By Garry Howe
Former Collingwood star Dane Swan had to postpone planned prolonged celebrations with his good mate and now fellow Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin.
Swan told a gathering of business people at the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce Grand Final Lunch at the Southern Golf Club in Keysborough on Wednesday that he had blocked out two or three days this week to celebrate his mate’s Brownlow Medal win on Monday night.
However, the celebrations were put on hold because the Richmond star had more pressing duties in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final at the MCG.
“Suddenly the week became a lot calmer,” he smiled.
Swan spoke of the bad attitude that held him back early in his AFL career and the turnaround that led to him being an integral part of the Collingwood premiership side in 2010 and winning the Brownlow Medal the following year.
He says he should have three Brownlow Medals though – explaining that he was beaten by Carlton’s Chris Judd as a red-hot favourite in the premiership year, he won it in 2011 and had polled 19 votes before being injured in 2012.
“And Bucks (coach Nathan Buckley) suspended me for two weeks for drinking that year too, so I say to people that I really should have three Brownlows.”
In retirement, Swan agreed to enter the African jungle in the third series of the television reality show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – and was runner-up to former singing star Casey Donovan.
He said the hardest thing about being in the jungle was the boredom.
“You spend the entire time in a space half the size of this room,” he said.
Swan ate up the challenges, literally.
He smashed his way through the eating challenges and loves the likes of skydiving and bungee jumping.
“You meet a few good people in there, but you also come across some f-wits as well,” he said.
Swan says he still keeps in touch with former My Kitchen Rules contestant Ash Pollard, model Kris Smith, shock jock and TV host Steve Price and comedian Nazeem Hussain.
MC John Shore of Ray White Chelsea, who has compered the event for all of its 18 years, observed that Swan had smashed the record for dropping the f-word, but no-one in the crowd seemed to mind.
Proceeds from the lunch were shared between the Caroline Chisholm Foundation to help the disadvantaged access education pathways and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Lawrie Leeman from Make-A-Wish said lunch had raised $84,000 for its cause in the nine years it had been involved.
