Sydney have missed the finals for the first time since 2002, but the AFL club still has plenty of reasons to finish the season on a high against the Brisbane Lions at the SCG on Saturday night.

The club will celebrate the end of an era, with Swans games record-holder Michael O'Loughlin and fellow premiership teammates Leo Barry and Jared Crouch playing their final matches before retirement.

It will officially draw the curtain on a period of success that included the 2005 flag, a grand final defeat in the rematch with West Coast the following year and six straight seasons of finals football.

Among the activities planned for the night, a host of former Swans will form a guard of honour as the players run onto the field, while hall of fame inductees and recently-anointed club legends - including Bob Skilton and Paul Kelly - will be part of a motorcade at halftime.

Barry Hall already had that honour mid-season when he quit the club and he will also be on hand on Saturday night.

It will be a tall order for Sydney to knock off the finals-bound Lions, but they certainly won't lack motivation.

"Everyone's aware that it's a big celebration for the club," Barry told reporters before his final training session on Thursday.

"There are a lot of ex-players coming for the game this weekend, we're expecting a big crowd and no doubt the players understand that it's a crucial game for us.

"We have missed the finals and it's been disappointing but to know it's your last game, at the SCG, where I've got so many fond memories, it's a really good send off."

Selected by the Swans with the No.8 pick in the 1995 draft, Crouch has watched the club transform during his time in the harbour city.

"Growing up in Adelaide, you used to always get a Sydney game on a Sunday and you always used to see the empty stands," he said.

"I can remember a former coach of mine saying 'It will be interesting how you go in Sydney', because I came from a schoolboys side that lost one game out of more than 100 and Sydney in 1995 hadn't won a lot of games.

"But you come to 1996 and they play in a grand final and being a 17-year-old kid around the place, it's been great to see the transformation of the club.

"It's great to see the way the game's developed in Sydney."

After 15 years as a Swan, Barry admitted it would be hard to accept no longer being around his teammates day-to-day.

"Me and Mick were thinking that at the first training session (next season), we might pull up with an Esky and a few beers and cheer the boys on," he joked.

The 11th-placed Swans haven't lost to Brisbane at the SCG since 2001.

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