Brian, after the Legends Match on the ANZAC Friendship Weekend, is now off to Thailand for Gaelic footy.

Tomorrow in Thailand, the South Asia Gaelic Football Championships will be played.

A number of Swannies shall be there including the Irishman, Brian as well as Dave O’Shea and Josh Murray.

Good luck from all the Swannies!

While Timmay reflects on living without Swannie muppets, the ladies can enjoy a free cocktail!

Tomorrow, Friday 18 May, the Club shall get the chance to say hoo-roo to Timmay Clements and Asha Phillips who are about to leave Vietnam’s shores to honk on in Hong Kong.

5pm, Hogs Breath Cafe

The Collingwood Vs Essendon match shall be screened at the Hog’s Breath. To encourage members to bring their partners, the Club will buy the first cocktail for each partner. Game on!

7pm, Rooftop, Pacharan

At 7pm, we’re off to the roof top of Pacharan. Timmay and Asha have very generously offered to put some money on the bar. Game on again!

Whichever way you look at it, it’s shaping up to be a Mega Swannies’ Farewell Function. Be there!

“My ball. My Supercoach competition”, says Dave “Mr 2,622″ O’Shea. Photo, Mark Stennett Photography.

Ross McRae’s report on the Supercoach League includes the stellar news that the Swannies’ Dave O’Shea scored 2,622 points on the weekend.

This ranked Dave 5th out of 352, 000 other coaches!

Ex-Supercoach here,

Why ‘ex’? Just this weekend, new comer Dave O’Shea, (no longer to be named Grasshopper) has taken over from the Master. Not only did he annihilate me in the match in Supercoach, his team scored 2,622. This ranks him 5th “overall” for this week’s highest score and skyrockets him into 83rd place “overall”.

“Overall” comprises 352,000 coaches with the likes of Sheedy wannabies, Supercouchers, teenagers, Shagga’s Dad, Moggy’s Missus etc. Dave was just 51 points from taking out the weekly $1,000 prize for the top scoring team.  If only Dusty Martin had lifted and cracked a 140 he could have taken the gong.

Ex Supercoach, Ross McRae, is expected to maintain his focus and have a return to form next weekend. Photo, Trent Mears.

Dave is now 416 points from the top of the table, well within striking range to take out the yearly $50,000 Grand Prize – and it’s only Round 8!  With some astute trading and some wise moves, this boy could take it all. Not much pressure, eh?

No wonder the lad was so cocky on the weekend. He turned up late to training, a sure sign that he was thinking he was too good for us. However, in fact, he was riding from wi-fi hotspot to hotspot on his way from Binh Duong to Thu Duc, keeping a close eye on his team.

Dave sits comfortably at the top of the table of the Vietnam Swans Pro League, one game clear of 2nd place Shannon Leahy, 3rd Angus Pheonix McEwan, 4th David Daisy Bourke and Moggy in 5th being two games off the pace. And where am I? Sitting comfortably at 3rd from the bottom, spending too much time on newsletters and not focusing on my team, obviously.

Click here for Mariah Carey’s tribute to DavO’, “Hero”.

In the Vietnam Swans Reserves, Luke Miller is sitting on the top, followed by another Dave. Revo’s Back up Singers are 3rd, 4th is Josh (not sure if it’s new or old Josh), and lo and behold Supercoach (me) is 5th.  In this topsy-turvy world, the Reserves league is actually ranked higher than the Pro league in League rankings.

Onto the Footy Tipping and its a battle between the Western Australians, with soon to be de-feathered Timmay taking back the top of the table from Brett Jotta, followed by Vic (?), Dougie and ex-Prez, Dezza.

Timmay is also doing quite strongly in Supercoach as well for his first outing.

Well that’s it for me this week. I’m off to cut some chaff from my Supercoach team for the run home.

Back to the excel sheets for me.

Bill Slape, Manager of the Hellfire Pass Museum.

Bill Slape, who managed the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, suffered a fatal herat attack on the weekend while swimming.

A service will be held tomorrow, Tuesday 15 May from 1pm at Christ Church Bangkok, 11 Convent Road. Bathing rights will be held from Wednesday 16 May – Friday 18 May from 19.30 at Taewasankhalam (Wat Neua) Thanon Baak Phrae, Baan Neua Kanchanaburi. There will be a cremation service at 1pm on Saturday, 19 May.

In 2009, the Vietnam Swans visited the Hellfire Pass Museum as part of our ANZAC Tour to Thailand.

While the Vietnam Swans did not know Bill, via the Thailand Tigers, we have requested that our deepest sympathies and condolences be passed on to his family and friends.

The Vietnam Swans visited the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum in 2009 when we travelled to Thailand for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and footy match against the Tigers. This was our 2009 ANZAC Weekend, one like no other. It left an indelible impression on each of us for the rest of our lives.

In 2010, John Williams of the NSW National Party remarked that Bill Slape is “always there to help in any way he can. He does a magnificent job of running the memorial facility” (click here for full story).

In 2009, the ABC’s World Today journalist, Kerry Percy asked Bill Slape how Hellfire Pass was named. The transcript of Bill’s reply is below:

Hellfire Pass.

(When) the men were working at night time, they could hear the hammering and the clamouring and the pith fires down in Hellfire Pass, and all the, the bamboo lanterns along the wall face of the pass itself, and men up top were saying it just looks like looking into the fires of hell, and that’s where it came from, from the prisoners of war during that period.

Bill Slape, through the museum, helped make a terrible history relevant to a new generation that has included the Vietnam Swans.

On that trip in 2009, while the Vietnam Swans did not meet Bill, we did get to meet another Bill who also made that terrible history relevant. That Bill was ex POW, Bill Haskell. Bill Haskell attended the ANZAC Dawn Service and our footy match. But it was at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery Service where he made his greatest impression. That was where Bill H. delivered a speech like no other. Bill H, who died last year (see ex POW Bill Haskell passes on – as does his message), was determined that while people should forgive, they should never forget.

Bill’s speech was “extraordinary. Every measured and deliberate word in that speech was worth a thousand. Every word was more precise than a rifle bullet and more powerful than a rifle butt”.

The complete transcript of Bill Haskell’s speech is one of the most “searched for” posts on the Vietnam Swans’ website. As a tribute to Bill Slape and the work he did to tell the POW’s story through the museum, we include the opening few paragraphs of Bill Haskell’s speech from just three years ago:

Ex POW Bill Haskell, speaks at the 2009 ANZAC Day War Cemetery Service at Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

In Australia and New Zealand the 25^th April is known as ANZAC Day.

It is a day on which the two Nations pay tribute to our Servicemen and Servicewomen who lost their lives in defence of freedom.

We are therefore grateful to the Governments of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Union of Myanmar and their people for permitting us to honour those who died in their countries and have their remains interred in this cemetery (at Kanchanaburi) and that at Thanbuyazat.

These men died as Prisoners of War of the Japanese in World War II, during or as a result of, working on the Burma Siam Railway.

They died, in the main, through the sheer negligence of the Japanese in not supplying the basic food and medical supplies, in their inhumane and brutal treatment and in subjecting the prisoners to the absolute extreme of forced labour.

The prisoners were starved, overworked, exposed to diseases, harassed and brutally assaulted at the work place.

The established rules of warfare in relation to prisoners of war were abandoned completely in the frenzy to push the railway through.

We remember these men with great affection and deepest respect.

For those of us who were able to hear Bill Haskell’s speech, delivered with such determination and humanity, it was an utter privilege. Perhaps the one word that stood out was “inhumane”. Perhaps, the most emotional sentence was, “We remember these men with great affection and deepest respect…”. Bill served it to us with equal and palpable amounts of love, hurt and conviction in his voice.

We wish it could have been recorded so that others could hear first hand his spoken word.

• To read the rest of Bill Haskell’s extraordinary speech, click onto Ex POW, Bill Haskell, and his speech on ANZAC Day.
• To see photos of the 2009 ANZAC Cemetery Service at which Bill Haskell spoke, click here.
• To see a pictorial review of the Vietnam Swans’ 2009 ANZAC Tour to Hellfire Pass, Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, cruise on the River Kwai and the footy match, click here.

RIP Bill Slape and thank you for doing everything you could to pass on the message to us.

Shannon and Sam at the Australian Education trade Fair in HCMC yesterday with the indestructible hanball board.

Last weekend, the Swannies were out in force in both Hanoi and Saigon promoting Australian education as part of an Australian Education Trade Fair sponsored by Austrade and Study in Australia.

On Saturday, the Swannies in Hanoi went to the Chu Van An High School where the Trade Fair was being held.  hanoi Coach, Adrian Enright and Hanoi President, Daniel Hopkins led the keen youngsters through some basic handball skills to prepare them for an important aspect of studying in Australia: playing Australian Rules Football.

Chu Van An is a selective entry school for Hanoi’s best and brightest – and it showed with the students quickly adapting to the peculiarities of the oval shaped ball. The Vietnam Swans rewarded the most accurate handballers with Vietnam Swans and AFL Merchandise.

Hanoi Coach, Ado, offers some useful tips.

Meanwhile Dave “SOS” Skowronski and David Diviny introduced the students to the vagaries of kicking and marking and provided an outline of the basic rules of the game.

Overnight, the Trade Fair rolled on down to Saigon where it was met with a fresh set of Swannies; namely Saigon Prez, Sam Conroy, Shannon Leahy, Model Hewy and Phil Johns.

Hewy was the instant crowd favourite as there was a giant poster with his image on it. Ms Thanh Thu from the cable TV station, VTC, came over to have her photo taken alongside the Hewy (to see photo, click here).

Loads of students gathered and had great fun handballing and kicking the footy at the indestructible handball board.

Alas, handballing through the hole in the board, the bull’s eye, was proving quite the challenge for, not just the women wearing their traditional Vietnamese dress, the ao dai – but for everyone including the Swannies’ players. Enter Austrade Commissioner, Tony Burchill.

Playing footy in an ao dai is not a problem for Vietnam’s versatile women.

“Give me the ball”, he ordered. And so we did. He then nonchalantly handballed the footy through the hole without it even touching the sides. A bull’s eye in the most emphatic fashion! Tony then retrieved the ball, tossed it back to an adoring crowd and walked off giving a generous wave. The stuff of champions.

Soon after, the Australian Consul General, John McAnulty, arrived. Hearing about Tony Burchill’s performance, John tried his hand and was very unlucky not to score a bull (click here for photo). But as he pointed out, it has been much longer since he has handballed compared with the Austrade Commissioner.

Meanwhile, the students kept handballing and kicking the footy, having a great time. They loved it.

The same students may visit other education trade fairs put on by the French, English and Americans – but there, they won’t find the Vietnam Swans demonstrating Australia’s signature sport, Aussie Rules.

To see more photos of the footy clinics in Hanoi and HCMC, click here.

Longy’s brother, Longy, Dez, Angry and Joshie dressed for the cold at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne last night.

Last night, the Bombers absolutely caned the West Coast Eagles at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

There were at least four Swannies in attendance, namely, Josh Little (former coach), Dez Limbrick (former Saigon Prez), Dave “Angry” Hadley (Ed’s note: yep, that’s Hadley with the white eyes according to the comments received earlier! The Swannies website apologises for not recognising earlier Dave’s white eyes and black hair which forms part of the skyline…) and Mark Long (current resident) with his brother.

Special thanks to Josh for submitting this photo which he titled, “If you’re wondering where all your best players are…”

Meanwhile, in Hanoi yesterday, the Swannies supported Austrade’s Study in Australia Day by running a footy clinic (which will be repeated in Saigon today) which they followed up with a good ol’ friendly session of paintball.

Photos to follow.

Stephen “Spielberg” Drummond has just released an unedited version of the pre match formalities at the recent ANZAC Friendship Match. And the pre match comes up very well on video!

There is Matty Townsend, the consummate MC;  welcomes from the Vice Consul General in Saigon (Felicity Sims) and the National President of the Vietnam Swans (Phil Johns); the reciting of the Ode (Greg Kennett) as well as national anthems from Vietnam (see the Vietnamese women and children singing the anthem which starts at 6.12minutes), New Zealand (sung by Steve “Spielberg” Drummond. How did he film himself?) and Australia (sung by Laurence).

Meanwhile, Steve is working on another project where he will distill the entire weekend and Long Tan Dawn Service, together with snippets of interviews from multiple Veterans and players into a 15 minute summary.

This video is expected to be ready in approximately one month.

Mega Swannies Functions will be organised in both Hanoi and Saigon for the screening of this video prior to it being uploaded onto You Tube. Stay tuned for details.

Zaiya sings last night in Saigon at the Hard Rock Cafe. With five more nights in Saigon, you still have time to do yourself a favour! Details below. Photo: Mark Stennett Photography.

Saigon Prez, Sammy (Davis Jnr) Conroy delivers a broadside to the Swannies’ teachers by claiming, “It hasn’t just been a big week in education”. Judging by the amount of honking that can be heard from one end of the country to the other, the President is right.

Read on to find out what’s been happening this week in footy.

SGN Scratch Match tomorrow at new venue

Tomorrow, we will be playing a scratch match at the Vietnam National University in Thu Duc at 2pm. Teams were sent out during the week. The results from each week’s hit out will be recorded and players performances will be noted and awarded at the end of year in a separate award to our Best and Fairest.

Mid Week Training In Binh Duong

Training is back on in Binh Duong with Dave O’Shea locking in the VSIP ground again each Tuesday nights at 5:30. It’s a good sharp session and perfect for a hit out mid week. It’s easy to find and if your interested you can have a beer and check out Daves local haunts afterwards.

Timmay is shipping out- Friday, 18 May

The Muppet Enforcer is leaving the building. Yes the Old and the New Timmay are leaving and, coincidentally, are having a farewell on the same day, Friday, 18^th May. New Timmay’s farewell will be at La Fenêtre Soleil,1/F 135 Le Thanh Ton St starting at 6pm. Old Timmay’s farewell will commence shortly after with a venue yet to be determined. Timmay has been massive for the Club and most people don’t see the work he does, getting sponsorships, making ANZAC weekends happen, organizing tours and generally helping out. He has been massive for the Club and we need to ensure he is sent to Hongkers (where they love to honk for the Swannies) in fine fashion.

Indochina Cup date has moved

Due to the Australian Prime Minister’s visit to Cambodia in November the Indochina Cup has been moved. It is expected to now be the 10^th of November. A long way out yet but we will need our best team on the park that day so lock it out of calendars now. We don’t want to hear about excuses like weddings and child births effecting the footy club. Priorities people!!!!!!!!

Australian Education Showcase and the Swannies

Hewy – this weekend in Hanoi and Saigon will eye off the study opportunities in Australia.

“How mega is the Aus Government getting in on Swannies’ functions?” Shannon Leahy.

This weekend, Austrade is hosting the Australian Education Showcase in both Hanoi and Saigon. In Saigon, the Swannies have a promotional tent. We need a few boys and girls to help out on Sunday morning so if you’re keen to get involved with spreading the Swannies into Vietnam culture, let Shannon know by email or at training.

• Day – Sunday 13 May 2012
• Address – Le Hong Phong High School, 235 Nguyen Van Cu, Dist. 5, HCMC
• Time – 2-2.5 hours; get there at 9am for 9.30am start then finishing 11.30am

The boys in Hanoi will be running the same session up North with Ado having to look on at Hewy with that death stare he gets when he is about to take out another Swannie (or just Nicko). Check out the poster!

Vung Tau Video

Steve Drummond had a few of us together the other night to put the final touches to the video covering the massive weekend in Vung Tau. It’s going to be awesome as Steve has a huge amount of material and will no doubt put a super piece of work together for us to use to promote the Club. As we did last year we will have an MSF (Mega Swannies’ Function) to show everyone with details to come on the when and where.

New Club Song

Revo has had a crack at writing a new club song. It’s PG approved and he has completed a first cut already that ended up on the cutting room floor. Next version is out and watch this space.

Zaiya sings in Saigon for five more nights!

Zaiya, last night in Saigon. Photo, Mark Stennett Photography.

Zaiya started her HCMC tour at Hard Rock Café last night and she’s back there again tonight. She is an acclaimed Australian artist in the style of Rhianna, Adele and Katie Perry. Zaiya originals are produced by Tom Nicholls (Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue, Meredith Bro and Tine Arena).

Who is Zaiya? Zaiya is Sarah Etinger, the daughter of Mark, part owner of Club Sponsor so let’s get out and support Zaiya tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe. Check out the other dates and venues:

• Tonight, 11 May – Hard Rock Cafe @9pm. VND100,000.
• Sat 12 May @9.30pm, Vascos. VND100,000.
• Sun 13 May @ 8.30pm, Acoustic Bar
• Mon 14 May @ 8pm, Phatty’s (not on poster but confirmed)
• Tues 15 May @ 8.30pm, Yoko Bar.

Photos courtesy of Swannies photographer, Mark Stennett Photography.

We have a new sponsor

Future Windows to sponsor the Swannies in 2012.

After a massive weekend in Vung Tau, Frank Rykers from Future Windows has decided he will support the Club with a sponsorship this year. Check out their website www.futurewindows.com.au and if you’re living in Melbourne, or know someone who is, get in contact with the guys down at Mornington and have a look. More details on Future Windows coming soon.

I told you it was going to be a mega update, didn’t I?

The Bairnsdale Advertiser writes that Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam.

The Bairnsdale Advertiser on 27 April 2012, published an article titled, Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam. The article looks at the 2012 ANZAC Friendship Match, the history of footy in Vietnam during the war and the Vietnam Swans today (the article also incorrectly mentions that the Swannies have won the last two Asian Champs when, in fact, it should have said the last two Indochina Cups.

A portion of the article is reproduced below.

With such a large contingent of Vietnam veterans residing in the area and given the region has its own Viet Vets retreat ‘Cockatoo Rise’, at Sarsfield, the story below will no doubt be of interest to one and all.

Most Vietnam Vets will be aware of the annual footy match that is played at Vung Tau, the base for the Australian Logistics during the Vietnam War, the coastal location also used as a rest and recuperation centre for our diggers serving at Nui Dat.

In its third year, the Aussie Rules competition is reputedly a fiercely fought contest between the Vietnam Swans and whichever Asian team takes up the challenge, this year (last Saturday) the home side victorious against the China Reds, a team consisting of players from the Shanghai Tigers and the Beijing Bombers, the teams part of the growing interest in Aussie rules in Asia.

The formation of the Vietnam Aussie rules game is an interesting tale in itself. One Pte John Heaney, a Nasho with the first Transport Platoon RAASC, was given two choices by the CO as a punishment for a misdemeanour. One was to organise a game of Aussie Rules, and the other was detention; no prizes for guessing which one he chose. From this, a full-scale competition was soon ongoing between the various Australian units and continued between 1967-1971.

Played on what was formerly known as the Lord Mayor’s Oval, now called the Vung Tau Greyhound Track, the beautiful sandhills of the Back Beach look very different today from how it was during the war. ‘Vungers’ as it is affectionately known is just a 90-minute ferry ride from the chaos of Saigon.

To read the rest of the article, click onto Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam.

To see and read other articles that have been published about the Vietnam Swans in Vietnam, Australia and other countries, click here.

Hewy to display silky skills this weekend in Hanoi and Saigon as a life sized cardboard cut out.

This weekend, Austrade is hosting the Australian Education Showcase in Hanoi and Saigon. The Swannies will be there in both cities demonstrating Australia’s signature sport and, in the process, helping to differentiate the Australian education product.

As part of the Austrade team’s efforts to promote Australian culture, a giant poster of Swannie and new pin up boy, Hewy, has been organised…(Ed’s note: old pin up boy, Ado, was unavailable for comment last night).

In addition, the Swannies will have one of four promotional tents. One of the other tents will be used by KOTO which will be cooking up some Aussie delicacies such as lamingtons etc. Hmmm. Lamingtons…

Austrade has added netting around the Swannies’ tent for some kick to kick and handball sessions with potential students. The tent size is 18m x 17m which makes it big enough to have a real hoot of a time.

The Swannies have supported this event in previous years.

Australia has 10,000 Vietnamese students studying in Australia which makes it out 12th biggest export (2008 figures).

Hanoi

Date: Saturday, 12 May 2012
Address: Chu Văn An, 10 Thụy Khuê
Time: 8.30am – 1pm

Saigon

Date: Sunday, 13 May 2012
Address: Le Hong Phong High School, 235 Nguyen Van Cu, Dist. 5, HCMC
Time: 9.30am – 11.30am