You can now pay for your 2014 Vietnam Swans membership online. Simply visit vietnamswans.com/online-shop and follow the paypal links.

If you don’t want to pay online then speak to Dan (Hanoi) or Rowan (HCMC) to arrange payment.

NOTE: Membership is for Vietnam based people only.

As per the generous sponsorship of IKT Knowledge (Via Mr Damo Judd) I was lucky enough to travel to Indonesia last weekend. As a thank-you I agreed to do a write up of the weekend so here is my attempt to make some sense of the chaos that ensued as the Jakarta Bintangs hosted the Vietnam Swans on the second competitive game of the year. The Swans travelled with a healthy looking squad comprising of veterans, gun players, newbies and a raft of immigrants ranging from the beautiful mountains of Canada to the gorgeous and welcoming pubs of Ireland.

The Bintangs started the game at a ferocious pace clocking up an impressive four goals in the first 10 minutes; with a very plausible thrashing on their hands, the Swannies came to life and bombarded the Bintangs’ goal for the rest of the first quarter. It was a tremendously exciting first period with Vaughan, James and Scotty all playing their role in scoring and creating goals for the Bintangs whilst Billy and Dan recovered from their first 10 minutes to shut down the potent Bintang attack.

At quarter time, with the Swannies ahead on the scoreboard, the crowd rippled with excitement at the prospect of another exhilarating and high scoring 2^nd period. They were treated to the latter as the Bintangs exploded from the blocks and tormented the Swannies defence with some clinical finishing. The Butcher made mince meat of the Swannies defence showing his prowess with a number of smart turns and kicks. The Swannies defence wasn’t helped by the midfield and forward lines inability to man up and perhaps the team as a whole misjudged the situation, leaning towards a more attacking mentality rather than trying to shut the Bintangs down.

I wish I could say the Swannies learned their lesson in the third quarter but unfortunately the Bintangs continued to turn the screw with more accurate kicking and better anticipation under the high ball. Frankly, the Swannies were dejected and unable to lift themselves in the two crucial quarters that saw the game swing favourably in the Bintangs direction. Problems arose all over the pitch, where we were second to a lot of the ball, our kicking was as wild as Nicko’s negotiating at a currency exchange counter and our decision making was as existent as common sense was in our previous night’s antics.

But in the infamous words of the even more infamous Manu “We are the Swannies, the mighty mighty Swannies” and we were not going to go down without a fight. Coach Andy and a few of the senior players along with an overenthusiastic but awesomely cool Tuan rallied the troops at three quarter time. The team came out of the traps like a locomotive steam engine, battling to every ball and contesting every possession. Travy got on the end of some great passes and poached a few goals whilst Vaughan, Trent, James and Josh Leary amongst others put in a huge last quarter to make the scoreline a bit more respectable.

Fearing that the game was getting away from them, the Bintangs threw on former Swannie superstar Shagger who attempted to turn the game back in the Bintangs favour but was shut down emphatically by the much improved Swans defence and midfield.

At the final siren, the Bintangs ran out comfortable winners but there was an element of positivity about how the Swans responded to the dreadful two quarters that saw the game get away from them. It’s never easy travelling to such a strong footy stronghold; the Bintangs were well worth their win with a number of their players putting in top quality performances. What really stood out was their lethal kicking, kicking a total of 22 goals and 5 behinds – which works out at a shooting accuracy of about  81%, a phenomenal effort; but we can’t just credit their display and performance to their ability to kick goals, it was their all round play that tormented the Swans and put them in such kickable scoring positions.

So what now for the Vietnam Swannies? Well we get back up off the deck, brush ourselves down and get ready for the most important game of the year – ANZAC Day. Despite the loss we can take huge encouragement from the game – Trent Davies played superbly in the half back line, Scotty Radford showed a level of ability and aggression that bodes well for the midfield, Vaughan demonstrated his ability to perform in the big games – claiming ‘Best on Ground’ for the Swans, Timmy Pickert showed what an awesome guy he is by again making the 17 hour trip to play with his favourite Asian footy team and the group as a whole bonded and strengthened their playing relationship and their camaraderie over what was a very testing but enjoyable weekend.

Two particular mentions should go to the very generous donations by club sponsors Dragon Industries Asia and who sponsored Scott Radford and I to travel and play in the game. Many thanks for generosity.

By the way I also had an awesome game completely shutting down ex-swannie Dave O’Shea…..just saying.

Til next time,

JR

When it comes to Asian tours it’s hard to think of a tougher trip than to Jakarta, however in a testament to the dedication and culture of the Swans the club toured with a total of 22 players, which included a great mix of both old and new.

In what is becoming a worrying trend in international games the Swans got off to a slow start and found themselves 5 goals behind before the 7 minute mark of the 1^st quarter, however in a sign of how much potential the Swans have they abruptly turned the tide with some gut busting running, tough tackling and fast ball movement to head into the first change with a narrow lead.

Unfortunately the second term started in much the same way as the first with the Bintangs taking control of the centre and showing their class with some good team running from behind. That’s not to say the Swans made it easy for last years ANZAC Friendship opponents with backline making sure no mark was taken easy, and the some ferocious attack on the ball around the ground. However in what proved to be demoralising for the touring team straight kicking was the order of the day for the hosts as the Bintangs racked up only 5 behinds all day which included 2 or 3 rushed behinds. The Swans headed into the main break more than 40 points adrift. 

The 3^rd term saw the Swans start to win more of the ball and often controlled the play but just weren’t able to make enough of an impact on the scoreboard, which Jakarta extending their lead. The Swans were able to gain some respectability on the scoreboard in the last quarter and despite what for most of the game felt like a closely contested battle the Bintangs were able to strengthen their hold on the Kainey Cup & take another valuable 4 points for AFL Asia.    

In what was truly a team effort, congratulations to big bustling Vaughan who received best player award from the Bintangs in his first international game for the Swans, super effort.

Also a HUGE congratulations to the female Gales who were able to bring in a win from their very first tour game to Hanoi. Great way to start and I’m sure this is the fist of many wins.

Go Swannies. 

Mark, who was over here in 2008, is coming over to Vietnam for the ANZAC Friendship Match.

Mark’s travelling in a group of four who will all attend the Match and the McMillan Dinner (where Alex Jesaulenko shall deliver the Middleton Address).

He’s also travelling with another group of 10 which will include some veterans. Perhaps as many as six from the group will attend the Match and Dinner.

Mark then writes,

“When I was lodging our passports for the Visa at Vietnam Consulate in Perth recently, I bumped into an older Vet doing the same. We started chatting about the trip etc. Turns out he played in the Australian Army team at the original Lord Mayor’s Oval (he is a regular to Vietnam and is a sponsor of Swim Vietnam in Hoi An. He will go there after Vung Tau to see how that is progressing) and he had photos of the army team – of course he only had the ones with him being carried off on shoulders after (supposedly) kicking the winning goal (sure…)

“It would take the whole army to carry him now… Anyway, had a good chat and arranged to meet up in Vung Tau for a beer..

“It’s already started…”

By the way, so who was Mark talking to? Dick “Johno” Johnston, of course. A dual premiership player in the Vietnam Football League and a veteran of attending our ANZAC Friendship Match.

The reputation of the ANZAC Friendship Match continues to grow…

With the AFL season almost upon us the Swans will be running a tipping comp with the winner to receive free entry to our 2014 Grand Final Party. Big thanks to Maz for arranging this and here are the details on how to enter:

Step 1: Go to

Step 2: Go to “comps” > “create/join comp” > “join a comp”

-Comp name: Vietnam Swans Tipping Championship

-Password: swannies

Swannies Oi!

It is that time of the year again when the Irish emerge from the slumber holes and slowly (like a scene from the Shaun of the Dead) converge on the RMIT playing grounds for the greatest Irish, Post-Vietnam War, footballing event that’s ever been held at RMIT on a Saturday (a small category to be honest).

Everyone is expected to be at the ground, ready to bounce at 1:30pm. This will give us time to go through rules and skills and divide players into even teams. It is a mixed event (no not religion you fools – gender (Although all religions welcomed as well)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEAbWrdB9XU, so bring the wives, girlfriends and kids if they are interested.

There will be drink and food available throughout thanks to Alfresco catering.

After the Gaelic game there will be an AFL game in preparation for the game against Jakarta the following week – this will give the Gaelic players ample opportunity to have a few brewski’s whilst enjoying a load of tall hairy blokes run round after a yellow egg!

After the game there will be a function upstairs at the Spotted Cow from 7pm til 10pm (exact time is to be confirmed) – entry is 400,000 for all you can drink on selected spirits and beer and a buffet. They will be showing the rugby upstairs as well and the football downstairs (I presume).

There will be raffle prizes and man of the match awards handed out after the game so please stay about and enjoy a cool afternoon in the sun, sipping beers, watching footy, giving abuse and so on.

If you are interested in playing please slip me a wee email/text and bring your red and white singlets along with the rest of your gear.

Cheers
JR
P.S Compulsory Youtube clip: