"I hear the flights are astronomical!" Michael O'Loughlin - Sydney Swans & AFL Champion (23.09.2026)

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

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Michael O'Loughlin (1:00)

Come on!

And Sydney are on the build. This looks dangerous.

Mark Duffield (1:04)

Malczewski, good placement.

Michael O'Loughlin (1:06)

Banfield, the fist.

SPEAKER_2 (1:08)

O'Loughlin has got it.

Michael O'Loughlin (1:09)

He's gone!

Sean Gorman (1:14)

Puts the ball through.

Mark Duffield (1:15)

What a game.

Michael O'Loughlin (1:16)

And then exchanged question trees with a few of the locals.

Mark Duffield (1:21)

I do remember that moment. I do remember that moment very clearly, of course.

Qualifying final night in 2006, Sydney versus the West Coast Eagles, and Micky O put the ball through, and then did exchange some pleasantries with the West Coast Cheer Squad just behind the goals. Micky joins us on the show now. Michael, welcome. Mark Duffield here. And our guests always giggle when I introduce this other guy. Dr. Sean Gorman with me as well, Michael. Welcome to the show.

Sean Gorman (1:57)

How's that rash, Mick?

Michael O'Loughlin (2:01)

Thanks for having me, mate. Appreciate it. Dr. Gorman, always a pleasure.

Mark Duffield (2:06)

Now, Michael, you are a board member at Sydney, and obviously your team was mighty in the finals, but came up short in the preliminary final on Friday night. How has the club pulled up after it?

Michael O'Loughlin (2:18)

Yeah, it's a bit of sweet, I think, you know, we've had a pretty rocky last five weeks or whatever it's been, but I think the players, the guys out on the ground, you know, they really did show a lot of heart and grit, and we almost pulled off a little bit of a miracle there. I thought they played extremely well. You know, it's pretty mental, too good, too classy, and did it when it counted, so they go to the grand final.

Mark Duffield (2:50)

Do you feel like there was a sense of pride restored in the club after the events at the Pullman Hotel? Because I have to say, I was astonished that you played as well as you did against Brisbane in the qualifying final, and then I thought, well, maybe they've only got one shot in the gun, but you were every bit as good as that for two and a half quarters against Frio, and then it felt like the petrol tickets just ran out about three quarter time.

Michael O'Loughlin (3:15)

Yeah, look, I mean, that won't go into too much detail, but around the way that the group had responded to, we've got a long way back to earn some respect within the community. There's a lot to be played out, obviously, but I think we're at a club that were really on its knees at that point of time. And the guys were instrumental, the guys who had played on the field, obviously, who were instrumental on playing against, I think it was North Melbourne in that last game and last round of the season. And then obviously that first final, then going into that prelim, we sort of knew deep down as a footy fan and as a player, an ex-player who's been around for a long time, you sort of knew that we had been running on some petrol fumes there for a while as well.

But I'm just really extremely proud of what they were able to produce, a bit of fight. I think the fans really appreciated what they dished up as well. They hung in there, they really had a crack at it. So lots of like, but I don't know, it's a bit of a numbing feeling. I know I was really just sort of a little bit emotional after the game, just purely proud of the guys that were out there playing the game and what they produced, the injuries that had happened to our captain.

There was a lot to play out, so I think it's still, you know, just trying to come to the senses of the year and what I make of it. It's really difficult sometimes.