AFL Odds: Dane Swan Looks Back
December 24th, 2014 by TJ DilferIt’s quite common to see AFL players offering their opinions of rival players and teams, and you probably wouldn’t take too much notice of that criticism – because it’s very often criticism, and not a lot of it constructive, either – when you’re looking over the AFL odds we’ve got for you at this early stage at the other end of the link there. But when a player like Dane Swan offers a refreshingly honest appraisal of his own work for Collingwood over the 2014 season – and makes a commitment at the same time to learn from the mistakes he sees in the way he handled himself over the course of the year – then it’s probably worth taking note.
And that’s just what Dane Swan has been doing in the off-season, it seems. Certainly, he’s been eager to talk to the press about the failures of last year: ‘it was horrendous – I had one good game on Anzac Day and that was about it. It was putrid, so I certainly don’t expect to be like that next year.’ And with that pretty stark assessment of the season from potentially one of the leading lights of Collingwood’s 2015 campaign was a decent idea of where he thinks he went wrong: ‘up until last year, I probably thought it didn’t mean anything. I thought I could just come in with three or four practice matches under my belt, come out and play some decent footy. I was probably lucky there for a couple of years.’ But then injury caught up with him: ‘all I could really do was walk laps, which was fun for me, but it obviously didn’t translate to having a good year, so now I’m running. This year taught me a pretty good lesson. Not being truthful with the medical staff and the coaches, and thinking I could just get out there and do what I do, I certainly can’t do that any more.’
Collingwood fans – not to mention the coaching staff and his fellow players – will be very pleased to hear that note of commitment from a player who could be pivotal for the Pies next season. And if they’re going to make those AFL odds look long at $34.00, Collingwood are going to need Swan and others fully fit and firing…
- 2023
- 2022
- - June
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
- 2000