Well, nearly 17 years later, Swanny was invited to another prestigious AFL event … he just didn’t read the fine print on the invitation.
Remembering all those Brownlow counts, Swan decided to book himself – and many of the 35 guests he brought to the event – some rooms at Crown Towers, thinking that the hall of fame dinner would be at Palladium.
Check in to the hotel, settle in, get ready and get the lift down to the event.
Well, that was the idea, anyway.
Luckily, someone told him the day before that the event was, in fact, at one of Melbourne’s new function spaces, Centrepiece at Melbourne Park.
And we’re all glad for the friend who told him, otherwise we may not have been treated to one of the all-time great acceptance speeches.
Swan delivered some magnificent stories, including the time he was arrested at the end of his second season at the highest level.
“I thought playing AFL was all about getting drink cards on Saturday night. I’d give no effort, actually I’d give a lot of effort – it was all on Saturday nights – but there was no effort during the day,” he said.
The former Carlton star, who played in almost every position across his 202-game career after being selected with pick No.2 in the 2003 national draft, has a 16-year-old son, Cody, who is already turning the heads of recruiters ahead of potentially being drafted in 2026.
But after AFL football boss Laura Kane flagged this week that changes could be afoot in the father-son points system – as early as this year – clubs are privately concerned that one of the most romantic parts of our game could be eradicated.
Walker told this column it would be “ridiculous” to change the system.
“You spend your life playing for a football club. If the opportunity comes that you do have a high-performing son or daughter, then they (the AFL) shouldn’t be making that harder,” he said.
“I think it’s one of the most amazing parts of our game, so I don’t know why you’re trying to make that part of our game harder – it should be a real celebration.”
As a product of Richmond’s Next Generation Academy, Cody Walker will be able to choose between the Tigers or the Blues if and when he’s ready to make a decision.
It’s fair to say it’s not hard to see what his old man wants him to do.
“He’s very fortunate that he has the option,” Walker said.
“But at the end of the day, Cody was my oldest, he finished at West Preston in year 6, so (he) remembers absolutely everything about my days at Carlton. He’s become very close with Sam Walsh.
“I spent 13 years there and Cody was there for a lot of that time.
“Ultimately I would love to see him run around in the navy blue.”
We know that Harley Reid is hard to miss.
The long, blond locks of hair; his big, cheeky grin; and, of course, his signature “don’t argue” move that has him labelled already as the second coming of Dustin Martin.
It turns out Harley hasn’t been difficult to spot on the streets of Perth.
It hasn’t been the fact that he’s been driving around in an old, beaten-up Toyota HiLux ute that has been giving him away, either.
It’s more that he was one of the few people in the state driving around with Victorian number plates.
Well, that was never going to last long. Once word reached head office at Toyota in Australia, the wheels were put in motion, literally.
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Reid has been made an ambassador for Toyota, in Western Australia – something that only happens to a precious few.
We’re reliably informed that Reid’s old ute has been replaced by a brand-new, top-of-the-range HiLux GR Sport (worth more than $80,000).
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