The Victorious Vietnam Swans
For a completely different perspective of the recent Linfox-Loscam Cup, please find below a write up from the Malaysian Warriors written by their Captain, (Richie) Benno. Given the report spends a fair bit of time talking about the Malaysian Warriors, the Vietnam Swans Blog has kindly brought some balance back to the discussion by attaching a photo of the Victorious Swans.
Fantastic weekend, Sarge, Benno and the rest of the Warriors.
MIGHTY WARRIORS !!!
One word describes the Malaysian Australian Rules Football Team that toured Vietnam last weekend; that is – MIGHTY!!!!
The reason I say this is because for the 16 tourers we had that made the journey, every single one put in a MIGHTY effort.
I can talk and talk about the game and how we tried hard here and put in an effort there, but that would be going into far too much detail when the score doesn’t represent the actual way the game was played. Look, to put it simple, we were outclassed by a superior team on the day. They were taller, faster, more of them and dare I say it….. more sober.
Phil the President of the Vietnam Swans was an admirable host on the Friday evening ensuring that all tourers were well hydrated for the game the following day. I believe mid-way through the evening our very own Chez decided he too would help hydrate the team, and then the Tiger girls rounded out the triple-teaming.
If that wasn’t enough, on the Saturday afternoon, we turn up to one of the most lovely grounds to play football on in Asia (RMIT University) – only to find out someone forgot to add drainage under the soil. The ground was a quagmire – a heavy downpour the previous evening left the ground in a flooded mess. However it was the same for both teams to play on.
After a short warm up, the game was on. We had the likes of “The Big Rooster” from Singapore making his first appearance for the Warriors in some years, Dave “Cheesy” Matthews in the starting line-up as the only Virgin Warriors tourer, Chez making his rare (thank god) appearance for the Warriors, The President Glen “can’t believe I’m f*cking here Sarge” Sargeant lining up for us in the middle, plus Special Guest, Greg “Yeah, I’ve got some work to do in Vietnam this weekend Cats” Catterall.
It was a fiery start from both teams with neither team making much headway in the sloppy, wet ground conditions. Although the Warriors had their chances in the first half with a few set shots at goal and the ball in the forward line on many occasions, we were unable to slot one thru for a major score.
At this point in time I think the effects of the previous evening may have begun to have a small effect on several players (yours truly). With Andy Lee copping one in the nose from the opposition and blood pouring, I noticed he took himself off. I therefore decided that’s the only way I’ll be getting off with limited reserves on the sidelines, so I threw my head into someone’s elbow which worked a treat. Blood from the mouth… YES, I was off. At quarter time we were down by a couple of goals.
Now I could do some serious coaching from the sidelines alongside our NZ Warrior, Rhys, who was faking Tennis Elbow…
To find out what happened in the remainder of the match and the weekend, click on the attached match-report-warriors-v-vietnam-25th-october-2008.
