The previous time Taber left for Australia, he missed the Asian Champs. Last Tuesday he returned again to Australia – but this time it was for good. And for the Swans, that’s for bad.

Footy clubs attract a lot of top people and a few of them make it to the top of the heap. DT made it to “De Top”.

Taber slipped very comfortably into the big shoes left behind by President Flyer Kainey – and quickly made them his own. Under Taber’s Presidency, we hosted two tours from the Thailand Tigers and one tour each from the Malaysian Warriors and the Jakarta Bintangs (where we scored our historic, inaugural victory). Apart from our on-field prowess, the Swans ability to host tournaments was described by some of the visitors as a regional benchmark (and we don’t listen to the others). We also toured to Thailand.

DT has tirelessly run the Auskick program out at the UN International School with Adam Baird. DT, combining with j.a.f.a., bought the young players their playing kit.

One of the reasons “Smooth” was so well respected (“Was he? When did that happen?”), was due to his incredibly inclusive nature. This tru blue bloke gave everyone a fair go. But having said that, he’d give anyone a fair ribbing to cut through any crap in the blink of an eye.

Part II following…