggling.

The most important part of a series of wins like that is keeping a team together.

And Queensland was just so consistent with their pick-and-stick through that period of time that they had some great victories over New South Wales.

And the thing was before that eight in a row the most that had been won was two or three series.

And of course, let’s face it, Liam as a New South Wales supporter as you are, you would’ve been growing up then and had never seen a New South Wales win.

Liam: So I started understanding footy probably around 2003. Aaron, I would’ve been about six years old. So I saw a few wins from the New South Wales guys, but through childhood, I was just starved of a New South Wales series win.

And it took so long before we finally got it. And I still remember Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds, the Bulldogs combination that actually broke the streak.

It was almost miraculous that we won that series.

I remember breaking that streak and thinking this is our time now, and then I believe we lost the next one after that anyway.

Aaron: You know, the other great winning streak that comes to mind when we’re talking about it is the Australian cricket test team who managed 16 in a row.

And they’ve done it twice, originally doing it from 1999 through to 2001 with those great sides led by Ricky Ponting.

And then from December 2005 through to January 2008 won 16 test matches.

And you gotta remember the key word there is win.

So many test matches do end in a draw in a series, and to actually win 16 test matches in a row is an incredible feat. But then the women’s Australian women’s Cricket side went on to win 22 matches in a row, which wasn’t all test matches/

It was just another show of how dominant Australian cricket has been in the last 20 or 30 years, even taking on sides like India and England in Ashes and South Africa when they’re at their peak.

We’ve had some great cricketers over the years and it’s great to see that they can hold their head higher with winning streaks like that.

Liam: We’ve talked about dominance and eras.

Queensland we’re so dominant for so long.

The Australian test sides have always been great, but I really love the streaks that come out of nowhere. And one that really stands out for me is Jamie Vardy.

And if you don’t know who Jamie Vardy is, he was low tier English footballer coming through the ranks who finally cracked into the Premier League and he was playing for Leicester City

And yes, it was during that season that miraculous season.

He scored 11 goals in 11 games consecutively. And it is just such an incredible record that you look at the people who set it before him and there were some names up there that are just unbelievable legends of the game.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who’s one of Manchester United’s greatest ever goal scorers, has held that record for years.

But it’s Jamie Vardy, some kid from the lower leagues of England that would break that record and score 11 in a row and score against Manchester United to break it.

It was such an incredible record to set and that is what pushed the Foxes on their way to the Premier League title in that miraculous season.

Aaron: Before we wrap this up, the St George Dragons in Rugby league, who of course had that incredible winning streak in Grand Finals, winning from 1958 through to 1966.

That was an incredible run from the Dragons who have been struggling in recent years.

But that was an incredible time with, once again, an amazing team through the fifties and sixties when they were the most dominant team in rugby league.