Over the next few weeks, Collingwoodfc.com.au will be publishing excerpts from the 2010 Yearbook.
This wasn’t meant to happen. Wasn’t going to happen, either. But resoundingly happen it did. And, in an AFL sense, there is now arguably no greater Battler Becomes All-Time Great Superstar story than that belonging to Dane Swan.
On being formally adjudged in Copeland Trophy voting - for the third consecutive time - as Collingwood’s best player in a season, Swan catapulted himself into the absolute Magpie elite. Consider the status of player he can now comfortably sit alongside in black and white history.
He is the fourth player in the club’s history to win three straight best and fairests, following - and wait for it - Nathan Buckley, Bob Rose and Phonse Kyne;
The ninth Magpie to win at least three Copelands, with only Buckley, Rose and Len Thompson securing more;
And Swan is a Copeland winner in a premiership year (also achieved by Tony Shaw, Rose, Thorold Merrett, Syd Coventry and Jack Regan.)
Decent company, yes?
Swan’s 2010 best-and-fairest win was, by Copeland Trophy standards, clearcut. As it was in 2009 and 2008. Seven votes clear this season, nine and six votes clear in the previous two years. Swan also shared the trophy for best player in the finals with Dale Thomas and Nick Maxwell.
Interestingly, in a match in which some outsiders questioned his impact, Collingwood’s best-and fairest panel gave Swan two votes in the drawn Grand Final against St Kilda, clearly on the back of his game-high clearances on the day (nine). In the Grand Final replay, seven players polled three votes to his two, but that is not to say he was quiet; he wasn’t, officially coming fourth in the Norm Smith Medal tally after a typically explosive and hard-running performance. Not bad for a player who in June this year told Alpha magazine he didn’t consider himself elite.
“I certainly don’t see myself as an A-grader … It’s hard not to read and hear what people say, but I can honestly say I don’t see myself as an A-grader. I just see myself as someone who is consistent, and if that results in me being someone who is A-grade, or B-grade or C-grade, I just like to think of myself as consistent.”
The In Black & White Yearbook - 2010 Premiers Souvenir Edition is packed with great features, including:
• 24-page premiership special
• Magnificent photos from both Grand Finals
• Complete overview of every player and every game from the 2010 season
• Reflections on the season from the Coach, President & CEO
• Feature on three-time Copeland Trophy winner Dane Swan
• 2010 Awards Section, including full Copeland voting
• Tribute to the retiring Magpies
• VFL Magpies season recap
All for just $9.95.
Click here to purchase the 'In Black and White Yearbook' from the Collingwood Superstore.
Please note - fixture errors
Please note - fixture errors
The club wishes to apologise for a number or errors in the 2011 season fixture printed on page 96 of the In Black & White - 2010 Premiers Souvenir Edition. The round 20 game against Port Adelaide is actually taking place on Saturday 6 August, and the home/away status of the following rounds is incorrect: 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. For the club’s complete and correct 2011 season fixture, please CLICK HERE.
