What a weekend of footy!

The 2019 Crown Cup

Crown Relocations have supported both the Vietnam Swans and the Malaysian Warriors for quite some time. The Crown Cup was launched last year as a new perpetual trophy, ensuring a regular contest and bragging rights between the two clubs. The 2018 clash was very close but it was Malaysia who walked away victorious in Penang.

Of course, we were very happy to kick off our 2019 season with a double-headed fixture against the Warriors and the Warrior Women.

The Lady Swans vs. Malaysian Warrior Women

A tough game against the Warrior Women is to be expected. After the men’s 2018 Crown Cup game ended in a draw in Penang, the Warrior Women got the better of the Lady Swans to clinch the Cup. They’re very competitive and even with a ‘home field’ advantage, the result could go either way.

Australian Consul-General to Vietnam, Julianne Conwey, joins the Swans and Warriors for the 2019 Crown Cup. 

The first quarter got underway with free-flowing play, the Lady Swans edging out to a handy five point advantage. As the players head into the second season of AFL Asia’s #AFLW league, steady improvements to key footy skills were immediately obvious. Stronger marks, longer kicks and higher scorelines are the natural result.

Malaysia fought back strongly in the second quarter, adding three goals to a single point for the Lady Swans. The Lady Swans made a few changes at the half time break to get back into gear. The shifts paid dividends, as the Lady Swans piled on three goals five to a single point, taking a four point lead into the final term. The game was up from grabs.

The fourth quarter delivered the clash we were expecting. With the scorelines evenly balanced, the Lady Swans had the momentum. Everyone was giving 100%. Second and third efforts, hard chasing for the ball. No-one let up, even though it wasn’t getting any easier in the Saigonese heat.

The Lady Swans kicked the only goal of the quarter to run out winners by 11 points, in a competitive, high intensity game.

The mother-daughter combination of Katie (#28) and Ella Walsh (#25) was a revelation. Katie brings a world of footy knowledge, and Ella’s got some unbelievable skill and fitness. They’ll be a team to be reckoned with in the future.

We’d talked about the role of the New Zealanders in our match preview, and they didn’t disappoint. Beth is one of the latest recruits to the Swans and she was vital to the mid-field structure. Luzette kicked a couple of important goals to get the Swans back into the contest.

Everyone was smiling as they walked off the field yesterday and those good vibes continued into the function at Jaspas Thao Dien. It was great to have everyone there, after a very successful and great day of footy.

The bond between these two relatively new #AFLW teams has grown over the past year. As the teams arrived at RMIT and warmed up, it’s great to see some familiar faces from the Champs last year and some good friendships being formed.

Thanks to the Warrior Women for making the journey over to Saigon and we look forward to the 2020 edition of the Crown Cup.

Score

Vietnam Lady Swans 7-9-51

Malaysian Warrior Women 6-4-40

The Vietnam Swans vs. Malaysian Warriors

With a narrow win by the Ladies of only 11 points, the Crown Cup remained up for grabs. Malaysia only needed victory by 2 goals in the mens game to keep the Cup. And only a few weeks earlier, the Warriors had fielded a rampant Masters team in Phuket, clinching the tournament undefeated in the searing Thai heat.

The Swans have been resurgent since Rod ‘Rocket’ White took on the coaching role last year. Eric Kerrison and Jake Norris have been stirring up the Hanoians to record numbers, and the Swans now have a large playing squad available for selection.

We’ve also been a little lucky with the arrival of some talented youngsters to round out the ranks of our ‘more experienced’ players. With this depth, the Swans have been working on a few things in recent weeks.

It showed immediately on Saturday, with the Swans seizing the initiative early and never looking back. The second quarter will probably stand as one of our season highlights for 2019: we piled on 8 goals in quick succession. Nonetheless, Warriors stalwarts Digger, Hughesy, BJ and captain Rilo kept working hard to stem the tide for the third and fourth quarters.

There is a good spirit between the men of the Warriors and the Swans. All Clubs have toured with a small squad or key omissions at some point: who could forget the Swan’s infamous tours to Indonesia in 2014, the Malaysia tour of 2015, or the shellacking that Cambodia gave us in 2017?

With that in mind, we’d like to thank all the players who put their hand up to help the Warriors out, including JR, Max, Tristan, Big Vinh and Cooper. There was no quarter given by these guys! Touring in Asia always has its challenges and being prepared to throw on the opposition’s playing jumper really helps out the whole AFL Asia league.

For us, the day turned into a battle between two of our key forwards. Oscar Silk aka the Grouch has taken on a leadership role this year, being voted in by the players. Thomas Niit aka Niity has also really stepped up this year too, helping off-field with the merchandise and dominating on the field too. For the record, Oscar ended up with seven goals to Niity’s six (and four behinds).

We look forward to seeing these two continue their early form throughout the season.

Well done to the debutants for the Swans: the youth of the RMIT lads really helped in the midfield. The boys also took a starring role in the evening’s boat race, Josh Pike steering us to victory.

Thanks to the Warriors for making the trip over. Even with the late withdrawal of a couple of key midfielders (including Eggsy, Phuket’s Player of the Tournament), they put on a good show and we know they will return the favour when we next visit Malaysia.

Scores

Vietnam Swans 19-17-131

Malaysian Warriors 7-4-46

The Final Tally for the 2019 Crown Cup

Vietnam wins the 2019 Crown Cup! Vietnam 182 – 86.

Thanks to Jamie and the team at Crown for supporting footy in Asia, helping us to cover costs that we incur for venues and touring.

Crown Relocations are specialists in moving individuals, families and employees all around the world. With over 200 locations across more than 50 countries, Crown can support you to move domestically and internationally. Services cover relocation, storage, immigration, settling in and more. Crown can even help with pets, or searching for schools in your new destination!

Thanks to All Those Who Made the Crown Cup a Success

We were very happy to have the coin toss conducted by Australia’s new Consul-General to Vietnam, Julianne Cowley. Thanks Julianne for making yourself available on the weekend. We appreciated Julianne appearing in Swans colours… only to find out that Julianne is an Essendon Bombers supporter from way back! We wish you all the best for your appointment in HCMC.

A big thanks to the organisers (Chia, Nitty and Naomi) and all the volunteers on the day, including the umpires (Tom Sullivan, Nathan Milner and Rod White, plus all the boundary umpires and goal umpires). Thanks to everyone who took photos, especially Rebecca Kidley!

Special mention to Thomas Niit, slickest food stall the Swans have ever seen.

Whats Next?

Next up is the ANZAC Friendship Match on April 20 in Vung Tau. This is a highlight of the season.

And we’ll meet the Malaysian Warriors again at the Asian Championships in Thailand in August! Look forward to it!