Rob Dickson at Dead Cat Stadium, Hanoi

The Age newspaper has reported the tragic news that Rob Dickson’s eldest son dies after South Africa car crash.

“Gabriel Dickson, 8, died in the Unitas Hospital yesterday from injuries sustained in the smash that also claimed the lives of former Hawthorn player Dickson and his younger son Byron, 5.

“Dickson’s wife Dusty was also injured in the crash, which occurred on a road between Sun City and Pretoria.”

In a statement released by the AFL, “The families of Robert and Dusty Dickson regretfully and with great sadness wish to inform relatives and friends that their beautiful boy Gabriel passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on Tuesday April 14.

“A memorial service for Rob, Gabriel and Byron will be held at a future time back in Melbourne. Dusty and her family are thankful for your support, thoughts, prayers and love through this horrific time.”

Earlier in the week, World Footy News published a story titled, Vale Rob Dickson. In the story, it refers to another post on their website about Rob Dickson and the tour to Vietnam by several AFL players in 2006, CARE AFL All Stars meet Hanoi Swans for HIV/AIDS awareness.

The Vietnam Swans Blog wasn’t alive in 2006. However, we have found the original email that was sent out the day after our match at Dead Cat Stadium, Hanoi on 26 October 2006. In the tragedy of the South African car crash, we reproduce the email below, which bubbles with enthusiasm, to remember and celebrate the time that Rob and his friends dropped into Hanoi. They gave us a Thursday night we will never forget.

Guys, what an absolutely sensational evening last night was.

For those who couldn’t make it to Dead Cat, we did a couple of training drills led by DT and MJ. Then the AFL Giants took a training run.

Game on.

This was followed by “Game On” which consisted of two 10 minute halves. Everyone played wherever they wanted and there was no such thing as “Pagan’s Paddock” as we had opted for the flooding technique. Someone said the Swans had 28 players (which included a number of rugby players which was great) on the ground at one stage. But that’s fair.

That may have helped with the score line which was very respectable. The visitors kicked 4.2.26 to our 2.6.18. For our team, it was APEC Growds who kicked AGOAL followed by another. Tragedy occurred after the second goal when the footy cleared the fence and ended up in the lap of a passing motorcyclist.

Then it was off to the Embassy for a couple of refreshers where we were met by the netballers who had just finished a match.

At the Australian Embassy, triple AFL Premiership player, Clark Keating, describes the lead up to the 2007 AFL Grand Final in which the Hanoi Swans will play

The Director of CARE gave a short speech about the role that the AFL players had played in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness which was backed up by a couple of the players. Then triple premiership player Clark Keating got up and spoke about the 2007 Grand Final in which the Hanoi Swans would play. He described the week and the feelings and the emotions that we would face – right through to the final siren (see It’s Today. It’s now.).

Then it was off to the Dragon Fly and the New Century nightclubs. If we weren’t in the land of the midgets, you might not have noticed the 190cm (average height) of the AFLers on the dance floor.

This morning, Chan the Fruiterer received a visit from Clark Keating and Dylan McLaren, CARE, MJ and Phil Johns  to buy some bananas and cabbage – and to have their photo taken (see picture in the Herald Sun – “Chan was thrilled until the boys picked up one of her lettuces and started kicking it around like a footy”).

It was an absolutely cracking night.

Thanks Rob.

Baz's brother, Canty and the big man himself, Baz

Former Swan, Chris Canty has been very popular lately over there in Buenos Aires.

He recently had Big Bad Baz (a Pom who played for us in the 2007 Asian Champs) and his brother stay with him.

In this photo, if you look very closely, you can see that Canty is wearing his (2005?) Hanoi Swans AFL Grand final shirt. If you also look closely, you can see that Chris is drinking wine!

This is unheard of for the man who put together www.happiest hour.com, a website devoted to the promotion of those venues that provide reasonably priced (cheap) beer. The website says,

We started www.thehappiesthour.com in March 2004 for all those people who wanted to buy more beer for their buck. In a time of increased “sin taxes”, we feel it is our duty to tell the public where the cheapest deals are around Australia.

But Chris’ accompanying email explains all about why he is seen drinking something other than beer – “We found cheap wine!”

Chris likes most things that are cheap. He was therefore very pleased to tell the Swans Blog that you can now fly to Buenos Aires from Sydney for just $1,036, including taxes. And, ah, at the risk of sounding difficult, for those of us living in Vietnam?

“Catch Jetstar to Sydney, I reckon.” A helpful suggestion, for sure.

Canty says that he’s “looking forward to receiving the next Vietnam Swans visitors” – no doubt, regardless of whether they arrive via the north or south pole.

Will and Snags Canty

Former Swan, Will Martin was in Argentina a month ago and met up with a genuine mate, another former Swan, Chris “Snags” Canty who now lives in Buenos Aires.

Will had been hoping to travel to South America with two other mates; Drew and Sam. Alas, Drew and Sam both pulled the ol’, “You won’t believe it”, story. They both canceled their airfares to South America so that they could continue working for their respective bosses without the interruption of holidays… Unheard of.

Somehow, Chris and Will were able to quickly resume their lives over there. Regarding the photo, Will says:

“We’re devouring some fine Argentinian meat in a roll, similar to the kebabs at Bia Hoi Corner (in Hanoi), only a thousand times better. You will note that we are washing it down with a refreshing ale!”

Not unheard of, Mr Will.

Rob Dickson, film director, visited Hanoi's Dead Cat Stadium in 2006 with the AFL CARE All Stars for a match against the then Hanoi Swans

It is with great sadness that the Vietnam Swans read in The Age newspaper this afternoon that: Former Hawk, Robert Dickson killed in car crash.

Dickson played 17 matches for Hawthorn between 1988 and 1990 and was named as an emergency for the Hawks’ 1989 premiership team. He also played two matches for the Brisbane Bears in 1991.

Dickson, 45, had also been an ambulance rescue pilot and was the winner of the “Australian Survivor” TV program.

Dickson was widely recognised for his football documentaries, including the recently-broadcast Essence of the Game and Shane Crawford Exposed, released in 2004.

Clark Keating tries to free himself from Growds' over-the-shoulder tackle

On 26 October 2006, Dickson, along with the “AFL CARE All Stars”, came to Hanoi’s Dead Cat Stadium to play a match against the then Hanoi Swans. Big names playing for the All Stars included triple premiership player for Brisbane, Clark Keating; his brother Aaron who played in Port Adelaide’s premiership; and Craig Starcevich who played in Collingwood’s 1990 premiership.

Dickson filmed the match and did several interviews. Highlights were to have appeared on the opening edition of the “Footy Show” in 2007, but we were bumped by the breaking Ben Cousins drug story.

The then Hanoi Swans and the AFL CARE All Stars

The AFL in partnership with CARE Australia had brought a team of AFL players to Vietnam to travel through the country promoting HIV AIDS awareness.  On the 23rd October, the Vietnam News ran a story, Australian footballers shun stigma to play games with AIDS victims.

In the couple of days that the Swannies met Dickson, his passion and enthusiasm for life was contagious. He had a can-do attitude where everything was possible and he made those around him feel like they too could achieve their dreams – if only they dared to dream.

Dickson was wanting to help others – which was why he was filming both the HIV AIDS awareness trip and the footy match.

The Vietnam Swans pass on our condolences to Dickson’s family and friends. A great man.

See Get on your Bike in the AFL’s J Squad magazine for a story by former Saint, Mark McGough who gives the inside story of the bike ride through Vietnam for CARE Australia. There is also a story on CARE Australia’s website called The CARE Footy Challenge to Vietnam.

To see photos of the match between the Hanoi Swans and the CARE AFL All Stars, click on the Vietnam Swans Web Album.

Geckos to play East Timor for the Crikey Cup

The Bali Geckos will play the East Timor Crocs for the inaugural Crikey Cup in Darwin on 13 June as a curtain raiser to the AFL Round 12 clash between the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide Crows.

The Crikey Cup is a tribute to Steve Irwin, who had a strong association with crocodiles, including those crocs from East Timor.

Below is an excerpt from the press release:

The idea for the Crikey Cup came from Steve Irwin’s connection with East Timor and its sacred symbol, the crocodile – which they call ‘grandfather’.  In 2000 Steve Irwin led a team from Australia Zoo, with the Australian Defence Force and the World Society for the Protection of Animals, to rescue two injured crocodiles from a cramped and destroyed cage in Dili, the capital.

Determined to respect the crocodile’s symbolic status in East Timor, Steve refused to evacuate the reptiles to secure facilities in Australia. Instead, Australia Zoo funded and built two state-of-the-art enclosures in Dili.  At the time, Steve described the rescue as one of the hardest but most rewarding of his life.  Whilst in Dili the Irwins also donated funds for medical treatment of the people caught up in the violence of that time.

Bali Geckos Club President Mark Parthezius said, “Ultimately we are hoping this will become an annual event where teams from Australia and Asia can take part in a tournament to honour the legacy of the Crocodile Hunter and Eco-Warrior.”

Mr Parthezius added, “We are going to take down those Timor Crocs the same way Steve did, with 100% commitment, in the spirit of our friendships – and the game.”

The historic match is supported by Terri Irwin, and their renowned wildlife park Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.  The match is also one of two curtain-raisers to the Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide night match, and is backed by the NTAFL.

Click the link to read the entire crikey-cup-media-release.