The Horn’s marking and kicking in the forwarrd line will test the opposition. Photo, Mark Stennett Photography.

*** The Asian Champs Draw has been announced. Click here for full details. ***

***In celebration of Gus’ long awaited return, click here for a Gus look-a-like competition (previous post). ***

The Swannies Chief Sporting Columnist, Dave O’Shea, returns with Part II of his preview of the 2012 Asian Champs in Thailand. Specifically, he looks at the rucks and forwards. To read up on Pt I which covered the Swannies defenders and midfielders, click here.

Ruck

The Swannies have depth in the ruck with two big units. One from Saigon and one from Hanoi.

Edo the big Italian giant continues to improve in the game of Aussie Rules. He kicked a great goal against Cambodia and will be looking to kick plenty more at the champs.

Luke Miller has been a great find for the Swannies. He is a great tap ruck man and will be looking to hit his midfielders on the chest throughout the day.

Forwards

The Swannies will take away one of the best forward lines they have ever had. With tall, quick and skillful players this forward line should kick plenty of goals for the Swannies.

Best on Ground in the ANZAC clash, Ryan Revo will be looking to back up his performance. Revo will take some huge grabs throughout the day and hopefully kick a number of goals for the Swannies.

Mega Jotta is one of the Swannies most exciting players. He was spotted signing autographs in Singapore during the week for other famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe. As well as signing autographs in Singapore, he has also been working hard on the training paddock and has even been out to Binh Duong for a kick. Now we all know what he’s Binh Duong.

Phil Fabbo johns, the Vietnam President has been getting his ankle right for this big event. This veteran of the Swans is a dead eye dick in front of goals. He kicked one of the most remarkable goals for the Swannies in last year’s Indochina Cup final where he miraculously kicked the ball over his head from an impossible angle straight through the goals. What will this silver fox pull from his bag of tricks at the Champs?

Big Bad Bustlin’ Billy Crang is one of the Swannies most controversial players. Billy is a dual position player and will be used all over the ground. He will no doubt take some big grabs up forward and kick some important goals for the Swannies, just like what he did against the China Reds in the ANZAC match.

SOS is an aerial specialist. Photo, Mark Stennett Photography.

Hanoi President Dan Hopkins is another dual position player. Can be used forward or back and always gets the job done. Kicked a ripper goal against Cambodia three weekends ago and we be looking to kick a few more rippers at the champs.

Dave SOS is another player making the trip from Hanoi. Dave is renowned for his jumping and marking ability. Will provide a great target for the Swannies midfielders throughout the day.

Mr Powell is another veteran of the Swannies who will be looking to kick plenty of goals. Mr Powell can be used as a forward or as a ruck man and will be giving 100 percent all day.

Kev Hornblower is perhaps the Swannies most coveted Asian Footballer. A very important player for the Swans, Kev will be looking to set up play from the half forward line.

Nick Breheny will be on his first tour for the Swannies. He has been on fire in the Saigon scratch matches and will be looking to continue his good form at the Asian Champs.

Also making his first tour with the Swannies is Sean Milner. Sean has been battling injury this year and if fit will carve up at the Champs.

Mark Stennett has been in great form of late for the Swannies and kicked a miraculous against Cambodia a couple of weekends ago.

A previous Rick Trewavis Medal winner, Michael Johnston will be looking for another brilliant day of footy and will no doubt be in fine form at the after match function. MJ has been very excited on the e-mails during the week.

Damo Judd is another one of the Swannies dual position players. Damo has a long kick and can shut down his opposing number.

Trent Mears is one of the Swannies fittest players. Can get the job done defensively as a tagger and also offensively as a running midfielder.

Matt Natalotto is another one of the fittest Swannies. He has been flying in from Manila to attend Swanny training session. Matt led the team on an ANZAC Boot Camp at the start of the year and will use his fitness to run rings around the opposition.

Timmay Clements will parachute in from Hong Kong. The question on the lips of every Swannie, will he be sporting a new Dragon tatt??

Gus, who needs no last name, is back with the Swannies. He made his comeback match for the Saigon Reds last week and kicked a bag of six goals. After the match, he said that he would have kicked 10 but he didn’t want to disappoint the fans of the Saigon White team. What a nice guy. See below for the lookalike.

Injuries

Unfortunately for the Swannies, we will be without some key players due to injuries and also players being unable to attend for various reasons. All the Swannies will be doing their best and thanks to all your efforts at training, you have been a big part of the success of the Swannies.

Irish John is out with a broken hand, John Shoulders, with a knee; Phil Jordan with a gash to the forehead and Nick Shiells with an elbow. Good luck to those boys in the recovery process.