see them into their ninth consecutive finals series, where they were comprehensively beaten by GWS in the Elimination Final. The Swans' golden era of finals appearances came to an end in 2019. They missed the finals for the first time in a decade, finishing 15th on the ladder with eight wins and 14 losses. They started the season poorly with just one win in their first seven matches, although they would briefly recover after winning five of the next seven games. Six losses on the trot ended any chance of a tenth consecutive finals appearance, but strong wins over also-rans Melbourne and St Kilda in the final two rounds ensured the season ended on a positive note. 2020s: Return to finals They won their first match of the interrupted 2020 season against Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval by three points, but won only four more games for the season, missing the finals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1994–95. The 16th-place finish was also the lowest in club history. After two seasons out of the finals, the Swans rebounded to great effect in 2021. An excellent first month of the season, which saw them upset Brisbane and reigning premiers Richmond, set up a strong home-and-away campaign. Seven wins in their final eight games saw Sydney secure sixth position with a 15–7 win-loss record, just percentage outside the top four, but their year came to a premature end in the finals after a heartbreaking one-point loss to crosstown rival Greater Western Sydney in the second elimination final. The players felt as though they had more to give, and were overcome with disappointment knowing that they had no finals win to show for it, in a season which had otherwise been a massive step in the right direction. In 2022, the Swans backed up their meteoric rise up the ladder with another promising start, winning five of their first six matches. This included a 30-point win against Geelong in Round 2, which involved Lance Franklin kicking his 1000th career goal, sparking one of the biggest pitch invasions in AFL history. After a mid-year slump, in which the Swans lost winnable games against Gold Coast, Port Adelaide and Essendon, they finished the home-and-away season with seven wins in a row, securing a top-4 berth for the first time since 2016. In the 2022 finals series, the Swans beat Melbourne by 22