Dane Swan delivered a classic speech after being inducted to the AFL Hall of Fame, admitting he thought the initial phone call from the league was bad news.
The premiership-winning Collingwood legend officially received the honour on Tuesday night after a stellar career that saw him kick 211 goals in 258 appearances. He won the Brownlow Medal in 2011 and was a superstar in the Magpies’ 2010
Swan was one of six new inductees, joining Chris McDermott, Ralph Robertson, Kelvin Templeton, Ray Schofield and Michael Graham in the prestigious group, while Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall was elevated to legend status.
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After being brought up onto the stage, Swan was quizzed on the initial phone call from chairman Richard Goyder and reflected on some of his prior dealings with the AFL.
“They haven’t always been great,” he said.
“I shit myself to be honest. A number I didn’t know called and I don’t answer numbers I don’t know because they’re not usually good news. He text me saying ‘I’m Richard Goyder from the AFL’ and I thought, what have I done?
“I called him back and obviously this was it. It was the nicest call I’ve ever had from the AFL, that’s for sure.”
Swan had a rollercoaster career on and off the field with the Magpies, beginning with his arrest in 2003 for a brawl with a security guard.
The club came close to sacking him over the incident, but opted to stick solid and Swan repaid the Pies by leading them to a flag in 2010 and stamping himself as one of the best players in the league.
He admitted that initial off-field indiscretion was the catalyst for him to change his ways and take football more seriously, despite a number of minor slip-ups down the road.
“Yeah when I got arrested … that was fun,” Swan said.
“I thought playing AFL was all about getting drink cards on Saturday night. I’d give no effort, actually I’d give a lot of effort it was all on Saturday nights, but there was no effort during the day … I didn’t deserve to be on an AFL list.
“Obviously I got in a blue and got in trouble. I thought I was going to be sacked. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, it’s very cliché but it rang true for me. I wouldn’t say I got put on the right path – I was probably put on a righter path.
“Mick [Malthouse] saved it and two of the boys that are here today, Benny Johnson and Chris Tarrant, helped me train and show me the work ethic that was needed. Without any of those three there’s absolutely no chance that I would be up here accepting this.”
Swan retired in 2016 with three Copeland Trophy wins to his name at Collingwood.