Guests "On Josh's Couch" for last night's ANZAC Day Replay in Saigon included, Shag, Shag's Dad and Fabbo

Last night was the ANZAC Day Replay between Collingwood and Essendon. In Hanoi and Saigon, the Swannies met up to watch the telecast.

In Saigon, more than 20 Swannies met up at Cafe Latin (25 Doing Du Street, D1). We had a few special guests in the audience including Shag’s Dad, Michael, and his mate, Roger. Josh’s Dad, David, was also there.

Josh’s Paddock was a big hit. Guests included Shag, his Dad and Fabbo.

Be sure you’re there next Friday night as the tradition continues to grow.

Saigon Prez, Dez, with his lovely fiance, Fleur, on the recent Cambodian footy trip

Saigon Prez, Dez Limbrick gives us an update.

Gents

It is time for another big round up, which is earlier than normal this week, because we have a lot of things to cover.  The next few weeks will be busy indeed with the Vietnam Swans Back of the Car Sale, the Heritage Round Clash in Hanoi, the return Cambodian Cobras match on the 4th September, and the Grand Final Party on the 25th September.

First up, we really need to start to get confirmation on the numbers for Hanoi as soon as possible.  As previously mentioned I would like to get a good touring party together for this match.  For those who where living on another planet, we lost the first match in the series by 1 point.  It was a cracker of a game and so it would be great if we could come away with a victory this time around.

The basic schedule for the weekend will be to fly up to Hanoi on Friday night, catch up with all of the Hanoi guys on Friday night and then play the match on the Saturday afternoon.  We are also trying to arrange a catch up session/bbq on Sunday for lunch before flying back to HCMC.  If you are planning on making the trip, can you please let me know as soon as possible.  Matt Townsend is looking into a group booking for flights which will help reduce the cost, but, to make this happen, we will need to get confirmation on numbers asap.

Vietnam Swans Back of the Car Sale

I spoke about this at our last training for those who were there. Thanks to our friends at Vietnam Homewares, we have been able to organize a fund-raising “Back of the Car” sale, which will be held at:

The Snap Cafe, 32 Tran Ngoc Dien in D2 (see Google Maps) on the morning of Saturday 21st August.

The more people who attend, the more we will help out our Sponsor, Vietnam Housewares, and the Club.

This is a great opportunity for the Club to show our sponsors what sort of a difference we can make. We are looking for people to assist with the morning shift (7 30 – 12 pm) and the afternoon shift (12 – 4 pm).  We will be training on the same day so we really need some people who would not normally be training to assist with the afternoon shift.  So if you know of someone, please let me know.  Otherwise we just want you all to come down and check it out.  This is one event for the partners, better halves, girlfriends, the boss, whatever you call her, just make sure you bring her along.

Friday Night on the Couch with Josh

The match this Friday is between the Bombers and the Pies.  If you’re looking for somewhere to watch the match, get down to Cafe Latin on Dong Du St, D1.  Josh will be hosting the match, and Cafe Latin provide our own room with happy hour beer prices during the match.  Can’t argue with that.

Training

Training is on this week as usual, 2 30pm sharp at RMIT, District 7.  If you have any queries, please feel free to get back to me.  We are looking for good numbers leading up to the Hanoi game, Guys, so make sure you get down for a kick.

Grand Final

We are close to finalizing a venue for the 2010 AFL Grand Final and hope to have confirmation on this next week.  Similar to last year, the Swans will be hosting a relaxed all-in-one, ticket priced, Grand Final Party.  Those who went last year, I am sure, will tell you how good it was (apart from the result).  The day will include breakfast and lunch, drinks, raffles, competitions and some fantastic AFL gear to auction.  So lock in the 25th September and tell your mates. (Details for Hanoi’s Grand Final Party coming very soon as well).

Asian Champs

The premier event of the calendar for Asian Footy is coming around fast.  This year we are hoping for big things from the Swans and it is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best trips that the Club has ever put together.  The Asian Champs will be in Shanghai this year on the 16th October.  At this stage we have Matt and MJ looking into flight deal and, thanks to Patrick Stringer in Shanghai, we now have a fantastic accommodation deal at a 5 Star Hotel.  This is no mean feat considering that the Word Expo will be on at the same time.  There is more good news, because on the following day after the Champs, Sunday, the AFL will be playing an exhibition match between the Brisbane Lions and the Melbourne Demons.  At the moment we are looking at scheduling a Friday departure and a Monday return. However, if you want to stay longer, that is completely up to you.  What I am looking for at the moment is some indicative numbers. So, if you think you want to go, can you please send me, Derrin Limbrick, an e-mail to let me know.  I will not take this as the final confirmation but I just want to know that you’re interested.

AusKick

It’s on again in District 2 on Sunday mornings.

Swannies Calendar

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Hope to see you all Friday night at Latin, or at training on Saturday.

Ya hearin’ me!

Dezza!

Daniel Hogarth, second from right, at the Swannies 2008 Annual Golf Day, Melbourne (other Swannies: Ryan Jefferey, Phil Johns, Pieter Bossink and Daryl Taber).

Ex Swannie, Daniel Hogarth, who was there for the then Hanoi Swans first ever overseas tour (Malaysia) in 2004 – and who comes along to the Swannies Annual Golf Days in Melbourne – will come to Vietnam in September – with his footy team. Below is his email.

The footy club I play for, Tarrawingee (we play in Ovens and King Footy League, Victoria), is having a footy trip to Vietnam. We will be arriving on 18th of Sept and will spend a few days in Saigon.

Maybe that Sunday would work well – the week before the AFL Grand Final?

I was going to see if both the Swans and Tarra could hook up for a game, beers and a bit of promotion of the Swans etc.

Let me know if you like the initial idea and we can make it happen.

Will be great just to catch up with you and a few of the other boys anyway.

As the Swannies would say, Honk if ya love the footy!

Daniel

(Ed’s note: Bring it onnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Another of Tarra’s key people is Boca and Boca is well connected with another awesome Swannie, Will Martin. I’ll give ya the tip: the Swannies are honkin’.)

The Vietnam Swans are now confirming the availability of RMIT University’s oval.

The Cambodian Cobras are coming!

The Cambodian Cobras have just confirmed with the Vietnam Swans that they will tour to Saigon on the weekend of 4 September 2010.

Murray Heath, President of the Cambodian Cobras wrote:

Lock in the 4th September. He then adds, It will be my last duty with the Cobras.

It will be a shame to lose Murray – just after he has helped to resurrect footy in Cambodia – but fantastic that he is able to get the Cobras to travel prior to his departure.

The match will be held at RMIT University in District 7, HCMC and teh best on ground shall again receive the Rick Trewavas Medal.

Monday's Cambodian Daily says "Migrating Swans crush Cobras"

Last Saturday, the Swannies had a resounding 84 point victory against the Cambodian Cobras. On Monday 2 August 2010, David Boyle wrote the attached article which appeared in the Cambodian Daily.

“If political history is anything to go by, then an Aussie Rules Footy match between Cambodia and Vietnam should serve up a regional equivalent to the bitter rivalry fought out biannually between Carlton and Collingwood down-under. Though the result of Saturday’s match at Northbridge International School was as unequal as the curtain raiser played in Melbourne between these two famous foes, there was no equivalent hostility between the Cobras and the Swans, who served up an entertaining and well spirited contest.

“The revamped Cambodian Cobras were partaking in their first outing and from the beginning it was clear that, though their intent was genuine, their foot skills were not. Vietnam booted four goals in the first term thanks largely to their midfield dominance spurned by the handy ruck work of Mark Greenshields, hard running from mid fielder Luke Creamer and relentless pressure of small forward, Brett Jota. Cambodia failed to hit the board with a major.

“In the second term…”

To read the rest of the article, click onto Migrating Swans crush Cobras.

To see more articles about the Vietnam Swans that have appeared in the press, click here.

Rick Trewavas' cousin, Bruce, took this photo of Rick in France in 2008

Rick Trewavas’ cousin, Bruce Tamagno, has written to the Vietnam Swans to give us all a bit more of an insight about this passionate Bloods supporter who was the inspiration behind the weekend’s Rick Trewavis Medal.

Dear Vietnam Swans

Years ago my dad and my uncle took me and my cousin to a footy match near Gardenvale where they lived. I made the mistake of asking my uncle:

What team are we barracking for?

And I still remember the absolute bollocking I received:

What… what? he spluttered. South Blody Melbourne  of course!

And so, for the last 60 years I’ve followed poor old South across the suburban wastelands of Melbourne, away from the Lake, up to Sydney and now into Indochina.

My cousin is Rick Trewavas and I have to admit that his passion for the Swans is probably without peer.  I was a Geography teacher and travelled whenever I could, so I frequently visited Rick in Hanoi and, prior to that, in Jakarta where he helped form the Jakarta Garudas (an Indonesian Swan?) (Eds note: The Jakarta Garudas don’t actually exist and never did. Rick clears up the story here).

Anyway, I was so impressed at the idea of awarding the best player (for the Vietnam Swans at the weekend’s match against the Cambodian Cobras in Phnom Penh), the Rick Trewavas Medal, I decided to contact you and provide  a photo of cousin Rick which I took in France two years ago.

I speak with Rick frequently via phone as I am currently in the UK and despite his cancer, he has always been in good spirits, quite open about his condition and determined to fight it as effectively as possible.

Keep up the good work,
and keep on barracking for the Swans.

Cheers
Bruce Tamagno

Barefoot Brett, who won the Rick Trewavas Medal yesterday, against Cambodia, also starred in last month's clash against the Jakarta Bintangs in Saigon.

Yesterday in Phnom Penh, the Vietnam Swans played the Cambodian Cobras and won 13.21. 99 to 1.9. 15. The (Swans) Bloods’ B.O.G., Brett Jota, received the Rick Trewavas Medal. Below, Rick Trewavas shares his thoughts.

Excellent news. That’s one more for the Bloods culture. My congratulations to Brett and the team.

My image of him is a strapping, youngish, clean shaven midfielder, in fine fettle who handled the nut with alacrity, marshalled the troops for structural effectiveness – and who will be taking set shot practice next week!

He has entered the annals of football trivia and I am seriously chuffed to be part of the answer!

I leave you with some Guru Bob (Skilton) wisdom:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him shake a tag and bomb a a banana from outside 50 on his non-preferred.

And to plagiarise someone, somewhere: There are many things to life other than football – I just can’t think of them.

I will honk my horn.

Best regards and looking forward to some photos for my Bloods’ temple.

Rick