Josh, presents the Richmond jumper signed by Alex ‘Alby’ Rance to Alby (and Dukesy) in front of a Swannies’ banner reported stolen some months ago.

Three weeks ago, former coach of the Swannies, Josh Little (the most connected man  in the AFL), emailed the Swans:

“As you know, Duksey and Pia have welcomed the arrival of little ‘Alby’.

“Alby just happens to be the nickname of Richmond defender, Alex Rance. Funny that.

“I have organised a baby sized Richmond jumper to be signed by Alex with a little note relating to Richmond and the Vietnam Swans. Me and Nat (sic…) will be presenting this to him in the next week or so.”

Well, the next week or so happened to be last night in Melbourne with a mega Swannies crowd that included Josh; former Skipper, Dukesy, Pia and Alby; Dani and Moggy Moger; Nat and Steph Payne and Kevin “Bloody” Hornblower, the perennial pest – ah, fly in (we meant to write).

Josh presented the jumper which read, “Dear Alex. Welcome to the Tigers and the Vietnam Swans nest. Alex Rance No. 18.”

This afternoon, Josh writes, “Nat and I organised the little Tigers jumper a couple of weeks earlier and Murray Rance (father of Alex) helped in getting it signed. Apparently there were many reasons why Duksey and Pia chose the name ‘Alby’ and one of the reasons (which I confirmed prior to the presentation) was because of the star defender from the Tigers.

“What a great setting to present the jumper in front of Duksey, Pia, Nat, Steph, Horn, Moggy, Dani and the Moger family. Also, Moggy brought back the farewell banner used at the large send off earlier this year.

“The jumper presentation was great and the only down side being that Pia is actually a Cats fan and they were yet to decide on a team for Alby…

“Moggy and Dani put on a great night with a barbecue, a light show and later some funny Swannies videos streamed off You Tube.”

A mega Swannies function in Melbourne last night for sure.

Go you Swannies!

Photos by Dani Moger (thank you!): to see more photos, click here.