I’ve been going to the Swans at the SCG on and off since about 1993. For the last decade I’ve made about three games a season often sitting with Inductees #2, #5, #10 and #69 when a spare season ticket is up for grabs. I love the SCG and I love pre-match bevvies at an old school Paddington pub.
This year I thought about a season ticket, as one had come up alongside the mates. #10, a very keen student of the game, said “This is the year to do it”. The Swans had recruited well (Grundy, Jordan, Adams) and the young kids that had been routed by Geelong were two years older and harder. So I pulled the trigger. As I write this post, it is confirmed that #10 knows his stuff and the Swans are off to their 8th Grand Final since 1996. Sadly, they’ve only won two of those – but at least they keep putting themselves there.
As mentioned, a joy of Swans games – particularly arvo games – is Paddo. And now the Imperial Hotel has created a microbrewery under the Resch label and two great passions can be enjoyed on the same day. I’m not sure how they have been able to appropriate the Resch name and the slogan “In Edmund we Trust”, given that Reschs Pilsener is still made and distributed by CUB. Anyway – I’m sure they’ve solved the legal issues there.
There’s a gleaming little brewery out the back of the pub, which can be viewed from two perspectives. So far they’ve created seven beers including a solid IPA and the very fine Paddington Pale. The food is also very solid and the only challenging thing about the Imperial is finding a seat. Encourages an early start.
Imperial Hotel: 252 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW
back of the ferry 