At the AFL grand final I experienced the exquisite agony of being a Swans fan

‘We may not have had the periods of dominance [like] Brisbane, Hawthorn, Richmond and now Geelong … but we are good every year, and that’s no easy feat or small thing’ writes Paul Karp. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

In the fourth quarter of Sydney’s SCG preliminary final against Collingwood, I remained serenely calm as the Magpies ran down the Swans’ large lead. When Sydney won in a thriller, it seemed my faith had been rewarded, in that strange way football matches take on cosmological significance for fans who feel the chaos of on-field play more like the tug of fate.

Perhaps when Collingwood fell one point – or about 20 seconds – short of rolling the Swans, that should have been the warning sign that all was not cherry ripe for grand final day.