Swans Suffer Devastating Loss to Crows at SCG, Season Hanging by a Thread

The Adelaide Crows handed the Sydney Swans a devastating defeat, outclassing them by a staggering 90 points in front of their home crowd.

The Swans endured a dismal performance at the SCG on Saturday night, leading to their 2025 season hanging by a thread, while the Crows secured their position within the top four of the league and boast the competition’s best percentage.

With the match predominantly centred in Adelaide’s forward 50, it was a standout performance from Josh Rachele and Ben Keays, both contributing three goals each.

The Swans initially opened the scoring with a goal from key forward Hayden McLean, but that marked the end of their celebrations as the Crows then rattled off the next dozen goals.

With 12 straight goals in the first half, Adelaide showcased 10 different goal scorers as the entire team participated in the scoring spree.

This effort marked the largest unanswered goal streak for the club on the road since 2015.

At the half-time interval, Sydney had only one solitary goal to show for their efforts, trailing Adelaide by 65 points. Aside from COVID-interrupted matches, this was the Swans’ lowest half-time score in history.

“I’ve never witnessed [the Swans] being so thoroughly embarrassed on their home ground,” remarked Melbourne great Gary Lyon during Fox Footy’s broadcast.

Finally breaking the drought for Sydney, Will Hayward kicked the opening goal of the third term, followed by Isaac Heeney adding another for back-to-back goals.

However, the Swans’ attempts to generate any momentum were met with a resolute Crows defence and clever ball movement.

Two consecutive 50m penalties led to guaranteed goals for Adelaide, who then went on to register another impressive run of eight unanswered goals.

In a disappointing finale for Sydney, the Swans were held scoreless in the last quarter as the Crows concluded the match with 14 individual goal kickers contributing to their tally.

The Swans now find themselves at a concerning 4-8 record this season, having suffered two back-to-back heavy losses.

This marks the worst start to a season for the side since 2020.

In securing the win, the Crows also ended the Swans’ streak of six consecutive victories in their head-to-head matchups that dated back to 2019.