Vietnam Swans

Australian Rules Football In Vietnam!

Archive for June, 2007

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Controversy stalks Swans 3rd Draw

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 30, 2007

Victory!Last night, the Swans invited Saigon’s Acting Austrade Commissioner to draw the winning ticket at the Office. With a drum roll, he drew his own ticket. Redraw!! 

He tried again and drew the winner of the first draw, Kerry Armstrong! Redraw!!

Ah-mazing scenes, indeed. So he drew for the third time and… enter Patty and Mick’s brother, Brian O’Reilly.

When the big fella of an Irishman was asked how it felt to be drawn 3rd in the Swans 3rd raffle, he said he “felt like (I’ve) come 1st in the 1st”. With regard to the controversy surrounding the first two names drawn from the hat, Brian the Likeable dismissed it as being “nothing more than corruption at the highest levels”.

The Winner takes it all!As the new tradition demands, Brian, led by the Mega bottle of Jim Beam, set off on the Walk of Fame. Escorted by the two Swanettes, he waved and smiled to the adoring crowd as he did complete circuits of both upstairs and downstairs. Cameras flashed, young women squealed and others managed to touch his hands. Some said we should make a film about this Great Man who could turn 3rds into 1sts. The film would cover everything and be called, “The Life of Brian”.

Brian described his 15 minutes of Fame as being, “Just the Best”.

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Fridays and Saturdays – Just the Best

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 28, 2007

JB’s Andy and ThienThey talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. With the Jim Beam Swanettes, we’ve certainly seen the beautifully good. In the side photo, are Jim Beam’s Andy Wall (a Swannie from Singas) and Thien (who makes it all happen here in Vietnam). Both are awesome but could represent the other side.

By JB’s high standards, both do appear to have been hit a couple of times with the ugly stick.

But that needn’t concern us for long. You see, the beauty is that the Jim Beam Swanettes will return on Friday night to Saigon’s Cafe Latin (the Office) from soon after 7pm. They will be selling raffle tickets for another 4.5 litre mega JB bottle which will be drawn at 10pm. On Saturday, JB Swanettes will reappear at 4pm for the Saturday night raffle.

Swans Prez, Fabbo, furiously scribbles notes during a hard hitting interview with JB winner, Mr Casper

Last week when Kerry from Australia and Casper from Holland won, some in the crowd commented that they didn’t see the winners.

Given everyone loves to see a winner on parade, that’s exactly what will happen this week. If you win, you will do the Walk of Fame. You will wear your new Swans hat and will be paraded around the Ground Floor and 1st Floor by the two JB Swanettes, with your JB booty in tow.

Maaaaate, this weekend will be Just the Best!  

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Swans increasingly National

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 28, 2007

Mick will fly anywhere to help his beloved SwansDuring the week, the Swans IT Guru, Adam Hurley, took advantage of Micky J flying to Australia where he could use his credit card to purchase a new domain name. (Mick will fly on or off the field to help his beloved Swans).

Rather than clunk around with the cumbersome www.hanoiswans.wordpress.com for the blog, we have replaced it with the sleek, aerodynamically designed new name of www.vietnamswans.com.

This is the domain name that will appear on our official tour T shirt for the Champs (77 sold in advance already. Sample shirt may even be ready on Friday. It will immediately be unveiled on this blog. What a scorching scoop that would be!).  

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Check other sites re the Swans

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 28, 2007

Do you sometimes wonder what the Swans are doing or what’s on the Swans’ site?

If you are, you have a few options. If you want to receive the hard hitting news first hand, you could: actually read this blog, come along to training or read the Prez’s frequent emails. If you prefer the news second hand, you could check out other sources.

On 5 June, the Swans posted a “Discussion Paper” from Pizza Dan of the Bali Geckos regarding a proposal for establishing a very informal Asian Football League. World Footy News  picked it up on 17 June.

Timeout Magazine published a story regarding the Vietnam Swans on Monday of this week (25 June). The story was attached as a pdf to this blog on the same day. For the benefit of those who missed the hard copy or the blog posting, check out Timeout online to read why the Vietnam Swans (are) set to shine.

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Ed returns to Tassie, weather and surf

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 27, 2007

Ed handing over a gift to the Warmhouse Orphanage when he was in HanoiThe Mighty Mr Ed who left Vietnam a week ago has arrived back in Tasmania.

Ed reports that it’s “all great Down Under – except for the -4 temperatures on arrival. Got through shearing, lots of beers with the boys and of course, back in the water. First surf got hailed on in 8 – 10 degree water. Gotta love Tassie”.

Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania. Tassie might be cold but you have to concede that it has good surf.Tassie will be more loveable when global warming has kicked in.

This photo may not be of Ed, but it is proof of Tassie’s decent surf!

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Dragons Vs Whitefriars

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 26, 2007

Elgar Park Dragons

Last weekend, the Elgar Park Dragons (the new footy team in Melbourne with predominantly players of Vietnamese descent) entered a state of shock when they were beaten convincingly by Whitefriars – and that was despite the fact that their “away” match was generously converted into a home match for the Dragons.

Alas, this is not shaping up to be the Dragons month as they have now suffered their third straight loss and, accordingly, slip to seventh place on the ladder.

Midfielder Sam, Prez Phil, CHB WillThe Short Vietnam Swans Prez, ably assisted by Swans’ players, Sam Grigg and Will Martin during a rigorous night (on the training track in Hanoi towards the end of last year) , deepened the Dragons’ shock when he revealed that back in 1984, he was the School Captain of Whitefriars College. An unheard of coincidence.

This piece of very interesting trivia is not expected to significantly ease the Dragons’ pain.

Round 9’s Scores:

Whitefriars 14.10.94 def. Dragons 5.13.43

Goal Kickers: K. Nguyen, J. Pi, J. Tran, H. Vuong, V. Do

Best Players: J. Tran, T. Thoi, H. Vuong, J. Pi, V. Do, A. Do

Next week, the Dragons play Old Westbourne who are sitting on the bottom of the ladder. It’s hoped that the Dragons will use this match as an opportunity to turn around their mid season slump. The Swans wish them well. 

Click here for the full match report.

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Melbourne Swans Soar

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 25, 2007

Greggy over RehnieLast week, the Melbourne contingent of the Swans comprising Micky J, Greg Banova and Dave Rehn got together outside Princes Park in Melbourne to meet new recruit, Max Sharples.

Max was mighty because he brought the footy with him which allowed everyone to go through a few drills. The photographic evidence is impressive if not conclusive.

Rehnie over GreggyHowever, it seems that Greg was ridden twice which means he’s the one who most needs to work on his defensive skills. Admittedly, it looked like nothing would have stopped Rehnie or Max.

Maxxy over GreggyBest climb? Possibly Max but like his brother in Laos and all of his Elephant mates, doesn’t seem to find it necessary to be anywhere near the ball.

Micky J over MaxxyFor my money, it’s Micky J in his vote-catching red pants. Note the open mouth in case the ball penetrates through his hands. Also, no one used Mick’s rat’s tail to ride him. In fact no one rode him at all. Must be the best defender and attacker in that group of illustrious Swans. 

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Timeout gives “time on” for the Vietnam Swans

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 25, 2007

TimeoutIn today’s edition of Timeout magazine, which comes as an insert in the Vietnam Investment Review, is a double page spread on the Vietnam Swans and their upcoming debut appearance at the 8th Annual Asian Championships.

Swans Vs CARE AFL All StarsA scanned copy is attached. The quality of the reproduction isn’t perfect but is still very readable. If someone could scan and forward a lighter, higher resolution pdf for the blog, that’d be awwwwwwwwwwesome. Now, click on the attached Timeout article.

Posted in Asian Champs, Swans in the Community, Vietnam | Leave a Comment »

Swans Blog punched into orbit

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 25, 2007

Swans Blog punched into orbitBy now, we’ve become familiar with the idea of the Swans blog punching through various barriers – 100 hits, 300 hits, 500 hits, 1000 hits, 1500 hits and so on.

But this evening, if you were looking outside of your office window, you may have noticed something ah-mazing: a streak of light which, unbelievably, was the Swans blog being punched through the ozone layer into orbit by it’s 2,000th hit!

Those bloggers who have left comments claiming this is an “unheard of blog site” (one mate did) are now claiming that for a blog to end up in orbit is “just unheard of”.

We’re hearin him. Loud and clear.

(Blog site designed and maintained by Adam Hurley.)

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Relief from hard hitting footy news

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 25, 2007

Rod MarshRod Marsh and Ian Botham

When Botham took guard in an Ashes match, Rod Marsh welcomed him to the crease with the immortal words:

“So how’s your wife and my kids?”

Ian Botham smacks Marsh to the boundary lineBotham replied, “My wife’s fine and your kids are retarded”.

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Kerry comes to Collect

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 24, 2007

Kerry comes to collect her Jim BeamSure enough, Kerry returned last night to claim and collect her mega bottle of Jim Beam after winning it the previous night in absentia.

Kerry said that she was “very excited to win the Jim Beam because I never win anything!” She only just sneaked in the win because on Monday, her tourist visa expires so she must leave the country.

Nevertheless, she did promise to give the Has the publican of Cafe Latin/ The Office, Michael Husbands, found a couple of wives?bottle “a nudge” prior to her daparture which she is hoping to delay. Kerry has a rugby friend who won’t be sorry to see her leave; he’s been promised whatever’s left in the bottle.

Congratulations again Kerry on being our first winner – and for going into last night’s draw as well!

Finally, when asked what she thought of Jim Beam, Kerry replied, “Just the Best”.

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Elgar Park Dragons make “The Age” newspaper

Posted by Vietnam Swans on June 24, 2007

Elgar Park Dragons

The Elgar Park Dragons, the predominantly Vietnamese Aussie footy team in Melbourne, today had a write up in “The Age”. 

the-age.jpgThe article mentions how this team is really opening up footy to Asians in Australia.

The Elgar Park Dragons and Box Hill North will play in the Narita Cup, Japan, later this year in October. The team is a chance (not yet confirmed) to stop over in Vietnam en route for a match against us. Also, it seems likely that any member of the Swans who would like to be part of the Box Hill North tour to Japan, may join them.

You can access the article via World Footy News.

Posted in Australian Rules Football | Leave a Comment »

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