‘It’s all still pretty raw’: Inside the Swans’ shattered change room

In the toughest times for the Swans, James Rowbottom is always there. In the aftermath of the club’s suspension of Riley Bice, James Jordon, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney, Rowbottom stepped up as a senior player and spoke eloquently.

In the preliminary final defeat against Fremantle on Friday, Rowbottom played through pain after surgery on a broken bone in his hand, with his fingers taped together. The midfielder finished with seven tackles, driving relentless pressure that almost led to the Swans’ third grand final in five seasons. After the 12-11 (83) to 10-11 (71) defeat, Rowbottom tried to articulate what had just happened.

The losing change room at the SCG is always a sombre place, but on Friday evening for the Swans, nobody quite knew what to say. The Swans could take pride in their pressure and fight, but each player knew the pain of giving up a game-high 28-point lead in the third quarter in the preliminary final against Fremantle – including the biggest three-quarter-time comeback in Dockers history.

Few outside Swans headquarters had given the club any chance of getting near the grand final after the suspension of five key players and the loss of defenders Harry Cunningham and captain Callum Mills to injury.

Rowbottom understood and acknowledged the pride at how far his team had travelled against the odds, but equally, he couldn’t shake the disappointment of what might have been for a Swans team that ran out of steam in the final quarter.

“It’s all still pretty raw, but ‘proud’ is definitely a word that comes to mind for the boys who have been out there over the last couple of weeks, and tonight especially,” Rowbottom said.

“Proud is an emotion, but it would have been nice to get a couple of goals in the last quarter and get a win as well. We’re still very disappointed and feel like we had a bit more to give, but unfortunately we couldn’t quite get it done.”

Former Swans Josh Kennedy and Dan Hannebery walked carefully around the quiet change room, there for a kind word to players who needed one.

Tom Papley shuffled in, his left knee strapped heavily after a third-quarter collision that restricted his movement so cruelly after a brilliant start to the game.

Three children in Swans gear didn’t know what to say and looked at the ground. Papley walked over to them, gently high-fived them all and thanked them for coming. The player’s impact not lost on Rowbottom.

“He’s [Papley] incredible the way he plays for this footy club and his leadership is second to none,” Rowbottom said.

“As we saw, he was pretty sore, and he still almost gave us a shot in the last couple of minutes with a typical Tom Papley shot at goal.

“He just typifies what it means to be a Bloods footballer. I’m very proud of him, to see him battle on was pretty impressive.”

Dane Rampe had stepped up as captain in the absence of Mills and almost reached his fifth grand final. The Swans veteran had experienced the agony of losing in 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024, and was deprived of one more chance to win his first premiership. Rowbottom paid tribute to Rampe, who coach Dean Cox said will consider his future as a player in time.

“Rampe, ever since I got here, has been someone I’ve looked up to on and off the field, the way he leads, regardless of whether he has the captain’s title or not, is second to none,” Rowbottom said.

“He’s a big reason why we were able to put in performances like we have over the last couple of weeks.

“The way he’s led us through the ups and downs over the last 15 or so years has been incredible. He continued to do it tonight as well. I thought he was awesome.”

The Swans have missed out on an unlikely grand final berth, but their young players have helped to restore the kind of relentless pressure the club’s bloods culture was founded on. Billy Cootee, Harry Kyle, Caiden Cleary, Jesse Dattoli, Tom Hanily and Angus Sheldrick had never played finals before this year, but ultimately embraced the pressure of September.

“I think the exposure these young guys have had over the first half of this year, and the belief they’ve got in themselves and the trust that we have in them, meant it was something that didn’t really faze us,” Rowbottom said.

“They stepped in and, as we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, the way they delivered just shows why we do believe in them.”

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