Dane Swan

Personal information
Birth	25 February 1984 (1984-02-25) (age 25), Australia
Recruited from	Westmeadows/Calder U18
Height and weight	185 cm / 85 kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 13, 28 June 2003, Collingwood vs. Western Bulldogs, at Etihad Stadium
Team(s)	Collingwood (2001-) 120Games, 72 Goals
¹ Statistics to end of round 17, 2009 season
Career highlights
2007 – Equal fourth Brownlow Medal 2008 – Copeland Trophy winner 2009 - Bob Rose-Charlie Sutton Medal 2009 - most possessions in a match (48) 2009 - Herald Sun Player of the Year 2009 - Runner up AFLPA MVP Awards 2009 - All-Australian 2009 - Copeland Trophy winner

Dane Swan (born 25 February 1984) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.^[1] Son of former Victorian Football Association star Billy,^[2] Swan was drafted to the Collingwood Football Club in 2001.

[edit] Career

Swan made his debut in June 2003 at the age of 19,^[2] though he only played three games (against Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Essendon).^[1] In Collingwood's 2009 round 10 clash against Port Adelaide Swan obtained 48 possessions, 22 kicks and 26 handballs.^[1] This was the best disposal count in a decade and the third highest ever disposals count in one match, behind Greg Williams' 53 and Tony Shaw's 50. His 48 possessions are the record for most possessions since the game quarters were shortened from 25 min to 20 min in 1994. Swan managed just 30 games in his first four seasons in the system at Collingwood, and although he played some solid football in that time, was not regarded as outstanding.

In 2006, he broke through, played 21 games and finished sixth in the EW Copeland Trophy voting. Swan mainly rotated through the midfield and moved forward when required. His first nine weeks were productive, averaging nearly 26 disposals and kicked 15 goals, before a hamstring injury suffered against Brisbane in round ten sidelined him until round 13.

In 2007 he placed fourth in the Copeland voting and had an effective fine finals series.

[edit] 2008

The 2008 Copeland Trophy winner had a strong year averaging 25 disposals, seven marks, three tackles and one goal a game. Swan led the team in total disposals (590) and kicks (368), second in marks (163), and third in handballs (222) and tackles (75). He had 14 games of 25 possessions or more and kicked two or more goals on six occasions. Round 10 against West Coast was one of Swan’s best collecting 34 possessions, 10 marks and two goals. In round 14 against Sydney, he had 30 touches and 13 marks.

[edit] 2009

In the 2009 AFL Premiership Season, Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, 7.8 marks, 3.0 tackles and 5.4 inside 50s per game. He is one of the AFL's most prolific ball winners, along with being an in-and-under specialist winning the contested ball at most stoppages whilst also running hard.

He was ranked 3rd in Total Inside 50s, 4th in Total Goal Assists, 1st in Total Kicks, 14th in Total Handballs, 1st in Total Disposals, 10th in Total Marks, 5th in Inside 50s Per Game, 13th in Goal Assists Per Game, 2nd in Kicks Per Game, 2nd in Disposals Per Game. He was voted runner up at the AFLPA MVP awards (poling 584 votes), losing to Gary Ablett (688). He was regarded as one of the front runners for the Brownlow Medal, but finished outside the top ten.

Swan was selected in the 2009 All-Australian side, but controversially as a half forward flanker, rather than as a midfielder, which is his usual position.^[3]

[edit] Awards

In 2007 he gained 20 votes in the Brownlow Medal despite not being there on the night.^[4] On 3 October 2008, Swan won the Copeland Trophy, Collingwood's best and fairest award.^[5] In 2009 he was named in the AFL All Australian Team. On October 2, 2009, Swan was awarded his second consecutive Copeland Trophy for a year in which he averaged over 30 disposals a game, collected the most disposals in a season ever, including a record 48 possessions against Port Adelaide to eclipse the previous most touches in a game by two.

[edit] Controversy

In 2003, Swan was charged following a brawl at Federation Square, in which a security guard was knocked unconscious.^[5] The bashing was so brutal the it left the victim with "permanent brain damage". Swan was ordered to perform community service and to pay $100,000 to the victim^[6].

[edit] See also

• List of Australian rules football incidents

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dane Swan profile on the Official AFL Website of the Collingwood Football Club
• Dane Swan's statistics from AFL Tables