The Big Rooster is back in town with renewed enthusiasm and a revised design for a new Vietnam jumper.

Swannies, what about this concept !!! If it is ever seen back in Australia, it would create more of a stir than when the first platypus was sent back to Blightie !!!

It covers all of the aspects that Sam mentioned (read Sam’s post)… the colours from the NLF flag, the South VN flag with the 3 red lines etc. etc… It also maintains the link to the team being the Swans… there is something for Sydney-siders, Adelaidians and Melbourne Eurotrash Wanna-be’s (Ed’s note: steady-on re the Magnificent Melbournians)… It also acknowledges the Saigon Saints Hanoi Swans and Hanoi Hawks Football Clubs…  (much like the BBFFC Brisbane Bears Fitzroy Football Club).

Note how I cleverly incorporate a sneaky reference to the current Vietnam flag !!!

This jumper is also not going to clash with any other Asian teams. Malaysia is a lighter blue and you also have the red stripes at the bottom.

Whilst totally unique jumpers are great, there is a school of thought that supports jumpers that maintain a tangible link to an AFL jumper… When Adelaide play at the MCG this year, somebody is more likely to wear such a jumper (Ed’s Note: But only if you’re a pumpkin-head Adelaide supporter) rather than the Laos Elephants’ jumper for example. So you will get noticed and the profile of VN footy will improve which is important (when I was living in Jakarta, we had an ex-AFL player living there for 18 months before he found us !!!).  Any publicity is good publicity. 

I am definitely coming up for March 8th to kick a few goals (with the Vietnam Swans against the Malaysian Warriors).

Agree or disagree with the jumper proposal? Post a comment and build upon the Big Rooster’s 6-goal contribution!

In what has been a bumper month for the Swans Blog, January had 3,279 hits which is a world record. Our previous best month was July last year when we had 3,271. What’s weird about that is that July was the month of the Asian Championships. January, by contrast, was the month of not very much!

In the last 20 days, 12 days have had more than 100 hits. If you include days that had more than 90 hits, the number goes up to 17. Seriously unheard of.

The Swans Blog has attracted an international audience. Staggeringly, the United States accounts for 28 per cent of our traffic; Australia has 22 per cent and Vietnam comes in at No. 3 with 19 per cent of the hits. Often, the Blog is difficult to access in Vietnam. Many times we can’t access it during the day at all which may explain why Vietnam doesn’t come in at No. 1.

If you have your own theory to explain these results, post a comment.

2007 was a big year for the Swannies. Below are some of the highlights:

• - It was the year that Hanoi and Saigon combined to form a national team, the Vietnam Swans.
• - The Vietnam Swans then made our inaugural appearance at the Asian Championships in Bangkok in July.
• - Players and officials for our first Asian Champs came from no fewer than 6 countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Singapore and Australia) to make it happen.
• Triple Brownlow Medalist, Bobby Skilton; Triple Premiership Player, Clarke Keating; and member of the SouthMelbourne/Sydney Swans’ Team of the Century, Tony Morwood, individually wrote to the Vietnam Swans in the lead up to the Champs to wish us luck.
• We commenced a relationship with Sponsor, Jim Beam where they actively used the Swans appearance at the Champs to market their product – ie, they sought genuine business value from the sponsorship (eg Jim Beam promotional posters  that incorporated into the design the Swans appearance at the Champs.)
• In the lead up to the Champs, we launched the Vietnam Swans Blog which has since had more than 17,000 hits.
• The guys from Laos who played with us at the Champs – have since gone on to form their own Club, the Laos Elephants.
• We hosted a Tri Nations Tournament in Hanoi with Laos and Thailand that was combined with the netball. Approximately 200 people attended the after match function.
• We hosted a match in Saigon against Asian Champs Premiers’ the Hong Kong Dragons.
• We hosted a derby between Hanoi and Saigon in Saigon.
• We formed part of Austrade’s Australian Schools Open Day in both Saigon and Hanoi where we used footy to help differentiate the Australian education product. Club Sponsor, QBE Insurance, sponsored 900 Swans hats that were given away to attendees in the two cities.
• The Vietnam Swans received very generous support from sponsors for their third Grand Final Party in Hanoi and close to 200 people attended.
• In the lead up to the Grand Final, Vietnam Swans stalwart, Wayne Tinlin, was interviewed by ABC Radio in Australia.
• The Vietnam Swans ran the 2nd Grand Final Cyclo Parade in Hanoi on the Thursday prior to the Grand Final. A photograph subsequently appeared in Melbourne’s Herald Sun Newspaper and ABC Radio in Adelaide did a live interview with Wayne Bubbles Tinlin.
• The Swans continued to give back to the community by raising money for an organisation dealing with prostate cancer in Hanoi and also for the Loreto Foundation in Saigon which deals with disadvantaged children. On both occasions we raffled off Jim Beam bottles which were part of the original sponsorship from the Asian Champs.
• The Swans also gave sporting equipment to the orphanage in Hanoi that we have been associated with.
• The Swans held our 3^rd Annual Golf Day in Melbourne on 29 December.

 In many respects, 2007 has been a remarkable year for the Vietnam Swans. Congratulations to all involved – especially those involved with the Asian Champs. 

We are now extremely well positioned to have a very strong 2008. For a sneak preview of 2008, tune in to the blog tomorrow – the 1st Day of the New Year.

A couple of weeks ago, JASPAS in Saigon held it’s monthly Spam Cham which involves drinks, nibblies and a raffle. All money raised goes to the Loreto Vietnam Australia Program which is involved in 9 major projects assisting over 3,000 of Vietnam’s neediest children. The program assists disadvantaged, disabled and poor children through education.

Thanks to the Vietnam Swans amazing sponsor, Jim Beam, the Vietnam Swans were able to donate the equivalent of a mega 4.5 litre Jim Beam bottle (6 standard bottles) to the raffle.

The winner of the Jim Beam was Tim who exclaimed, “You Beauty!” – although he later confessed he was actually going for the two cans of Spam… Until that moment, Tim had “never won anything”.

Tim said that he was going to Mui Ne the following weekend with a few friends and his new friend, Jim. He did not expect Jim to make the return trip back to Saigon.

For the record, Albin’s effort at growing a mo for Movember earnt him the title of Mr Movember.

It was all part of “Movember” where a number of players grew a moustache for the tournament to raise awareness and money for men’s health issues. The money raised will be donated to the US Committee for Scientific Research with Vietnam. Soon, they will commence a primary health care program in the northern highlands and will now add prostate screening and care to the program.

For further details, click on the link to the Swans  ‘Tache n Passion for Charity posting.

For the record, the Tigers’ Chris Thwaiter won the Jim Beam and promptly shared it with the two hundred people who were there on the Saturday night.  

Thank you to the Thailand Tigers, Lao Elephants, Vietnam Swans, the various netball teams and friends who all dug deep for this cause.

Together with Wide Eyed Tours, an exciting travel company in Vietnam, we’re advertising in Europe, America and, of course, Australia. Wide Eyed Tours have put together their 2007/08 brochure   and distributed it across the world marketing their tours. On the back page, they’re carrying a complimentary advertisement for the Vietnam Swans inviting travellers to come and join our training sessions when they’re over here. 

It won’t be just the Germans who are Wide Eyed when they find out about Aussie Rules in Vietnam!

Yesterday, Kevan Dacey who had been the Acting Austrade Commissioner (Saigon) for the previous 6 months, departed Vietnam for Australia for the last time in that position.

Kev first met the Swans when we participated in Austrade’s Australian Schools Open Day back in May. Since then, Kev has become a keen and loyal participant.

When we were raffling mega bottles of Jim Beam to raise money for our Asian Championships campaign, he was there buying tickets for himself and selling tickets to everyone else. When we asked him to draw one of the raffles, he drew his friend Kerrie. Kerrie had won the previous week and kindly donated the bottle back to the Club. Kev drew again and this time drew his own name – and ‘kindly donated the bottle back to the Club’! We didn’t ask Kev to draw any more competitions after that…

Kev spoke with his contacts at M-Gard mouthguards who agreed to sponsor a mouthguard for every Swans player at the Champs. The mouthguards are the best fitting and most comfortable you will ever find.

At the Champs, Kev was everything. Wearing a Brisbane Lions shirt, he ran the water for the Swans. When he tired of that, he pulled on a jumper and played for us against the Thailand Tigers. The following day, wearing a China Reds shirt at the Fines’ Session, he was unexpectedly fined for continually wearing shirts not approved by the Swans hierarchy.

When the Hong Kong Dragons toured to Saigon on 1 September 2007, Kev was there again; this time as goal umpire. In the last quarter, he decided he could offer the Swans more help at full forward rather than as goal umpire. Accordingly, he told the Swans full forward to swap jobs! (See Kev Dacey’s match report.)

Kevan Dacey, you have been a super star. Good luck for your return to Australia. The Vietnam Swans hope to see you again back in Vietnam some time soon – or at the next Asian Champs.

For those in Hanoi on Thursday, 27th September, you may well see the banner when the Swans hold their 2nd Annual Grand Final Cyclo Parade. The Swans and Friends (everyone is welcome to be a friend) will meet at Le Pub, jump into cyclos dressd in team colours and set off on a Pub Crawl with a difference – it will include a drop at our Gold Sponsor, Red Apron’s Wine Store at the Metropole.

Full details will be announced on the Blog and at Le Pub “imminently” said an anonymous Club spokesperson.

How high are the hairs standing on the back of your neck? The Swans have been told the back of our necks looks more like that of an echidna! Unheard of.

We ask that you please consider using their services where appropriate.

CB Richard Ellis - With more than 300 offices in 50 countries, CB Richard Ellis is the undisputed global leader in real estate services. Whether it’s apartments, offices, market research, feasibility studies, asset services, property management… speak to CB Richard Ellis (Vietnam). 

Red Bridge Restaurant Bar – Red Bridge Restaurant Bar and Cooking School, Hoi An. On the banks of the Hoi An River, Red Bridge offers half day cooking school programs, with a trip to the market, cooking lesson and lunch.

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Despite reading the glowing scientific research about the mouthguards, Coach Scotty Stacey and Pres Phil Johns elected to wear their own lucky mouthguards during the Champs. But all that changed on the weekend’s match against the Hong Kong Dragons.

The verdict? Ah-mazing. You can actually wear the mouthguard without feeling like you’re about to gag. You can even yell out your team mate’s name and still make audible sense.

The Mgard mouthguards are a sensation because they are geuinely very, very comfortable.

If you’re looking for a new mouthguard, to quote Molly Meldrum, do yourself a favour and check out Mgard’s mouthguards.