The Bairnsdale Advertiser writes that Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam.

The Bairnsdale Advertiser on 27 April 2012, published an article titled, Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam. The article looks at the 2012 ANZAC Friendship Match, the history of footy in Vietnam during the war and the Vietnam Swans today (the article also incorrectly mentions that the Swannies have won the last two Asian Champs when, in fact, it should have said the last two Indochina Cups.

A portion of the article is reproduced below.

With such a large contingent of Vietnam veterans residing in the area and given the region has its own Viet Vets retreat ‘Cockatoo Rise’, at Sarsfield, the story below will no doubt be of interest to one and all.

Most Vietnam Vets will be aware of the annual footy match that is played at Vung Tau, the base for the Australian Logistics during the Vietnam War, the coastal location also used as a rest and recuperation centre for our diggers serving at Nui Dat.

In its third year, the Aussie Rules competition is reputedly a fiercely fought contest between the Vietnam Swans and whichever Asian team takes up the challenge, this year (last Saturday) the home side victorious against the China Reds, a team consisting of players from the Shanghai Tigers and the Beijing Bombers, the teams part of the growing interest in Aussie rules in Asia.

The formation of the Vietnam Aussie rules game is an interesting tale in itself. One Pte John Heaney, a Nasho with the first Transport Platoon RAASC, was given two choices by the CO as a punishment for a misdemeanour. One was to organise a game of Aussie Rules, and the other was detention; no prizes for guessing which one he chose. From this, a full-scale competition was soon ongoing between the various Australian units and continued between 1967-1971.

Played on what was formerly known as the Lord Mayor’s Oval, now called the Vung Tau Greyhound Track, the beautiful sandhills of the Back Beach look very different today from how it was during the war. ‘Vungers’ as it is affectionately known is just a 90-minute ferry ride from the chaos of Saigon.

To read the rest of the article, click onto Aussie Rules rules the day in Vietnam.

To see and read other articles that have been published about the Vietnam Swans in Vietnam, Australia and other countries, click here.