Dane Swan

Dane Swan (born 25 February 1984) is an Australian rules footballer for Collingwood in the Australian Football League.^[1]

Since 2007 Swan has emerged as one of the AFL's elite midfielders, winner of the prestigious Brownlow Medal in 2011 with a record tally of 34 votes. He has been selected in the All-Australian team three times and has an AFL Players Association Most Valuable Player award.

Swan has also proven to be a Collingwood great, having won the Best and Fairest Award three years running from 2008-2010.

Early life

Swan was born in Melbourne, Victoria to parents Billy and Deidre Swan. His father Billy Swan played 302 games with Port Melbourne and Williamstown from 1976–1993.^[2]

He grew up playing junior football for the Westmeadows Football Club in the Essendon District Football League, and attended St. Bernard's College in Essendon before playing his under 18 football with the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup.

Swan's performances at the Calder Cannons were ordinary and he was perceived by some recruiters to be a larrikin with questionable kicking accuracy and work ethic,^[3] however Collingwood showed an interest in him as a potential late maturer in the mould of his father^[4] and took him at the relatively low draft pick (#58) in the 2001 AFL Draft.

Career

Swan made his debut in June 2003 at the age of 19,^[2] though he only played three games (against Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Essendon).^[1] Swan managed just 30 games in his first four seasons in the system at Collingwood, and although he played some solid football in that time, was not regarded as outstanding.

In 2006, he broke through, played 21 games and finished sixth in the EW Copeland Trophy voting. Swan mainly rotated through the midfield and moved forward when required. His first nine weeks were productive, averaging nearly 26 disposals and kicked 15 goals, before a hamstring injury suffered against Brisbane in round ten sidelined him until round 13.

2007 was considered his breakout season as he placed fourth in the Copeland Trophy and was a surprise packet at the Brownlow, leading for most of the night before finishing sixth with 20 votes.

2008

The 2008 Copeland Trophy winner had a strong year averaging 25 disposals, seven marks, three tackles and one goal a game. Swan led the team in total disposals (590) and kicks (368), second in marks (163), and third in handballs (222) and tackles (75). He had 14 games of 25 possessions or more and kicked two or more goals on six occasions. Round 10 against West Coast was one of Swan’s best collecting 34 possessions, 10 marks and two goals. In round 14 against Sydney, he had 30 touches and 13 marks.

2009

In the 2009 AFL Premiership Season, Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, 7.8 marks, 3.0 tackles and 5.4 inside 50s per game. He is one of the AFL's most prolific ball winners, along with being an in-and-under specialist winning the contested ball at most stoppages whilst also running hard.

In Collingwood's 2009 round 10 clash against Port Adelaide Swan obtained 48 possessions, 22 kicks and 26 handballs.^[1] This was the best disposal count in a decade and was then the third highest recorded disposals count in one match, behind Greg Williams' 53 and Tony Shaw's 50. It was a record since the length of game quarters was shortened from 25 minutes to 20 minutes in 1994, until surpassed in Round 22 2011 by Adelaide's Scott Thompson (51 disposals).

He was ranked 3rd in Total Inside 50s, 4th in Total Goal Assists, 1st in Total Kicks, 14th in Total Handballs, 1st in Total Disposals, 10th in Total Marks, 5th in Inside 50s Per Game, 13th in Goal Assists Per Game, 2nd in Kicks Per Game, 2nd in Disposals Per Game. He was voted runner up at the AFLPA MVP awards (poling 584 votes), losing to Gary Ablett (688). He was regarded as one of the front runners for the Brownlow Medal, but finished outside the top ten.

Swan was selected in the 2009 All-Australian side, but controversially as a half forward flanker, rather than as a midfielder, which is his usual position.^[5]

2010

Swan averaged 31.9 disposals, including 19 kicks per game. On 6 September, Swan won the AFL Players Association MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy) after a vote of the players. That year he was also elected as the ruck-rover for the AFL All-Australian Team. His very consistent season was a cornerstone to Collingwood's 15th Premiership, to the point of having his tattoos referenced on the Herald Sun Premiership Poster. Swan finished third in the Brownlow Medal count, having started favourite. On 31 October in the International Rules Series he won the Jim Stynes Medal. At the conclusion of the season, Swan became only the fourth ever Collingwood player to win three consecutive Copeland Trophies.^[6]

2011

With Swan's contract at Collingwood due to expire at the end of 2011, there was much pre-season media speculation over a possible move to new AFL club Greater Western Sydney. This was put to rest during the lead-up week to the season's commencement when Collingwood announced that Swan had signed a new three-year deal, committing him to the club till the end of 2014.^[7] Swan started 2011 the same way he finished the 2010 season, in scintillating fashion. He attained 40 disposals in round 2 against North Melbourne but he sustained a quad injury close to the midway point of the season and his form deteriorated. Collingwood decided to send Swan with team mates Brent Macaffer, Darren Jolly and Nathan Brown to a high altitude training camp in Arizona in an attempt to help the players recover from their individual injuries faster. The trip proved wonders for Swan, with an immediate effect on his playing performances. In the next six games after his return, he had an average of 35.33 disposals per game with an outstanding effort against Essendon accumulating 45 possessions and 1 goal. He later won the 2011 Brownlow Medal with 34 votes - the most recorded in a count since the 3-2-1 system came into effect.^[8]

Achievements

• Brownlow Medal

1st - 2011

3rd - 2010

6th - 2007

• Copeland Trophy (Collingwood Best & Fairest)

2008, 2009, 2010

• JF McHale Trophy Trophy (4th Collingwood Best & Fairest)

2007

• AFL Premiership Player

2010

• AFLCA Champion Moves Coaches' award

2010

• Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFLPA MVP Award)

2010

• Jim Stynes Medal (Best player of the Australian International rules team)

2010

• Lou Richards Medal

2010

• All Australian (AFL team of the year)

2009, 2010, 2011

Controversy

In 2003, Swan was charged following a brawl at Federation Square, in which a security guard was knocked unconscious.^[9] The bashing was so brutal the it left the victim with "permanent brain damage". He was charged with 13 offences, including assault, affray, and intentionally causing serious injury.^[10] Swan was convicted of affray, ordered to perform community service and to pay $100,000 to the victim. In an interview in 2010, Swan detailed how close the incident came to ending his football career for good. Coach Mick Malthouse gave him a second chance however, believing that Swan didn't deserve to have his career derailed because of one stupid decision.^[11][12]

In July 2010, he was hit in the mouth at a nightclub.^[13]

References

External links

• Dane Swan's profile on the Official AFL Website of the Collingwood Football Club
• Dane Swan's statistics from AFL Tables