Amazing scenes at Dead Cat Stadium, Hanoi, last Thursday night. The Hanoi chapter started flying for the round ball! They decided to join forces with the Irish contingent of Gaelic Footballers who are preparing for their own international tournament in Singapore next weekend. Perhaps feeling a bit defensive, Daryl Taber was very quick to point out that there were some high potential AFLers amongst that lot.

For this scribe currently based in Saigon, I was stunned to see the “lost” Clint Lambert’s name reappear on some email lists. I was thinking his reappearance might suggest he was a closet Gaelic Footballer. However, rumours have started surfacing this week, in the chase for sponsorship support, that previous President Taber may have banished him from the club after he obscured sponsors’ logos (Jaspas and Red Apron) in a footy match way back in March of last year! That’s how seriously the Swans treat their sponsors.

Cambodia and our Elephant Friends in Laos had their training session on Thursday as well – but still, no photographic proof. Despite all the modern technology, those of us in the Swans Control Room are still relying on hope. 

On Saturday in Melbourne, 4 managed to get to Princes Park for a training session with Max Sharples and contrary to earlier rushed reports, Max was the one to bring the footy.  Apologies to Bar Fly and Tommy for inadvertently not getting your names on the original email.

Also on Saturday, Dead Cat came back to life with the Magnificent Sherrin. 7 tried out in a scratch match. Growds and Trav performed particularly strongly.

In the deep south, Saigon’s training was delayed until Sunday evening at Parkland (due to the RMIT pitch being under repair). 12 of us turned up – but without our Super Savvy Coach,  Scotty, who is in Malaysia. We welcomed Peter Grave for his first ever session. Other highlights included the return of Kris, Johnny, Euan and Pago who replaced his normal Sunday session with training.

The lights came on at 6.45 and they were just bright enough to make it glary when you looked at them.  

In Sydney, Singapore and Canberra, the line has gone quiet…