Sydney’s miserable first season under Dean Cox hit a new low with a disastrous 90-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday night – and the match had a bitter postscript.
Speaking after the Crows’ thumping win which raised them to third on the AFL ladder, defender Wayne Milera, who was among the Crows’ best with 17 disposals and a goal, described the 2024 grand finalists as a ‘rabble’.
“You could sort of feel it as a group … they were sort of a bit of a rabble, just hearing them on the ground,” Milera told ABC Radio.
It’s rare for an opposition player to be so brutally honest about a rival team, even after such an emphatic victory, and the 27-year old’s comments quickly caused a stir.
According to Fox Footy reporter Jay Clark, the dig will send ‘shockwaves’ through the Swans, as yet another brutal reminder of their ugly 4-8 win-loss record, as well as how far they’ve fallen since a humbling grand final loss to Brisbane just eight months ago.
The miserable defeat was made even worse by occurring on the night of the Swans’ celebration of the 20th anniversary of their drought-breaking 2005 premiership, with a host of former greats including Michael O’Loughlin, Barry Hall, Nick Davis and Leo Barry on hand to witness their former team humiliated.
“It’s the most damning post-match assessment of the season,” Clark said on Fox Footy after the match.
“This is one of the proudest clubs in the competition. We know the history of the Sydney Football Club over the past two decades, and the champions who have played. They’ve been so consistent.
“They’ve just been branded a ‘rabble’ by an opposition player, from what he could hear them talk about on the field.
“I think that’ll send shockwaves through the Swans, and I’d be interested in how the Adelaide Crows handle a comment [like that].”
Former great Jack Riewoldt was scathing of Milera’s jibe, saying it was ‘100 per cent disrespectful’ and opining that Crows coach Matthew Nicks wouldn’t be impressed.
“Calling an opposition team a ‘bit of a rabble’ in a media sense … they dropped Josh Rachele [last year] for values,” he said.
“I would love to know where a comment like that sits in the values of the Adelaide Football Club.”
Fellow panellist David King said Milera may have ‘got his words wrong’ as a player not accustomed to dealing with the media.
“He’s a guy that doesn’t have a history in this space – I can’t remember hearing him speak,” King said of Milera.
“I’d love to know what he was trying to say, whether he got his words wrong.
“I’d be surprised if Matty Nicks didn’t get on the phone and say ‘look, we’re out of line here, we’ve made a mistake, can we step through this and move on?’
“It’s just a simple error. I think he’s got his words wrong, and I hope this doesn’t become the story that maybe you [Clark] think it will.”
Cox, who took over from John Longmire in the 2024 off-season after a long apprenticeship as assistant coach, was only marginally less scathing than Milera of the Swans in his post-match media conference.
“It was unacceptable and embarrassing,” Cox said.
“We are going to fight our way through this, everyone that’s involved at the footy club, and there’s going to be no easy way through it.
“I said to them ‘expect some tough sessions’. That’ll happen.”
The Swans sit 14th on the ladder after 12 rounds, and have a suddenly dangerous assignment against Richmond at the MCG next Saturday before their mid-season bye.
