After two years away due to COVID-19, the AFL Grand Final is returning to the Melbourne Cricket Ground this weekend. 

In a cruel twist of fate, no Melbourne team will be in the showpiece occasion, with Geelong and Sydney facing off on Saturday.

Sydney last won in 2012, defeating Hawthorn by 10 points in a match The Guardian hailed this week as the second best Grand Final of the last 50 years. “A very credible case could be made that this was the best grand final of all,” the publication wrote, which would have made for lovely reading for those of a Swans persuasion.

Sydney returned to the Grand Final on two occasions since then – Hawthorn enacting revenge in 2014 and Western Bulldogs beating them in 2016 – but maybe something crucial was missing in those two years: The Temper Trap.

What exactly does the indie rock band that conquered the world with ‘Sweet Disposition’ have to do with Sydney Swans, I hear you ask? Maybe a whole lot.

The Melbourne outfit are part of this weekend’s musical performances, alongside the likes of Robbie Williams and G Flip, and it will be their first time playing at the Grand Final since, you guessed it, 2012.

Does The Temper Trap featuring in this year’s entertainment lineup mean the Sydney Swans are guaranteed to win their first premiership in a decade? When it comes to sports, a good luck charm or a hopeful sign never goes amiss.

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Following the Grand Final, The Temper Trap will be supporting U.S. rockers Kings of Leon on their upcoming Australian tour.

After making their breakthrough in 2009 with their debut album Conditions, which contained the aforementioned ‘Sweet Disposition’, the band released two more studio albums, 2012’s The Temper Trap and 2016’s Thick as Thieves, both of which topped the ARIA Albums Chart.

The band have remained popular in the years since, with ‘Sweet Disposition’ enjoying a viral moment on TikTok, soundtracking over 100,000 videos on the video platform.

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