Numbering 300 strong, the Swans cheer squad is a bedlam of passion, determination and history.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With their team having reached its fourth grand final in a decade, its members are becoming a regular fixture in the MCG stands each September.
Grand final day means bubbly and chicken for breakfast in a tribalistic ode to the bird that is close to their emblem, the swan.
"We bought enough chicken for the whole park," chief cheer squad organiser Denise Haberman said.
Mrs Haberman has been a fan for more than 50 years, moving north with the team when it departed her beloved South Melbourne for Sydney.
"I've had about three hours sleep," she said. "I was up all night finishing off the banner-making while cooking the chooks."
She is already at work recruiting her newest grandson to the cause – the three-week-old already has his first jersey.
Also members of the squad are partners Julian Farrell and Chris Goodwin, who have been devoted fans since 1983.
"I'm with my partner now, and we get to watch the grand final together as a couple, it's a really special moment," Mr Farrell said.
This is their first grand final, and already they find themselves part of an extended national family.
"You're part of a community that spans not only two cities but the whole country, and when your'e in a grand final, that sense of togetherness is absolutley electifying," Mr Farrell said.
For the cheer squad, this year's grand final was not to be.
As the Melbourne sun dipped below the MCG stands, the Swans were down 55 points at three-quarter-time.
The cheer squad's home made banners were still waving proudly, if not quite so fiercly. There simply weren't enough goals from the Swans to warrant it.
When the grand final whistle blew on another Swans grand finalappearance, they remained in the stands longer than anyone else.
Their next stop, a return to their spiritual eating home, a family pizzeria in South Melbourne.
"No matter what, whether we win or lose, we always stick together," said Diane D'Aubern, who was at her fourth grand final as a member of the squad.
"We talk about everything over pizza and hope that we come back to the same tables next year."
