Friday night produced the biggest night on the Swans social Calendar so far with a massive night out at the races!  The night started with what many of the Aussies had been waiting for - a ride in an old school yellow bus!  Most of the squad turned out dressed to the nines in there most flamboyant suits while the ladies definately made the most of night by throwing on some of there best.  A couple of quick beers and it was time to enter the Rideau Carlton Raceway for a big night of punting and a few frothies along the way.

The Swans Race

The winners came quick and fast for a few of the group early - Corey claiming a win in the first race (even though the group missed it by minutes)  After a good meal and a few beers it was time for the highlight of the night - Race 9 and "Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club Fundraiser Pace"  A purse was thrown together to raise some money for the Swans and responsibility handed over to Corey to pick the winner......but in what turned out to be Corey's only 'Loss' of the night (or at least thats what he tells us) the ticket didnt produce the Swans with the windfall they wanted!

After race nine most of the group settled back in the panoramic dinning room for the remaining 3 races....except that is, for a couple of the boys.  Some of the ladies where a little concerned to see Corey running past the winners post hitting himself on the behind with some sort of stick.....Jonesy tailing him close behind.  Turns out another win for the boys in Race 10 led to a verbal barrage on the winning jockey Gord Brown - something to the effect of "Hey Gord! I hear you gave your whip away!"......and that he did, sending the prize possesion over the barrier into the waiting hands of Corey.

The Whole Gang For Spring Carnival 2007

The bus returned around midnight - strangely with 2 of the Swans already on board?!? A quick drop off at the Oak for the last couple of drinks was a good call - although I think the Swans favourite server Sylvie had a different opinion when the group of 20 wandered through the door at 1AM!

Great night out, thanks to everyone that came along! You helped the club raise a few hundred dollars and we will be sure to make this one an annual event!  You can check out photos from the night in the Swans Photo Gallery!

The Swans again got a hefty dose of media attention this weekend with a Full Page, Full Colour article in the Ottawa Sun.  Sports reporter Don Brennan put together a great piece on the Ottawa Swans Australian Football club that included a couple of great colour photos.  We will post the article soon under the 'MEDIA' menu but for now you can read it online by clicking HERE or if your in Ottawa head down and grab Sunday's paper!

Thanks to the Ottawa Sun for putting this one together and helping boost awareness of Aussie Rules here in Ottawa and Canada!

Northiwnd made the trip to Ottawa this Sunday and made a massive impact on the scoreboard as well as the Ottawa Swans!  A strong start from the Canadian National team with 6 goals on the board in the first quater set the tone for what would be a runaway victory and massive lesson for the Ottawa Swans.

Hard work around the ball by Northiwnd setup a great win 24.24.168 to 0.1.1

A full game report will be up soon!

FIFA U20 World Cup Soccer came to Ottawa this Thursday night and while most of the Swans are not used to the round ball, that didnt stop them getting out to see the round of 16 clash between Nigeria and Zambia at Landsdowne Park.

While most of the swans where cheering on the African state known as Zambia after they missed the first 15 minutes only to walk into the game seeing the underdogs down 1 goal to NIL.  47mins into the first half Zambia got there goal back and leveled the score 1-1 and also helped some of the more less educated Aussies realise which colour they where actually cheering for....Green or White??

In the end Nigeria came out winners 2-1 and so did the Swans with another good night out for some of the players and there better halfs!

This week Swans V's Canada!

Canadian National Junior team member Matt Payne paid a visit to Ottawa Swans training this wednesday night.  Matt was in town on holidays and having missed 2 weeks training back in his home town Vancouver decided to come down and have a run with the Swans.   If Matts enthusiasim and attack on the footy is any indication; the Junior Wolf Pacs will be hard to beat in there upcomming games in Vancouver!

Joining Matt at training was his dad who also made the trip across country and his sister who is now an Ottawa native. 

The Swans have there doors open to any new players or visiting player who wish to have run, feel free to come down to training every wednesday at 6:30pm at our Lees Avenue field!

If your in Vancouver on the 4th of August drop down to Thunderbird Stadium and check out Matt and the Junior Canadian team as well as the the senior team Northwind take on the US Revolution.

Psssst………

Word on the street is that there was not a single supporter or player over the weekend who walked away from the inaugural Ottawa Swans game who wasn't very impressed with a certain Irish Man.  And with the recent success of Tadgh Kennelly, Aisake O’hAilpin, Setanta O'hAilpin and now Marty Clarke in the AFL, the Swanies would do good to lock up said Irish Man to a long term deal as quick as possible before losing him to the land down under and the riches of the AFL.

Clovers In The Air

The Super Coach took a vicious shot to the back of the head contesting a “hospital kick” set up by a fleet footed lefty on the centre wing.  Fair to say that #31 might be setting up all the cones, gathering up all the cones and running sprints at training for the next month as pay back.  Of course, how the littlest man on the ground could take a shot to the head is anyone's guess!!

The Swans big man is huge with big hands but that alone doesn’t mean you mark everything that comes near you.  Kicking 8 goals was nice – dropping three easy marks was not.  Seems that he has no troubles with the hard ones but fumbles the easy chest ones.  Maybe instead on footballs, the mid fielders should throw beer bottles at him.  No way he’d drop one of those.

Captain Courageous suffered his fair share of bumps and bruises on the weekend putting his body on the line again and again and taking shots to the thigh and the knee.  Of course, with the bevy of beauties he turned up to the Oak for presentation night with there seems to be no shortage of ladies willing to play “nurse” for him.

Great work by our very own “MacGyver” to ensure the barbecue was a raging success.  Not one to ever be rattled, upon realizing there were no BBQ utensils to cook and serve the food, he sprung into action and saved the day with some quick thinking and a pair of scissors.  Who needs a Swiss Army Knife?  That’s so 80’s!!

Next weeks training should be spent passing out and learning the words to the team song.  Nothing like belting the tune our after a stirring win like the Canada Day Cup.

‘Till next time…………

f

Jeff Streaks Away

Before I go on I would like to thank the Blues player who umpired the game on the day.  He put up with a lot of crap (mainly abuse from me) yet managed to get most of the decisions right on the day.

Now back to the game.  As the players warmed up I couldn’t help but look up at the sky and wonder if we were due for a typical Victorian rainy day which would seriously affect the “skill” level of the game.  Undeterred by this Haysey won the toss and elected to kick into the breeze for the first quarter.  The game started slowly as both teams came to terms with the wind and some new teammates playing on the day. Both sides provided some resolute defence by punching the ball towards the boundary at every opportunity and running hard their respective half back flanks.  Big Dave, Corey, Rohan and Spud provided great drive through the middle linking up with Justin and Al to get us on the scoreboard early.  The rest of the quarter was spent mainly in defence with Jake, Dr Jones, Max and Tim limiting scoring opportunities for the Blues through some great spoils, lots of talk and hardness at the pill (aka the football).  Mid way through the quarter we introduced Olly into the match and the game went to another level.  Dermott, JF and Olly combined well down the flanks running the ball into a stiff breeze and providing our defence with lots of options.  Up at full forward despite having to play in 4 on 2 situations Joel and Evan combined well to get us on the scoreboard.

Goal Umpire Jay

I am not sure if it was the break or that we surprised ourselves by actually being ahead of our opponents at quarter time but the lads stumbled out of the blocks in the second quarter. Haysey won some important ruck knocks against a quality opponent but our midfield was not able to secure first use of the pill.  Poor marking coupled with the Blues desire to run the ball at every opportunity saw them get on the board first.  Slowly Jake and Dr Jones managed to keep their players in check whilst Dermott and Spud started to win more of the contested possession which freed up players down the field.  Across the half forward flank players such as Jeff, Justin, Olly and Al provided some great leads and held their marks against a much taller opposition.  Maybe because it was no longer raining and he did not have to worry about the hair getting messed up but Jeff came out to play.  He had an absolute blinder in the second quarter in particular marking well, running hard at the ball and generally troubled his opponent (who was a very skilled footballer).  

The half time whistle came too early as the swans were starting to translate greater possession into shots on goals.  Maybe it was because I was unfit or I was so proud of how well the team was playing but I was lost for words at half time.  We were slightly in front of the Blues and displaying some genuinely good passages of football.  It was also pleasing to see the leadership team of Haysey, Jake, Rohan, Spud and Dr Jones encourage the lads to remain focused on the prize (Canada Cup trophy).   

The third quarter started much the same as the first with the lads running hard into the breeze and trying to maintain a high tempo running game of footy into the wind.  However we were not able to hit our targets and some soft turnovers allowed the Blues to get on the board early.  Once again the defensive unit worked hard to limit easy possession to their opponents. Jake was solid all day without being spectacular but managed to keep his man quiet, kept the ball in front at all costs and listened to the wise advise Dr Jones was able to dispense on the day.  Meanwhile in the centre Corey, Spud and Haysey ran hard to provide options for the lads kicking out of defence. Around this time Dermott moved into the middle of the ground and transformed the game for us.  He was an absolute stand out running hard and overlapping at every opportunity. 

Spud Gives One Off

On a related matter I did not realize that Joel was a Matthew Richardson (plays for the Richmond Tigers in the Australian Rules Football competition back in Australia) fan.  Granted every time he led at the ball he had 2-3 people hanging onto him but he managed to drop some easy balls whilst hitting the post too frequently to be a fluke. 

I remember more about the game but it is around here that my memory is a little hazy. After running for a ball I was smashed by a Blues player who mistook my head for the ball. Needless to say Spud missed out on an award as he “set the bloody” coach up!  Nonetheless the fourth quarter was a cake walk with the midfield controlling the ball and setting up a wall across the ground which the blues had no answer for. Even though we won by 70 odd points I was very impressed with the unselfishness of the team always willing to give the ball to people to people in a better position rather than shoot for goal.  

 Rich Keane

Coach Ottawa Swans

The Swans 74 point win on Canada Day over the Central Blues ensured the cup stays here in Ottawa until at least 2008 when the two team meet again.

The celebrations started as soon as the final whistle blew and continued on into the night as the boys combined a great win with all the Canada Day celebrations.

Jake, Corey, Slam, Maxie, Spud, Jeff and Joffa

The Royal Oak on the Canal (Thanks Sylvie!) put on a great show for the lads while they handed out the awards for the days play and sunk a few beers.  The Cup also found its rightful place behind the bar and thats where it will remain until next year.

The awards where as follows:

Best Canadian: Ian Verheyden

Best Australian: Joel Dawes

Best On Ground: Dermie Guianne

Honourable Mentions: The Whole Bloody Team!

Contragtulations boys on a great first up win!

Corey Kicks Clear

The Blues went into attack a couple of times in the first few minutes but some good rebound football from Dermie and Spud sweeping across the half back line ensured the Swans would setup there first goal of the game about 5mins in and a huge boost to the new teams confidence.

A strong midfield performance led by Canadian Captians Hazy and Brownie helped control the center with ample help from new Swan Corey and Playing Coach Ricca who constantly mopped up across the middle to pump the ball forward.  Ollie took some great marks across half forward along with Joffa as the Blues struggled to get even match ups.

Half time had the Swans up by just 3 goals, kicking into the breeze in the third quarter didnt slow there momentum however as the boys piled on another 5 goals and provided the incouraging crowd who came out to watch with some great football.  Vice Captian Jake increased his reputation as the Swans 1% man sticking to his oponent like glue and never giving an inch as well as laying on some great tackles.  Helping out in defence was Aussie first year player Maxi who never missed a target and attacked the ball with the presence of a bloke twice his size!

In the end the Swans speed through the middle from Dermie and Jeff was to much for the Blues to control as the Swans ran out comfortable winners by 74 points.

The Best Canadian Honours went to the Swans captian; Hazy, as he dominated across the center and in the ruck.  The Swans had plenty of rebound from the back led by Best on Ground Overall; Dermie who never stopped running all day and ensured the ball didnt stay in the Swans back line for to long.

The Ottawa Swans Australian Rules Football Club are pleased to announce their leadership group for 2007. The Swans have put 3 Canadians at the helm to lead the club on the field for 2007.

The leadership group is as follows:

CAPTAIN - Ian Verheydon
VICE CAPTAIN - Jake Plunkett
VICE CAPTAIN - Rohan Brown

Ian - A relative newcomer to australian rules football.  Since joining the ottawa swans footbal club Ian has actively participated in the recruitment, promotion and growth of the swans football club in ottawa.  A strong utility who likes to attack the ball and use his strength to drive the ball forward. Ian has also played in the backline and will do whatever it takes to see the team succeed.  

Jake - of irish descent. This canadian from quebec is a newcomer to australian rules football but has adapted to the game very easily.  Tall, quick and mobile has all the athletic attruibutes required to play australian rules.  Plays predominantly in the backline jake is effective at  handball / kicking / overhead marks and is strong rebounding player who runs all day.

Rohan - dual australian/canadian national. Moved to Ottawa from Toronto in 2007 and linked up with the Ottawa Swans australian rules football club.  Ppreviously played for the toronto blues and was also selected to represent northwind canadian national australia rules football team.  Mobile, quick and with silky smooth skills rohan's preferred position is ruck rover.