A special night in Sydney, but one that only sets the scene for a bigger weekend to come. The Swans are heading for the grand final with scores to settle and business to finish, and tonight’s evidence they are perfectly placed to complete their mission.

I’ll be back on the blog tomorrow arvo as we settle the other half of the grand final match-up. Geelong is playing Brisbane at the MCG, and that one could well be far more tense than tonight’s game. Feel free to join me for that one too! Until then, thanks for your compant and enjoy your weekend.

Can guarantee he’s not going to be whooping and hollering a whole lot. This is going to be very understated from the Sydney coach, but he might give some insight on some injury concerns.

“It’s a great spot to be in, it’s what we’ve been training for since the last game last year. We’ve given ourselves an opportunity next week which is terrific. We executed today as well as we could, we were strong in the contest, we executed our process, lived in the moment and got the job done.

“Not everything is going to go your way, but you have to find different ways. We were well beaten in the centre and free kicks at clearance were an issue, but we were able to work through that. Our defenders played well and then we were able to turn the tide a bit. Things aren’t going to go your way at this time of year, but you have to adapt and problem solve and I thought our players did that well.

“Logan McDonald seemed okay but we’ll see how he pulls up. He rolled his ankle.

“Callum Mills trained today and trained quite well, which is a good sign. We’ll see how the week progresses.

“(On Taylor Adams) I’ve been there as a player, a couple of times with injury and non-selection. You feel for them, but his attitude has been terrific. We’re not sure what happens this week, so keep working.”

Could be interesting.

“We gave them great looks, ridiculous looks at time. They are a high quality team, we knew that. They finished on top of the ladder for a reason. We knew we had to be at our absolute best, but we weren’t capable of going with them tonight.

“Some of those turnovers were undefendable, but I thought they looked like a really polished team with different phases.

“Right now it’s really disappointing because we came here with optimism. We more than anyone know hard that final step is. I thought as a club we stuck together pretty well through the whole year and gave ourselves a chance.

“I understand the story will be that we failed to get there again, but I thought we gave it a pretty good crack.”

Three Sydney players will have most of the attention on them this week.

Logan McDonald would be a walk up starter for the grand final, but he was subbed off early tonight with an ankle injury and will no doubt need to prove his fitness through the week.

Callum Mills missed this one with a hamstring injury and will be desperate to come up for the grand final. Do the Swans take a risk on the captain if he’s not 110% fit?

Taylor Adams missed out on Collingwood’s premiership last year, left for Sydney, and now has found himself out of the team as the Swans qualified for a grand final. Is he set to be a hard luck story for two years in a row?

There is joy unconfined at the SCG, though the players don’t look to be getting ahead of themselves. The job is far from done for them.

For the Bloods in the crowd? The lid is off.

The Sydney superstar was fantastic again tonight, and he is understandably elated. He has spoken to Channel Seven about tonight and their prospects next week:

“Unbelievable. We have had this support all year and it is special. We’ve got a special team and to bounce back as we did and put on a performance like that is special. Unbelievable. Love this. Bring on next week.

“We could very well be against the same side (as 2022) as well. We are a different team than 2022 and a bit more mature. The boys are excited.”

A professional, convincing and encouraging win for Sydney. The Swans made it look pretty easy in the end, standing up to the early pressure before throwing a decisive punch and then shutting the whole thing down.

They are looking an awful lot like the well-oiled machine that took down all before it in the first half of the year, with top form returning at just the right time. Sydney is through to yet another grand final, and you absolutely have to love its chances next week.

Port Adelaide looked as if it had spent its remaining tickets last week. The Power cracked in all night, there’s no questioning that, but they couldn’t match the Swans for skill and speed. It’s another year without a grand final appearance, and despite an overall positive year there will be yet more question marks around the club and its future.

The red and white banners are flying high around the SCG. One to go for the Swans.

Sydney just chipping the footy around after a non-event of a last quarter.

Rampe and Heeney are arm in arm on the bench on their big milestone nights. A special evening for the Swans.

Time for Horse to get some of these boys off the ground. Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Errol Gulden, come have a spell.

We’re just counting down to the siren now with Port Adelaide’s season on the verge of its conclusion.

That’s a delightful goal from Port Adelaide. Swift chain of handball out of the stoppage leads to Rozee bursting through the 50 and drilling it on the move.

It’s a 34-point game with 10 minutes to play. Wouldn’t have thought so.

He owes them a couple, Boaky. The champ has made some errors tonight but hasn’t dropped his head once, and is stil running hardest onto a loose ball inside attacking 50 right to the last.

Could this be the last time we see Travis Boak out there?

The most obvious free kick of the night, with Heeney clearly blocked in the marking contest that time. He makes no mistake with the set shot, the lead is 45 with 13:27 to play and this one is all over bar the shouting.

The Swans are headed for their fifth grand final in 12 years.

First reak concern of the night for Sydney. McDonald has played well tonight but looks like he’ll have a nervous week ahead of him.

Robbie Fox is on in his stead.

His Port Adelaide team is well and truly on the ropes, but as Ethan Rix points out from inside the gates at the SCG Hinkley hasn’t been too popular with the locals either.

“‘Sydney’ chants are ringing out across the ground now with Swans fans feeling pretty confident at the moment and rightfully so.

“Meanwhile, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley hasn’t exactly enjoyed a warm welcome to Sydney, receiving a chorus of boos every time he appears on the big screen.

“Tonight, marks Hinkley’s 274th game coaching Port Adelaide, surpassing the AFL club record held by former coach Mark Williams.”

We’re either about to see one of the most dramatic last terms in football history, or Sydney securing a spot in the grand final.

Now or never for Port in 2024.

Port have subbed Frank Evans on for Jackson Mead.

Port Adelaide are right on the cusp of falling off the cliff now. The Power have fought to keep the margin between five and six goals but Sydney look ready to take this completely away from them in the last.

The Swans have looked fresher, sharper and more clinical all night. The game has been played on Sydney’s terms and Port haven’t had the ability to throw the Swans off their stride.

Port Adelaide is still on top in the clearances, and theoretically that could lead to it piling on some quick goals at some point in this term, but this doesn’t have the feeling of another finals comeback thriller. I imagine the Swans will be resting some players on the bench with an eye to next week pretty soon.

Another goal directly from a Travis Boak turnover. The veteran has had a dirty night back there.

Warner read Boak’s kick from the back pocket and charged after the intercept. He picked it off, sidestepped an opponent for the fun of it and snapped his second. That might just about be that.

Swans are playing a bit of possession footy now, just taking all spice out of this game. It’s mature footy from a team that knows it’s about 30 minutes of smart play away from a grand final.

When Port finally get their hands on it, it has to be all-out attack. Got to take risks to save your season.

Much better ball work from Port Adelaide, carrying it quickly and aggressively from end to end. Dixon was out the back in the goalsquare, marked and converted.

It just keeps lingering around that 33-point mark. Port need to sneak another couple before the last break to have a chance.