Vietnam Swans National President, Phil “Fabbo” Johns, emailed this Swannies update (see below) to the party faithful last week.

Dear Swannies and Supporters

The AFL Grand Final Wrap

The 2009 AFL Grand Final went off with a bang all over Vietnam.

• In Hanoi, the Vietnam Swans Grand Final Party at JASPAS attracted a crowd of 150. JAFA, located in Ciputra, also reported strong numbers.
• In little ol’ Hue, Micky Francis’ Backpackers Hostel had 40 attend.
• Still to get numbers for Hoi An.
• In Nha Trang, 80 were reported at one pub.

• In Saigon, the Saigon Saints who have retired from active football duties, hosted their 11th, very impressive, Grand Final Brunch at the Sheraton. Just two years ago, the Saigon Saints had 300 attend. Now they have 400. Last year, the Vietnam Swans had 150 attend our inaugural Grand Final Party in Saigon. This year it increased by another 30 per cent to 200. So, in the last two years, the number attending an organised Grand Final Party in Saigon has actually doubled, increasing from 300 to 600 people. This fantastic growth now puts Saigon in a similar league to the likes of Singapore and Jakarta.

The Vietnam Swans 2010 AFL Grand Final Party in Saigon

These are impressive figures. Across Vietnam, volunteers are creating events around the AFL Grand Final – which is pulling in crowds. With a marketing spin, this natural energy and momentum created by an army of volunteers could be leveraged to promote “Australia” which, in turn, would indirectly help promote our respective Grand Final events.

In Saigon, the Australian Chamber of Commerce hosts the hugely successful Auscham Ball, coincidentally, on the AFL’s Preliminary Final weekend which is of course, the week before the Grand Final. These two events, the Auscham Ball and the Grand Final parties could become the unofficial bookends of an “Australia Week”. If other organisations with an Australian link ran their own promotions in that week; eg a wine shop flys in an Australian wine maker during “Australia Week” to promote their wines; a restaurant flys in an Australian Chef or just has a special promotion on Australian dishes; RMIT flys in an Australian guest lecturer who also gives a public lecture etc etc, all of them could “piggy back” the Australian momentum in that week… Through forward planning (eg don’t have the winemaker come out in August; have him come out in “Australia Week”), marketing expenditure should remain constant but the benefits could be multiplied. That would be great for those of us hosting Grand Final events and would be great for those interested in promoting their sales/PR of Australian products and services. Potentially, all very good…

Meanwhile, back to the Vietnam Swans Grand Final Parties, the Vietnam Swans, again, would like to thank our very generous sponsors who are listed on our Grand Final Party page.

HMAS DARWIN

Just three days after the AFL Grand Final, the Vietnam Swans were back playing footy in Saigon – this time, the Australian naval ship, HMAS DARWIN. Just as when we played the HMAS ANZAC a year earlier, it was a fantastic day and evening. As a bonus, we even managed our second win against the navy.

The match was played in great spirit and the teams/crews mixed exceptionally well afterwards. This mixing has become a signature of the Vietnam Swans with visiting teams. The following evening, half a dozen Vietnam Swans were invited to attend a cocktail party aboard the DARWIN. Drinks followed in the officers’ mess. We had a fantastic time – and judging by an email received from the DARWIN’s Arron “Catter” (who was our point of contact on the ship) a couple of days ago, so did they:

“It is ports like Saigon that make it all worthwhile. The game of footy was great but the highlight for me was when the two teams went out for the after match function. It is rare you get all ranks in the one area where everyone is having a genuinely great time. The Captain of the Ship had a ball. The cocktail party (the following night) was also great fun.”

In addition, the DARWIN left behind a spent shell, from one of their “big guns”, that has been engraved with, the “Phoenix Perpetual Trophy” (the phoenix is on the DARWIN’s crest). The Vietnam Swans will be the custodians of this trophy which will be played for every time the Navy visits Vietnam. The results of the first two matches have already been engraved on this trophy which is currently looking for a home where it can be displayed proudly. More to follow on this one.

For the Vietnam Swans, as a Club in its 6th year, developing a sense of history and tradition is extremely important – and this type of offering from the Navy (which is the master of tradition and symbolism) is absolute gold for us.

It’s a great reward for our players and supporters, current and past, who have so enthusiastically embraced the culture of always creating an event whenever a team visits. It’s a great culture and tradition that the Swannies have developed – and it is timely to recognise the massive contribution to our club culture made by some of the big names that have crafted and passed on the baton before us. The names include the likes of Micky Francis, Jarriod Dale, Dave Kainey, Daryl Taber, Scotty Stacey and a host of others.

Another thing about the Phoenix Trophy is that the Navy will now be actively seeking us out whenever they have a ship visiting Vietnam. That’s one more match and one more awwwwwwwwwwwwwesome event (that will be “awesome” spelt with 15 w’s).

Speeeecial thanks to RMIT University for giving us access to the footy field for the DARWIN match which would normally have been undergoing annual maintenance at that time.

Auskick in Hanoi

Spear headed by Willy in Hanoi, the Vietnam Swans have been running an Auskick program for more than a year at the Hanoi International School. The program is now attracting 20 students at each weekly session. In addition, next month, as part of the Australian Embassy’s Fun Australia campaign, three special Auskick days will be offered to students, aged 16-21, from 5 different schools in Hanoi.

Auscham, Big Day Out and the Swannies, Saigon

Auscham and the Vietnam Swans are currently in active discussion regarding a proposal to run an Auskick clinic and footy match as part of the Big Day Out festivities in Saigon on 30 January next year. Bring that on! Auscham’s BDO is a hugely successful event on Saigon’s social calendar attracting a massive crowd. To play in front of that crowd at RMIT will be ideal. Leverage… All good.

The Kainey Cup – call to arms

Dave Hadley bumps into Bruce McAvaney after the Navy Match in September.

On 31 October, we shall play for the Kainey Cup against the Jakarta Bintangs in Jakarta. This will be a “speeeeecial” match (speaking of “speeeecial”, see the photo to the side of Australian sports commentator, Bruce McAvaney (famous for his “speeecial” pronouncements) with Dave Hadley here in HCMC) for four important reasons:

The Kainey Cup is named in honour of Dave Kainey, now based in Singapore, who will be play fro the Swannies in that match

This will be the first time we have played Jakarta since we played the Craig Senger Tribute Match, in August, in honour of those who fell in the Jakarta bombings (Craig was also a Jakarta Bintang)

This will be Drew Franklin’s last match with the Vietnam Swans as a resident of Vietnam. Big Drew has been an outstanding coach and player since arriving in 2007. Also, off the field, at a critical time in the Club’s development, he secured two major cash sponsors, Linfox (still a sponsor) and Loscam (now replaced by Pest Free), for our new jumper. While players still buy their own jumper, we no longer need to rely on individuals to play the role of banker for the Club.

Kris Van der Meer, who played for the Swans in our first Asian Champs assault back in 2007 and now lives in Jakarta, will play for the Swannies in this match!

However, we still need more players for the trip so please contact Derrin, me or any of the other players for further details.

Dirt cheap – and direct flights from HCMC – are far more readily available than excuses… This will be the Swannies 25th not-to-be-missed event for 2009.

Stubby holder

The Vietnam Swans in Saigon are about to release a new stubby holder that is sponsored by Corsair Marine International (which builds 24ft, 28ft, 31ft and 37ft trimarans and 50ft catamarans in Saigon). The artwork has been finalised and a limited run is now in production (see attached artwork). The Vietnam Swans stubby holder is expected to make the ideal Christmas gift and drinking companion.

The Vietnam Swans Website

As always, for all the latest and freshest information on the Swannies, log onto www.thevietnamswans.com.

Last month, we recorded 6,753 hits, our highest yet.

The Sign Off

Honk yer horn if you love the footy!