Johnny Mac receives his “You can leave the country, but not the Club. Honk!” trophy yesterday at RMIT. Right, Johnny is pictured with Saigon President, Nick Shiells.

Yesterday, John MacFarlane flew into Saigon and his last Swannies’ training session as a resident of Vietnam.

While here, he collected his “You can leave the country, but not the Club. Honk!” trophy after training at RMIT University.

Last year, John said that he wanted the Swannies to book a table for the Auscham Ball and that he would buy two tickets.

Later he apologised saying that he would be unable to attend due to work commitments in Australia – but that he would still purchase his two tickets!

For what?

“For the Club to award to any Swannie that it sees fit”, he replied.

Well why don’t you nominate the criteria and award the tickets yourself, Johnny?

“OK. I will award the tickets to the player who plays with the Heart of a Swannie.”

And a new tradition was born. John had just created an award to recognise the player who plays above himself. While that player may not be in the top three players for the fairest and best – he has still played the game of his life.

This year, we have formalised the Heart of a Swannie so that for each international game, there is a dedicated vote for that particular award. The 2013 Heart of a Swannie will be announced on the same night as the Best & Fairest at the end of the year.

John’s contributions on the field (how good was it to see John get his jumper in the 2013 ANZAC Friendship Match??) and off the field has been outstanding. He has actively encouraged the culture of the Club to be as inclusive as it is. John MacFarlane has been a big part of the glue that holds it all together.

All the Swannies thank John and we wish him well as he heads off to China to begin the next chapter of his career and life.

Go you Swannies!