For Information, email the Vietnam Swans' National President, Phil Johns.
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 24, 2007
If you’re wondering what the difference is between playing 14 or 16 a side at this year’s Asian Champs, you’ll understand why this very point is currently being debated at the highest levels of Asian Football. Some are saying that we should be playing with 16.
Meanwhile, 2005 hosts, the Philippine Eagles are keen to go to the Champs this year but they don’t have a full team. They have 10 players and are looking to slot into another team.
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 24, 2007
What an incredible football show the Mighty Micky J put on at the 2006 Big Day Out in Hanoi. According to those who saw him and his team mates, it was “Amazing!”. High praise indeed.
If you would like to informally rub shoulders with Mick and the boys and learn a few things about footy, come along and see us at 4 pm on Saturday, 26 May. For all the specific details of when & where, just have a squiz at Auscham’s big-day-out-2007-flyer.pdf – and we’ll see you there.
And, as an additional incentive, we will give away 35 QBE Vietnam Swans hats as well as a heap of colour team posters of the AFL Sydney Swans!
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Big Day Out has just become a Massive Day Out.
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 24, 2007
Following lengthy discussions between the Hanoi Swans and the AFL about our wish to hold our own Grand Final Breakfast, the AFL has agreed to consider shifting its Grand Final Brekky to Grand Final Lunch time. It’s unheard of and unprecedented – especially when you consider that for this to happen, it will also require the Grand Final itself to be shifted back from 2.30pm to 5pm.
According to theage.com.au, a twilight Grand Final starting at 5pm and finishing under lights between 8pm and 8.30pm is a now a real possibility.
The – wait for it – national 11 hour telecast would start at noon and finish at 11pm, AEST. Now, in our Hanoian language, if the Australia Network televises all of it, that’s 9am – 8pm our time.
The Official Hanoi Swans AFL Grand Final just continues to get bigger, Mr Umpire!
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 23, 2007
Special thanks to Captain Touch, the Big Texan, Mighty Matt Otto for this report -
The Hanoi Swans Touch Team entered the 3rd Annual Dragons Touch Tournament last weekend and performed fabulously - but just missed out capturing the Cup in a nail biting Final against Al Fresco’s.
Losing to Al Frescos in the first match of pool play, the Swans regrouped to beat UNIS Touch in a 4-3 victory to move into the knock-out comp. The first semi-final game was against defending Champs, Jafa. A tight first half was followed by a thumping as Jafa ran out of steam against the deep bench of the Swans in a 6-1 defeat.
The Swans then took on Al Fresco’s again for the Final and jumped to an early lead, only to see that tied at the end of the game due to some big plays from their star back Alec, the fastest guy on the pitch. A sudden death, drop off- play off ensued whereby each minute, both teams lost a player.
The Swans almost had the Cup sealed until the whistle blew back the clever scoring combo of Vinay and Mick Growder for a forward pass! After that, we were down to 3 players each and it was only a matter of time before young Alec broke around the end to score and win it for Al Frescos.
Your fabulous Swans this year in the photo above were from Left to Right:
Vinay Greenwood, Matt Otto, David, Mic Growder, Tung, Vuong, Sue Woodbury, Sue McKeag, Liz, Van, Christine
Many thanks for your efforts out there and well done for keeping the Swans in the title match 3 years in a row now.
Special thanks also to MJ and DT for the jumpers and support on the day with the new Swans QBE Hats!!
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 22, 2007
Today, the Swans announced that their 30th player/official had signed up for the Club’s inaugural appearance at the Asian Championships in Bangkok on 14 July.
Who was Mr 30? None other than Club Legend (he supplied us with Pepperoni Pizzas during the original viewings of Friday Night Football), Mick Francis, the Pied Piper of Hanoi.
When presented with a bouquet of flowers, in Vietnam soccer match style, to celebrate the 30 signatures milestone, Mike was shy and retiring.
But when the ball bounces in the Champs, there’ll be nothing shy and retiring about this giant of a man. Oooooh, does he love a bit of pig skin!
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 22, 2007
This month in HCMC’s AsiaLife magazine, there is an article entitled, ”Footy Fever Reaches Saigon”.
As the newspaper boy says, “Read all about it!”
Click on the link: asialife-hcmc-may-07.pdf
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 21, 2007
Saturday, 19 May, 2007 – Hong Kong Dragons just “snuck over” the line against Jakarta Bintangs (who have been on the mega regional tour).
Saturday, 12 May, 2007 - Jakarta Bintangs beat Tokyo Goannas but lost to the China Reds in a double header over in Shanghai.
Malaysian Warriors played Hong Kong Dragons and won 11.10.76 to 4.5.29
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 20, 2007
Yesterday in Hanoi, the Hanoi Branch of the Vietnam Swans participated in Austrade’s Australian Shools Open Day at the Melia Hotel. They showed promo videos, live footy skills and handed out 300 of those awesome QBE Insurance Vietnam Swans footy hats. From all accounts, it was a huge success. VCTV took some footage and there is also a potential opportunity to go into the TV station to film a skills session for this footy crazy country.
Today in Saigon, the Vietnam Swans were also there to promote footy and QBE at the Saigon Australian Schools Open Day. The Swans arrived 45 minutes prior to the official start time and were surprised to learn that the day had started 2 hours earlier! The level of interest in the Open Day was that strong that Officials couldn’t keep the crowd out for any longer! You get that sort of thing in Vietnam.
Quick to recover, slide shows started along with videos, demonstration exercises (how good is it to kick the footy inside the Legend Hotel??) – and 550 QBE Vietnam Swans hats were given away to a crowd easily in excess of 1,100.
As always, the students and adults laugh and giggle when they bounce the footy like a basket ball and watch it break as sharply as one of Warnie’s finest. But also, as always, they quickly recover, learn and then get onto the handball!
The two days were a huge success and photos will follow shortly.
Thank you again to QBE Insurance for sponsoring the Vietnam Swans hats which, without doubt, increased the level of impact of the Australian Schools Open Day.
Thank you to the Sydney Swans who sent some promotional material for distribution in Hanoi and HCMC. Alas, the material is still to reach us and is stuck somewhere in transit between Australia and Vietnam.
Thank you also to Austrade’s Business Development Manager, Mr Anh-Tran who greatly assisted our involvement in the two days. His support was greatly appreciated.
Next Week: Saturday, 26 May, the Swans are at it again in Hanoi at the Big Day Out. More footy. More skill sessions. More give aways. More happiness. Gross Domestic Happiness continues to soar in Vietnam.
And remember, Honk yer horn if you love footy!
Posted in AFL, Aussie Rules, Vietnam | 1 Comment »
Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 20, 2007
In news just to hand, the Swans’ Captain, G-Train McEwin, who suffered a crippling blow to his shoulder against the Saigon Geckos on 21 April, today announced to a packed and breathless media room: “I’ll play in the Champs”.
This is a big boost to the Vietnam Swans campaign which will be looking for the experience of the Swans longest serving captain to guide this hybrid, relatively inexperienced team, at the highest level – international football.
The G-Train’s inclusion brings the touring party’s number to 27. The team comprises players from Hanoi, Saigon and Laos. Additionally, ex Hanoi players now living in Sydney, Canberra and Singapore will also play. Rumours have started to circulate that a couple of players from Cambodia are also likely to make the trip.
To find out more about the upcoming Asian Champs see-attached.pdf .
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 20, 2007
Hanoi’s famous One Pillar Pagoda has waited 1,000 years to see a decent hat. Although there was stony silence at the timber pagoda, it is believed that the efforts of DT’s (Daryl Taber’s) mate, Bill, were appreciated.
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 19, 2007
The Official 2007 Asian Champs logo has been unveiled. In case you missed all the action in the electronic and print media, it has been kindly reproduced below.
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Posted by Vietnam Swans on May 15, 2007
Asian Champs. I trust you’re all busy this weekend writing player profiles for the Asian Champs as we have to submit them at the start of next week. Attached is a submission I have received for Taber. Must admit, I had nearly forgotten about that match in 1984…
Daryl Taber (Smooth) – Fearless, lightning quick ex-Carlton onballer and cross-dresser. Credits include teaching Polly Farmer how to handball; running the 2007 Harbour Bridge to Bondi marathon in the buff; and dacking Chopper Reid in the infamous 1984 Hanoi Swans v/s Pentridge Inmates bloodbath.
Surprised many in 2005 when he let his two daughters put soft drink in his beer esky. Went on to win “Father of the Year”. Diminutive in height, a stand out in the showers.
Bangkok Accommodation. We have two choices:
Novotel on Soi 33 – Novotel Lotus in Soi 33 BKK. Single room rate incl Breakfast is A$147 (US$122) nett per night. Double occupancy room rate is A$162 ($134) nett /night
For bookings, let us know what you need.
Airfares. Because people are arriving and departing at different times (eg some want to see the Friday night Socceroos match, others want to stay for the Monday Socceroos match), there won’t be any single “Vietnam Swans” flight. What I’m saying here is, book and pay for your own tickets!
We need Umpires! At the Champs, each team is required to provide one field umpire, one goal umpire and one boundary umpire. So you closet umpires, please reveal yourselves and get on board!
The Most Critical Information. There will be ten teams competing – Bali, Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong (who will travel with 35!), China and Dubai. Each team will play a minimum of 4 matches. Each match will comprise 2 x 15 minute halves with a 5 minute break between halves. The two best teams then play off in the GF.
Well may it be true that too much footy is never enough – but it’s probably equally true at the moment that too much training and fitness work will also never be enough. For anyone wanting to brush up on their history of the Champs and footy in Asia, see-attached.pdf .
Recent form. The Bali Geckos are apparently in top form at the moment. They accounted for the Thailand Tigers at the Annual Anzac Day match – 9.6.60 to 3.5.23
The Socceroos. On the Friday night, the Hong Kong Boys are off to the Iraq match. On Monday, 18 of the Jakarta Bintangs boys are going to the Thailand match. In the Bintangs area, tickets are about $30. If people are keen Chris Newport has offered to try and get seats near them to increase the size of the Aussie contingent.
The Saigon Geckos Vs The Hanoi Swans – The match report from the 2nd Derby. For the full story of what really happened (from a Hanoi Swans perspective), read micky-js-match-report.pdf
The new QBE Vietnam Swans Hat judged a success! The response to the new Vietnam Swans hat has been very positive.
Greg Banova, also from Melbourne fame, believes that the latest Swans release will turn his Hanoi Swans hat into a collector’s edition! (But he also wants to know when you will deliver his hat, Josh!)
The Melbourne Dragons. The Melbourne Dragons, the new Vietnamese footy club in Melbourne, had a hit out last week against the Fitzroy Reds (apparently 2 ex Hanoi Swans players now play with the Reds: Andre and Jack). The Dragons won 9 – 11 – 65 to the Reds 6 – 8 – 44.
Check out the following names of the goal kickers!
Goals: Long Nguyen (2), Tony Ng, Andy Truong, Huy Vuong, Peter Nguyen, Khoa Nguyen, John Tran, Jamie Tang
If you want a look at their website, try www.dragonsfc.com.au
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