Who is the real Dane Swan? Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: HWT Image Library
DANE Swan was a nobody when he and a couple of mates touched up a security guard at Federation Square in 2003.
It was act of delinquency that caused pain and hurt.
Now Swan is a somebody, a Brownlow medallist, three-time Copeland Trophy winner and a premiership player.
The road from nobody to somebody has been one of the more impressive journeys for a player in the AFL, although it's safe to say the laid-back and likeable Swan would still like to be a nobody in a somebody's world.
He is a rare bird, Dane Swan.
A knockabout who loves a drink, the nightlife and whatever else that may tickle his fancy, Swan still plays footy at unbelievable levels of speed and endurance and leather-poisoning.
If you believe rumours, and there are hundreds of them, Swan is Ben Cousins Mark II, a player whose behaviour is of major concern who, finally this off-season, realised he had to pull his head in.
If you believe those who know him, Swan is nothing of the sort.
"Dane Swan has not changed one bit from when he was a 17-year-old lad," his manager, Liam Pickering, says.
"He loves footy and he plays great footy and he cares about his footy. People don't think he does care, but they're kidding themselves. You can't be that good if you don't care about it."
Swan is a fascination for all in football and his exploits are front-page news.
He says he doesn't care what is said and written about him, but others wonder whether he tries too hard to project a feeling that he doesn't care about what is said and written about him. Whatever the thinking, there's been plenty to write about.
His parents, Billy and Dee, and his grandparents are hurt by the articles - and that hurts Swan.
"He finds that more frustrating than anything," Pickering said. "All the stuff that goes on about him he takes in his stride, but it homes in a little bit when his grandma or his mum get upset. I understand that. No one wants to pick up a paper and read negative things about their boy, and a lot of factually incorrect stuff as well."
Pickering didn't say it, but clearly he was a talking about a report written by Caroline Wilson in The Age last November.
Some at Collingwood - but not all - think Wilson has a vendetta against Swan.
In the report, Wilson called for Swan to be sacked by the club, arguing his bad behaviour had a terrible influence on younger teammates.
One small sentence said Swan had got into a "nasty fight", which supposedly took place in the Nursery car park on Emirates Day, the last day of the Spring Carnival.
The fact is Swan didn't get involved - it was one of Swan's mates and another man. A former AFL player who was a casual passserby can verify that.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says Swan gets a heavy media treatment because he's different.
"There's some in the media who haven't met anyone who doesn't live off Page 59 of the Melways," he said, referring to the page that incorporates the well-to-do inner-eastern suburbs.
"He's got that element of danger about him.
"He's from Broady, he's got tatts, he's got a sense of humor, he's his own man, he makes blues and he's sublime on the field.
"They probably think he's white trash from Broady. I'll tell you something, Swanny's a ripper. He's an old-timer, he's a Glasgow boy out of Broadmeadows in a lot of ways."
Dane Swan is a SuperCoach must. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun
It must be said, McGuire is a dufflecoat wearer. If any of his boys murdered someone, he'd probably argue it was a misunderstanding. But there's a warmth from McGuire to Swan, borne perhaps from their upbringing.
Both grew up in hardened Broadmeadows, both have climbed the pinnacle of their professions and both are at Collingwood.
The Swan name in Broady is legendary.
Swan is the son of VFA legend Billy Swan, and Billy's cousin is Roy Ramsay, who played for 126 games for North Melbourne from 1976-86.
"In Broady, Roy and Billy were superheroes," McGuire says. "Roy Ramsay's old man basically came out on the same boat as my dad, they were mates from 1958, and we lived two blocks from each other in Olsen Place, which is the Bronx of Broadmeadows.
"The Ramsays lived around the corner and Swanny's old man used to live near Upfield High, and Swanny's aunty taught me, she was my student teacher at school.
"You could say it's been a similar journey for us."
Consequently, McGuire throws a protective rug around Swan, although the rug was ripped off him at a robust meeting between McGuire, Swan and Pickering late last year.
Described recently by McGuire as "tough love", it centred on Swan's behaviour before the meeting descended into a slanging match between McGuire and Pickering.
"People think that if we're blueing or we pull him in (that we're fighting), but it's because we want to get him to the end of his journey in footy and we want him to be a Collingwood bloke forever," McGuire said.
The robustness between McGuire and Pickering continued when Swan appeared in an apparently unauthorised interview on Channel 9 in March, where, among other issues, Swan denied he had a drug problem.
The club was furious Swan did the interview and fined him $5000, fuelling the fire that Swan and the Magpies were the best of enemies.
Meanwhile, the public's fascination in Swan saw the The Footy Show secure close to one million viewers on the night.
That's the thing about Swan, he's watchable.
And he's normal.
The truth is, there are Dane Swans everywhere. Go for a walk down Sydney Rd, or visit Northland, or got a local footy game on a Saturday, or a bar on a Sunday afternoon, and there you'll find your Dane Swans. In some ways, his normalcy makes him a stand-out in the rigid and robotic world of the AFL.
The further truth is, most people don't give a brass razoo what Swan does in his own time, as long he plays good footy at the weekends.
Still, the appetite for everything Dane Swan is evident.
If Swan appears on superfooty.com.au in a story or in photo form, the reader interest is clearly definable.
Pickering agrees the normal bloke relates to Swan.
"There are no airs and graces, what you see and what you get," Pickering said. "He's not trying be someone he's not and that's the beauty of Dane Swan. He's only always been Dane Swan and you either like him, like most people do, or you don't. It's no skin off his nose if they don't like the fact he's got tattoos."
I asked a female friend for an opinion.
She said: "He's a bad boy with a wicked sparkle in his eyes. It's endearing. And he's not caught up with prettiness off the field. From his clothes to his words. He is who he is."
You only have to see his mates to know what sort of bloke he is. When people are that loyal to you, it's because you've got something special in you.
People who know Swan acknowledge he loves a good time, but point out that he's also fiercely loyal, reliable, funny, caring and giving.
True, he can run with the wolves, but he also can graze with the sheep.
He is part of - if not the leader of - the Collingwood brat pack, who think nothing of pulling an all-nighter at Eve nightclub or Tramp or a favorite haunt, the Barkly in St Kilda.
But he's also great mates with skipper Nick Maxwell, who likes to be in bed before 10.30pm.
Just recently Swan and his partner, Taylor Wilson, joined Maxwell and his wife Erin, and a couple of younger players and their partners, for a weekend at Rye, and they say Swan hanging with Maxwell's daughter two-year-old Milla was magical to watch.
Magpies coach Nathan Buckley talks with Dane Swan. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
So much for thinking Swan spends every weekend watching the sun come up. That said, it's not foreign to him.
In August last year, when Swan's behavior drove Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert to despair, as well as his teammates, Swan was suspended for two weeks by the club for arriving at training clearly affected by alcohol.
He had been at the Barkly the night before and kicked on at a private residence. Those at the Barkly claimed Swan was drinking water. Someone apparently in the know said the water bottle was sometimes filled with vodka.
The upshot was suspension, a loss of confidence and respect from teammates, who rightfully wanted to know why the bender was in the month before finals.
Swan was at fault, but perhaps the leadership at Collingwood was at fault, too, for Swan had been getting away with benders for some time.
Under Mick Malthouse, the "bad boys" were tolerated, and certainly weren't suspended. But where Malthouse was lenient, believing the knockabouts played an important role in team culture, new coach Nathan Buckley wasn't as flexible.
The club had suspended Sharrod Wellingham for two weeks earlier in the season for drinking, so when Swan mucked up, the same penalty applied.
Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan is Collingwood's SuperCoach superstar. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
Fast-forward to this pre-season and not a word of criticism can be heard from Swan.
His teammates have noticed a real change. Just little things, such as taking ice baths after training to help the body recover, and answering questions with depth in player meetings, and completing early morning swim sessions at the beach without the complaining. It's called buy-in.
"He is going really well," Maxwell said on SEN radio this week. "He is always casual and calm but this pre-season I have seen him really push himself to levels I haven't seen in the 11 years I have been here."
The belief is Swan has finally grasped the fact that all actions have consequences.
The relationship between Pert and Swan, however, remains strictly professional.
"I think Swanny gets me," McGuire said, "but he's got Perty from a different point of view and he would probably see Perty as petty hard at it. Perty is the boss. We all hate the headmaster until we realise the headmaster was the bloke who was keeping us from falling into the abyss.
"At footy clubs, we all play different. You can't have everybody being the easy touch. You know what, they'll sit down together in 10 years at a reunion and they all laugh at how much pain and suffering was caused and Swanny will say, 'Gee, I wish I knew at the time, I would've pulled my head in'."
Despite the problems last year, at no stage did the club consider trading Swan.
McGuire would never have ticked it off.
"You know my philosophy: how many chances do you get - as many as it takes. If Swanny wasn't a good bloke and a great contributor to the club, you would probably pull the pin. But he is a great contributor, he's got a lot to give and he's a giving bloke.
"You only have to see his mates to know what sort of bloke he is. When people are that loyal to you, it's because you've got something special in you.
"You know, what we've got to make sure is this is a game for working class boys and blokes from all parts of the community.
"To do that, you've got to take into account people that have different backgrounds, different philosophies ... it's a melting pot.
"I've seen Swanny develop and develop and develop, and yes things happen, there's a few spotfires here and there, but there's a lot more of Dane Swan to come, providing he makes sure it happens."
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