In the Swans’ toughest times, James Rowbottom is always there.
After the club’s suspension of Riley Bice, James Jordon, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney, he stepped up as a senior player and spoke eloquently.
In the 12-point preliminary final defeat against Fremantle on Friday, he played through the 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 so nearly carried the Swans to third grand final in five seasons. Then, after the agonising 12-11 (83) to 10-11 (71) defeat, he tried his best to articulate to the press what had just happened.
A losing change room is always a sombre place, but on Friday evening nobody quite knew what to say. The Swans could take pride in what had been a fine performance, but the pain of giving up a game-high 28-point lead in the third quarter – including the biggest three-quarter-time comeback in Dockers history – was almost too much to bear.
Few outside Swans headquarters had given the club any chance of getting near the grand final in the absence of the “Pullman Five” and the subsequent loss of defenders Harry Cunningham and captain Callum Mills to injury.
Rowbottom understood and spoke of his pride in the team’s unity and fighting spirit, but ultimately he could not shake the disappointment of having come within touching distance of the decider against all the odds, only to run out of steam and fall just short.
“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 greats Josh Kennedy and Dan Hannebery walked carefully around the rooms, there for a kind word to the devastated 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 was 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 came within a whisker of his fifth grand final. The 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.
“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 stepped up and shown themselves worthy bearers of the club’s bloods culture. 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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