NOT SINCE the bad old days of Barry Hall's brain fades has Sydney come under so much scrutiny from the Match Review Office.
Through 10 games this season, the Swans have been the bad boys of the AFL, with their players rubbed out for a total of 10 games, three more than any other club.
Justin McInerney (two bans, four games total), Lewis Melican (three games) and Joel Amartey (three games) have all copped their whack, and all three will miss Sunday's pivotal clash against Melbourne at the MCG.
Notching up double figures of games banned so early in the season is far from unprecedented in the AFL – just last year, St Kilda players combined for 12 games before round eight – but it is for the Swans, who have been relative cleanskins over the past two decades.
Since the Match Review Panel was first introduced in 2005, Swans players have been banned for more than five games in a season just once. That was in 2008, when the club's tally of 13 matches was due in large part to Hall's strike of West Coast's Brent Staker, which saw him miss seven weeks.
Of course, the game has changed significantly since then. Players are getting banned today for incidents that may not have even been a fine in a previous era, and the actions of the banned Swans in 2025 simply do not compare to Hall's infamous strike.
Players are also taking their duty of care more seriously, so the number of clubs having players banned for large numbers of games has declined in the past decade.
In the 10 seasons between 2005 and 2014, 19 clubs racked up 10 or more games banned in a season. In the 10 seasons after that, only five teams did so.
Sydney has now joined that list, with at least another 13 games to go this season.
A week after first-year coach Dean Cox lamented his side giving away seven 50-metre penalties in the loss to Essendon, he will again be ruing the ill-discipline of his players.
"We want to make sure that we play within the rules and this was no different," Cox said after Amartey's bump on Carlton's Jordan Boyd on Friday night, which saw the forward cop a three-match ban.
"We make sure that our forwards want to chase out and put as much pressure on the opposition, just in the right way."
Games banned, 2025
10 - Sydney
7 - Hawthorn
6 - North Melbourne
4 - Richmond
3 - Fremantle, Adelaide
2 - Collingwood
1 - Melbourne, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs
Games banned per season, Sydney (2005-2025)
13 - 2008
10 - 2025*
5 - 2023
4 - 2022, 2012
3 - 2015, 2013, 2005
2 - 2018, 2011, 2010, 2009
1 - 2024, 2021, 2019, 2017, 2007
0 - 2020, 2016, 2014, 2006
Most games banned in a season (2005-2025)
17 - Fremantle (2007), Port Adelaide (2005)
16 - Fremantle (2008)
15 - Melbourne (2017)
14 - St Kilda (2010), Essendon (2009)
13 - Hawthorn (2010), Sydney (2008)
12 - St Kilda (2024), North Melbourne (2012), Richmond (2010)
11 - Essendon (2013), Melbourne (2013), Hawthorn (2008), St Kilda (2007)
10 - Sydney (2025)*, Port Adelaide (2024), Richmond (2023), Greater Western Sydney (2021), Richmond (2014), Geelong (2013), Geelong (2012), West Coast (2012), Geelong (2010), Essendon (2006)
Longest suspensions this century
Andrew Gaff (WCE) - 8 matches, 2018
Dean Solomon (FRE) - 8 matches, 2008
Jimmy Webster (STK) - 7 matches, 2024
Barry Hall (SYD) - 7 matches, 2008
Steven Baker (STK) - 7 matches, 2007
Toby Greene (GWS) - 6 matches, 2021
Tom Bugg (MEL) - 6 matches, 2017
Tom Jonas (PTA) - 6 matches, 2016
Campbell Brown (GC) - 6 matches, 2012
Jeff Farmer (FRE) - 6 matches, 2007
Ben Johnson (COLL) - 6 matches, 2007
Brodie Holland (COLL) - 6 matches, 2006
Byron Pickett (PTA) - 6 matches, 2005
