Latest news with #CallumMills
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Twenty years on, is Sydney's ‘Bloods' culture at risk of fading away?
On Saturday, the Sydney Swans will mark the 20-year anniversary of their drought-breaking, identity-forging 2005 AFL premiership – the moment that their 'Bloods culture' went from being an internal concept, barely spoken about outside the club, to a very public ethos, mythologised in footy folklore and proudly etched into the club's DNA. At half-time of Sydney's clash with the Adelaide Crows, players from that famous grand final win will do a lap of honour at the SCG, and thousands of fans will show their appreciation for them and the achievement that set up the enviable era that followed. At no point in the past two decades has that culture – built on discipline, selflessness, unity and commitment, revered and feared by their rivals – appeared more vulnerable than right now. If nothing else, the Swans of 2025 are clearly undisciplined. Skipper Callum Mills will miss Saturday's clash through suspension, and he's far from the only culprit; no team this year has had more players rubbed out than the Swans. And those other qualities, for so long non-negotiables at this club, just aren't sticking. After last week's hollow defeat to Melbourne – the Swans' first match at the MCG since last year's grand final, their second belting on the game's biggest stage in the space of three years – former Western Bulldogs champion Bob Murphy diagnosed their issues in perhaps the most Bob Murphy way imaginable. 'Well, the thing about the Bloods,' he said on ABC Radio. 'Blood needs to pump, and the thing that pumps your blood is your heart, and I feel like they've played with broken hearts for most of the year.' All the players who built the Bloods culture are gone; in fact, so much has changed that the bloke who kicked the ball that Leo Barry marked is now the coach. Paul Roos is long gone, and so too is his successor John Longmire; though he's still technically around, in his new upstairs role at the Swans, the football department is no longer his domain. Like the Ship of Theseus, if all the parts have changed, and all the hands which put them there are different, is it still the same? Recent history would suggest that yes, that culture has been successfully preserved: only three times since 2005 have the Swans missed the finals, and most would agree that they probably should have won more than one of their four grand finals in that time. And the brand of footy they have played throughout is - or was - still based on the same fundamentals.
The Age
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Twenty years on, is Sydney's ‘Bloods' culture at risk of fading away?
On Saturday, the Sydney Swans will mark the 20-year anniversary of their drought-breaking, identity-forging 2005 AFL premiership – the moment that their 'Bloods culture' went from being an internal concept, barely spoken about outside the club, to a very public ethos, mythologised in footy folklore and proudly etched into the club's DNA. At half-time of Sydney's clash with the Adelaide Crows, players from that famous grand final win will do a lap of honour at the SCG, and thousands of fans will show their appreciation for them and the achievement that set up the enviable era that followed. At no point in the past two decades has that culture – built on discipline, selflessness, unity and commitment, revered and feared by their rivals – appeared more vulnerable than right now. If nothing else, the Swans of 2025 are clearly undisciplined. Skipper Callum Mills will miss Saturday's clash through suspension, and he's far from the only culprit; no team this year has had more players rubbed out than the Swans. And those other qualities, for so long non-negotiables at this club, just aren't sticking. After last week's hollow defeat to Melbourne – the Swans' first match at the MCG since last year's grand final, their second belting on the game's biggest stage in the space of three years – former Western Bulldogs champion Bob Murphy diagnosed their issues in perhaps the most Bob Murphy way imaginable. 'Well, the thing about the Bloods,' he said on ABC Radio. 'Blood needs to pump, and the thing that pumps your blood is your heart, and I feel like they've played with broken hearts for most of the year.' All the players who built the Bloods culture are gone; in fact, so much has changed that the bloke who kicked the ball that Leo Barry marked is now the coach. Paul Roos is long gone, and so too is his successor John Longmire; though he's still technically around, in his new upstairs role at the Swans, the football department is no longer his domain. Like the Ship of Theseus, if all the parts have changed, and all the hands which put them there are different, is it still the same? Recent history would suggest that yes, that culture has been successfully preserved: only three times since 2005 have the Swans missed the finals, and most would agree that they probably should have won more than one of their four grand finals in that time. And the brand of footy they have played throughout is - or was - still based on the same fundamentals.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Simon Goodwin clarifies Charlie Spargo injury, rules out shorter quarters despite 40-minute MCG marathon
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was quick to clarify a fractured scapula suffered by Charlie Spargo wasn't a result of the incident for which Sydney captain Callum Mills received a suspension as he lamented more time on the sidelines for his premiership-winning small forward. Spargo, who only played one game in 2024 and nine so far in 2025 after needing surgery to repair his achilles, could miss up to six weeks after hurting his shoulder against the Swans at the MCG on Sunday. Mills was suspended for one game for rough conduct after an incident in the third quarter in which he jumped off the ground and made high contact with Spargo, who was subbed out of the game soon afterwards. Scans subsequently revealed the fracture to his shoulder blade, but Goodwin said it was a result of another incident just before the collision with Mills, hosing down any suggestions the ban should have been longer. 'It wasn't that incident, it was 30 seconds to a minute before that when the ball rolled out of bounds,' Goodwin said on Wednesday. 'We shouldn't relate it to that incident.' After an eventful win over the Swans, Goodwin also confirmed his surprise that the final quarter went for a mammoth 39 minutes and 58 seconds as the two sides kicked 13 goals between them in the last stanza. But Goodwin said he wasn't an advocate for shorter quarters. 'It was a bit of an anomaly,' he said. 'I must admit I did look at the scoreboard and saw 39 minutes on the clock. 'But they are not too long, I enjoy the fact that we take the game to being a real battle of endurance. It's one of the great things about our game. 'Clearly, you don't want the game going 39 or 40 minutes in a quarter, but I don't think that's happening too often. 'I love the game the way it is. I'm sure that powers that be are looking at how we make the game batter. I'll move and adapt with that when the time comes, but right now I think the game is in great shape.' The Demons are likely to get vice-captain Jack Viney back for Sunday's clash with St Kilda in Alice Springs after overcoming concussion issues that have kept him sidelined since round 12. 'It's very individualised, Jack has taken a little bit longer (to recover),' Goodwin said. 'But everything we've seen is he's tracking towards playing this weekend.'
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Swans to be without Mills after MRO ban
AFL: Callum Mills' long-awaited AFL comeback is on hold, with the Sydney captain to serve a one-game suspension for rough conduct.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Callum Mills handed one-match AFL ban for high bump
Callum Mills's long-awaited AFL comeback is on hold, with the Sydney captain to serve a one-game suspension for rough conduct. Mills bumped Charlie Spargo in the third term of Sydney's heavy loss to Melbourne on Sunday at the MCG, which left last year's grand finalists in trouble sitting two games plus percentage outside the top eight with a 4-7 record. It was Mills's first AFL game since last year's qualifying final. Mills was airborne when he bumped Spargo, who had to leave the field afterwards for a head injury assessment. The incident was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact. Sydney, who have a vital home game on Saturday night against Adelaide, have until Tuesday to decide whether they take the charge to the tribunal. There will be at least one tribunal case this week, with Fremantle to challenge captain Alex Pearce's three-game rough conduct ban incurred in their win over Port Adelaide on Saturday. Mills was among 13 players charged from Sunday's games and the only suspension. Star West Coast recruit Liam Baker escaped with a fine for driving his forearm into the back of James Peatling as the Adelaide midfielder was on the ground. Baker was charged with "other misconduct" and can accept a $3,125 penalty. The Eagle was also among seven players fined for the melee that immediately followed the incident. Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson was also fined for striking West Coast young gun Harley Reid. Meanwhile, Pearce's teammate Corey Wagner said Pearce would have been criticised had he pulled out of the incident that led to his three-game ban. Port's Darcy Byrne-Jones was running with the flight of the ball and was concussed when Pearce collected him in Saturday night's home Fremantle win. Pearce was airborne and took his eyes off the ball just before contact, but did not turn his body in a bumping motion. "It's a contact sport. You've got to brace for those positions. And if he pulls out, he gets criticised for not being hard enough. It's a moment-by-moment sort of thing," Wagner said. "They're hard ones. It's the sport we play. Some might get weeks, and some you might not. Hopefully, Alex gets off, but if not, you've got to keep it consistent." AAP
