Coach Dean Cox felt "mixed emotions" after embattled and understrength Sydney beat North Melbourne by 53 points in the Swans' first game since the sexual assault allegations that have rocked the AFL club.
Five players - Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon - were on Wednesday suspended for the rest of the season for "breaching club standards".
The sanctions are separate to the police investigation into sexual assault allegations and the events at East Melbourne's Pullman Hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.
Those events completely overshadowed a maiden AFLW-AFL double header at the SCG - where after Sydney's women's team beat Essendon by 24 points, the men won 17.21 (123) to 10.10 (70).
"One thing we wanted to do is to show up as well as we possibly could for our football club, and we'll continue to do that," Cox said.
"And I think from our VFL yesterday to our AFLW program to our men's program, the week that we've endured at the start of the week, to rally and stand together was the most pleasing thing.
"As much as we understand everything that's still happening with an investigation, the way the players showed up - and the staff - throughout the week has been something the club should be proud of."
Skipper Callum Mills and star midfielder Errol Gulden were in tears on the final siren, the emotions of the week spilling over as the crowd showed its vocal support for the club with a stirring ovation.
"Just overwhelming support is probably what got me," Mills said of his tears.
"Our fans stood by us and that's something we're extremely grateful for."
The AFLW team won in front of a record crowd of 16,672, with some fans walking out after the women's game in protest - which had been forecast by some as a reaction to the Pullman Hotel storm.
Cox understood why some supporters chose to walk out.
"Everyone's emotions are different and the way they want to support and show up, and we understood that," Cox said.
"So for mine, I said yesterday I'm sorry for putting everyone through this and we'll do whatever we can to get their trust back."
Sydney's men won an effective dead rubber in front of 30,058 fans - the club's smallest AFL home crowd of the season, though it wasn't as low as some might have expected.
The Swans' previous low mark this year was 33,413, with every other home crowd breaching 35,000, and with six attendances of 40,000 or more.
"The girls have been unbelievable," Mills said of Sydney's AFLW side.
"It's been a hard week for the girls - and the boys and the whole club.
"And the way we stuck together, the way that our fans showed up with the double header, our girls set the tone with the way they played, and we just had to back it up, and yeah, we did."
Second-placed Sydney will face Brisbane in a home qualifying final in two weeks.
While the Swans will have next weekend off during AFL wildcard round, in reality they face two more weeks in the spotlight before the finals.
No charges have been laid and AAP is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of the five suspended players.
Gulden (41 disposals) stood tall along with skipper Mills (26 disposals), Brodie Grundy (26 disposals, 27 hitouts), Braeden Campbell (20 disposals and two goals) and Tom Papley.
Boom recruit Charlie Curnow kicked 3.4 to finish his first season in Sydney with 69 goals, winning his third Coleman Medal as the AFL's leading goalkicker.
Curnow said he hadn't thought too much about the medal prior to the game, given the circumstances of the week, but appreciated the achievement.
Billy Cootee and Logan McDonald also kicked three goals.
For North (9-14, 14th place), former Swan Luke Parker (26 disposals) was busy along with Jy Simpkin (26) and Caleb Daniel (26), while Cam Zurhaar kicked two goals.
"We played like a side that were just looking forward to having three or four months off," coach Alastair Clarkson said.
"I thought they were more desperate than what we were and that was evident right from the first contest of the game, really.
"Their endeavour to hunt the footy on the inside and then spread on the outside was first class, and that's why they're second on the ladder, irrespective of the players that were missing today."
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