Aussie Rules' holy grail the AFL Premiership Cup called into Maitland on Thursday as part of a national tour ending at the MCG on grand final day on Saturday, September 24.
Swans fans will be taking it as an omen with Maitland born Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney and his team winning after the visit and now just one win from the grand final after beating Melbourne in Friday night's qualifying final at the MCG.
The Swans are through to a home preliminary final on the back of their 14.7-91 to 10.9-69.
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Heeney played his junior footy with Cardiff before the Saints were established, but the club is now firmly entrenched with girls and boys teams and several players with the Swans Academy and their under-17 and under-11 girls teams in grand finals on Sunday.
The Saints under-11s and under-17s both play Terrigal Avoca Panthers at Warners Bay after both were victorious over the same teams in the qualifying final two weeks ago.
The Maitland Saints hosted the visit at Max McMahon Oval and hundreds of young and old fans gathered to be photographed with the cup and GWS Giants star Toby Greene.
Greene said he really enjoyed the interaction with the fans as he remembered how special events like this were for him growing in up in Melbourne.
The Giants were beaten in the 2019 grand final by Richmond, but Greene, in his 11th season at GWS, believes the club can return to finals next season and win a grand final in the coming seasons.
The Toyota AFL Premiership Cup Tour moves on through NSW, Queensland the Northern Territory before finishing off in regional Victoria.
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