Just over a month ago, this masthead ran a front-page story interviewing Sydney Swans cheer squad member Liz Whiffen, who, with the team enjoying a stunning ten-game winning streak, asked rhetorically: “When is this beautiful dream going to end?”

Whiffen and her fellow Swans fans found out the answer the same day in a one-point loss to Fremantle that set off a barely believable run of results for the league leaders, who have now lost five out of their last six games.

And on Saturday against Port Adelaide, the Swans lost by 112 points – the club’s worst loss in 31 years and the worst of coach John Longmire’s career.

Only once in the history of the VFL/AFL has a team conceded 100 points and gone on to win the premiership. That was in 1945, when Carlton lost to Essendon by 100 points in round three before turning their season around to win the grand final – coincidentally against South Melbourne, who ultimately became the Sydney Swans.

The loss in Adelaide is the second worst for a team at the top of the ladder. The worst was North Melbourne in 1983, who lost to Fitzroy by 150 points. North Melbourne went on to win the minor premiership but lost in the preliminary final to........

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