Darren McRae sings, "On ANZAC Day".

A week after the bagpipes played at the Long Tan Cross for the first time since 1969, friend of the Vietnam Swans, Rod Campbell forwarded through a link to an amazing song, On ANZAC Day.

This moving song has been written by his friend, Darren McRae. Below is an excerpt:

Lest we forget now, those missing in action
Lest we forget now, at the going down of the sun
All for one to up the battalion
All alone we were wondering what we’ve done.

Chances we are still, holding back the tears
Chances we are still, drowning in our beers
Chances we are still, falling on deaf ears

All the time we go marching out one by one
And all alone we were wondering, what we’ve done
Remember us, on ANZAC Day
Remember us, on the field that you play.

To listen to the full song, click here.

‘ANZAC Cove’ 1919 by George Lambert (ART02839)

According to his website,

“Darren was involved in playing and coaching Australian Rules Football for over 30 years at regional, SANFL and AFL levels… (He was) a talent scout/forward scout at Woodville/West Torrens, North Adelaide, and under Dennis Pagan at both North Melbourne and Carlton. 

“As a singer-songwriter, Darren sang his song Grand Final (scroll through the list of songs and click “play”) at the 2008 SANFL Grand Final pre-match entertainment.“

Rod Campbell was travelling through Vietnam back in August 2008 when he bumped into Swannie, Travis Fennell in Hanoi.

Rod has extensive coaching experience in Australia working with coaching greats such as Denis Pagan (there’s that name again…). His father, Graham, was a former player and coach for Fitzroy. Rod gave those of us in Hanoi tips, insights and ideas into game strategies and training drills. Rod did it all again when he made it down to Saigon the following week.

A great bloke, indeed. (Click here and here for mentions in the Swannies’ Weekly Wraps from back in 2008.)

• The Swannies will hold an ANZAC Boot Camp in Vung Tau from 11-12 February 2012.
• The Swannies will host our 3rd Annual ANZAC Friendship Match against the China Reds in Vung Tau on Saturday 21 April 2012.

Congratulations to Damien Cupitt for his winning $851 bid!

It has now just ticked past 5pm on Monday 16 January 2012 which brings the auction for an amazing Corporate Golf Day at Montgomerie Links to a close.

Damien Cupitt has won the Golf Day with a bid of US851.

The money raised will be donated to Swim Vietnam and Swim Safe. Both organisations teach children and adults how to swim so that they can not only survive but thrive in Vietnam’s waterways and along her extensive coastline.

To further support swimming initiatives in Vietnam, Montgomerie Links and the Vietnam Swans are promoting the 2nd Annual Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day & Dinner on 17 March 2012. Last year, $25,000 was raised. This year, we hope to do even better.

If you would like to be a sponsor of the 2012 Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day, please email the Vietnam Swans for further details.

Thank you very much to Montgomerie Links, Danang for its very generous support of this cause – and well done to Damien Cupitt. You will have an absolutely fantastic time out there at Montgomerie Links, It’s an incredible golf course.

Saigon President, Sam Conroy, announces his new Committee for 2012.

Saigon President, Sam Conroy, announces details for the new Saigon Committee in 2012.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am excited to announce the Saigon Committee for 2012. We have what I think is a really strong Committee for Saigon and I am really looking forward to working with this highly skilled and motivated group.

Ross Munn,  Commonwealth Bank – Club Secretary

Ross’s Commonwealth Bank is a major sponsor of the Club and he has been heavily involved in all on and off field activities. Formalizing Ross’s involvement in the Club is important as he is a heavy contributor and I look forward to him being involved in helping lead the Club with his experience.

Chris Butler, Ernst & Young – Sponsor Manager

Chris has been a behind the scenes supporter of the Club since his arrival in Vietnam and with broad experience across all businesses, Chris will bring to the Committee the tools to ensure we capture the right sponsors and that sponsors are getting value for their involvement.

Left, Ross Munn, Secretary. Right, Kyle Hackenberg (and son, Johno), Memberships.

Kyle Hackenberg– Memberships

Kyle is a long term resident of Saigon and has played a big role for the Club on the field and now we look forward to Kyle taking on this key role. We will have expanded memberships this year for players and social members which will be announced at the Vung Tau Boot Camp training weekend on the 11^th and 12^th of February.

Jamie Rossall, Crown Relocations – Big Events Manager

Jamie has been involved with the Club through Crown Relocations’ sponsorship and as a supporter. He also has a good knowledge of how to get things done in Vietnam. Jamie will work primarily on the ANZAC Friendship Weekend and the Swannies’ AFL Grand Final Party in Saigon with the support of the members interested in being involved in delivering these key events for the Club.

Alex Polsen - will make sure we have all our gear in 2012.

Alex Polson,  Merchandise and Gear Manager

New to the Club last year, Alex has been champing at the bit to get involved and this role this year is a big one. We need to replace all gear this year with new sponsors and with memberships continuing to grow, it’s critical we get this right to ensure we have what we need on the field and look sharp off it.

Tim Clements, Strategic Marine – Tour Captain

Did a great job of this last year and as is always the case, let’s not fix what isn’t broken. With some big tours this year for Asian Champs and Clubs lining up to come and see what the Swans are all about, he will be busy and will no doubt need support from those members not on the Committee.

Luke Creamer, Kevin Hornblower, Philip Ghasseb, Nick Shiells  Heath Ellis and Damien Judd – Coaching Committee

Coaching committee has been the key to success for the Club  in recent past with training the difference for us on the field. With a mix of old and new faces, the coaching committee will continue to get us ready for the real reason we are here… footy.

With Rowan Luke (Treasurer), Ross McRae (Design) and Phil Johns (National President) already on the Committee for 2012, the above group will ensure that we continue the success on and off the field.

Congratulations to all for their appointments and I look forward to working with you all this year.

Iain Townsley (left) and Roy Gilmore play the bagpipes at the Long Tan Cross last weekend. This is believed to be the first time the pipes have been played at the Cross since 1969.

Last Saturday, 7 January 2012, there was a soft opening of the Worldwide Arms Museum in Vung Tau. The Museum, as reported in the Saigon Times on 9 January, covers 1,500 square meters and displays over 1,000 military uniforms and ancient weapons from the U.K, France, Turkey, Mongolia and China, and especially a 19th century sword collection from Vietnam’s Muong ethnic minority people.”

To mark the occasion, owner, Robert Taylor, flew out two pipers from Melbourne. The pipers, Iain Townsley (ex British SAS with 23 years experience) and Roy Gilmore played from the turrets of the castle-like museum.

2nd Warrant Officer and Vietnam Swan, Dan Kindness was in the party to cut the ribbon to officially open the Worldwide Arms Museum.

The pipers play at the opening of the Worldwide Arms Museum in Vung Tau last Saturday.

Officials from the Ministry of Culture in Hanoi were so impressed with the dignity of the event that they agreed to a request made on behalf of Iain and Roy to play at the Long Tan Cross the following day. The Long Tan Cross stands on the site of an horrific firefight in a rubber plantation between Australian and Viet Cong forces on 18 August 1966.

The Vietnamese Government has only allowed two foreign governments to erect memorials on its soil: the French (Dien Bien Phu) and the Australians (Long Tan). Permission to build the memorials was granted subject to visitors not wearing uniforms, medals, playing music or displaying national flags.

In a very significant gesture, on this occasion, not only did the Government officials generously allow the pipers to play several pieces of music, they also gave permission for them to wear their uniforms and medals.

It is believed to be the first time the bagpipes have been played at Long Tan since the Cross was raised on 18 August 1969; the third anniversary of the Battle. Photo: Australian War Memorial EKN/69/0081/VN.

From the roadway, the pipers played as they marched 100 metres towards the Cross. They continued playing at the Cross.

Swannie, Glenn Nolan who was in attendance, believes that this is the first time that pipes have been heard at Long Tan since the Cross was raised on the third anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1969.

“There wasn’t a dry eye”, said Glenn. “The hairs stood up on the back of everyone’s neck. It was moving to say the least.”

Related items

• Click here to listen to “On ANZAC Day” by Darren McRae heard a week after bagpipes were at Long Tan.
• The Vietnam Swans will play our 3rd Annual ANZAC Friendship Match in Vung Tau on 21 April 2012. We shall play the China Reds. There will be a battlefields tour, including the Long Tan Cross, for all interested people on 22 April. Click here for details.
• The ANZAC Dawn Service will be held at the Long Tan Cross on 25 April. This will be followed by a live telecast of the AFL’s ANZAC match between Collingwood and Essendon at Tommy’s Sports’ Bar, Vung Tau.
• Click the link to read Worldwide Arms Museum to propel ANZAC Friendship Match in Vung Tau.
• For photos of the Worldwide Arms Museum and its collection, click onto the Vietnam Swans Web Album.

Visual Arts Extravaganza - this weekend at the Boomarang, Saigon

Swannies in Saigon!

Are you wondering what to do this weekend without footy?

Given culture is no stranger to the Swannies, you may be very interested to know that there will be a Visual Arts Extravaganza this weekend at the Boomarang (tick, tick; it’s about to go off again at the Swannies’ home of the AFL Grand Final Party in Saigon). There will be art, dance, poetry, music – and photography.

Showing some photography, will be Saigon Unseen’s own Adam Martin. Click here to see some of his photography.

You may recall that Adam has taken some amazing photos for the Swannies at a number of our events. Have a look at Adam’s photos of our ANZAC Weekend last year (not sure Adam will be exhibiting any photos of the Swannies on the weekend which could be a big mistake…).

For full details of the entire Arty weekend, check out the side poster. Click to enlarge.

Asami, Richard and their new baby boy; "Mighty" playing in last October's match between the Scorns and Swapions.

The Vietnam Swans send our congratulations to Richard “Mighty” Quinn and his wife, Asami, on the birth of their first child, Alexander Ryuichi. He was born last Friday, 6 January, at 09:56am in the Kenritsu Tsukaguchi Hospital, near Osaka, Japan.

Alexander weighed in at 3,262 grams and is 49 centimetres tall.

Mighty reports that:

Alexander Ryuichi Quinn.

Asami and Alexander are both doing really well, and will return home on Sunday (15 January).

Alexander is going to be a tall kid and he has long fingers and big feet – I am defiantly going to have to get a Swans jersey for this little man and start him on the path to becoming an AFL superstar.

Please thank all the Swans for the support and emails full of best wishes. It means a lot to us.

I won’t be back in Vietnam until early February, but I will be raring to bust out some mighty moves on the footy field and bring the pain train to any fool who gets in the way. Toot toot!!

All the best from Osaka, Japan.

Sensational news for Mighty and Asami. And, on a side note, hopefully Alexander will be more like his Mum…

Go you increasing number of Swannies!

Dan Kindness, pictured left at last year's ANZAC Dawn Service, will leave Vietnam. Tonight he will have a farewell cyclo pub crawl like this one for the Swannies' 2008 AFL Grand Final Cyclo Parade in Hanoi.

As a footy club in Asia, the Vietnam Swans meet many – and say goodbye to many.

Tonight, the boys in Hanoi will put on a Cyclo Pub Crawl for Club Legend, Dan Kindness who will leave Vietnam with his family in another week.

Also cyclo-ing will be another key Swannie, Mr Haoie.

Hao, pictured here on a match banner from last year, will also dominate in his farewell cyclo pub crawl.

Dan’s influence and impact on the Club has been immense and enduring. Dan played a key role in establishing our ANZAC Friendship Match which is only in its third year. Dan played a pivotal role in establishing the tradition where visiting Royal Australian Navy ships play a game of footy against the Swannies. Dan organised the Thursday night fitness sessions at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi. But most importantly, Dan has just been there at our Club as a top bloke.

Tonight, the Club will put on a show for Dan and Hao in Hanoi. A Cyclo Pub Crawl – similar to our AFL Grand Final Cyclo Parades that we used to do in Hanoi. The details are as follows:

Start: Tonight, 1700-1730

Where: Bia Hoi – south side cnr Phung Hung and Bat Dan – Old Quarter, Hanoi

Cyclo Pub Crawl: Cyclo Bia Hoi crawl through the old quarter to make it to

Dinner: 1900

Where: Pilsner Urquell Bia Tuoi near Truc Bach Lake, 10 Nguyen Bieu, Ba Dinh

Come along if you can for a fantastic night with a fantastic couple who have done so much for our Club.

The Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day is starting with a seiismic splash. Bid now for the Corporate Golf Day Package for 20 at Montgomerie Links!

Montgomerie Links, Danang/Hoi An and the Vietnam Swans are auctioning a Corporate Golf Package that includes:

• Complimentary 18 hole Green Fees for 20 players
• $100 F&B Credit
• Free Driving Range balls before round.
• 12 month validity
• Conditions: Not Redeemable on weekends before 11am or on the Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day.
• Value: $2300.

Damien Cupitt has just placed a bid for USD851 (surpassing Paul Schwerdt’s $800 and the Vietnam Swans’ USD500). That’s just $40 per player! What an incredible bargain!

To place your bid, please email the Vietnam Swans at vietnamswans@gmail.com Bids close at 5pm* Vietnam time (GMT +7) on Monday 16 January. All money raised will be used to support swimming initiatives offered by Swim Vietnam and Swim Safe (Royal Life Saving Society of Australia) to reduce the number of child drownings in Vietnam.

* Please note, if the final bid received by the deadline is less than $50 higher than the previous bid, the previous bidder shall have the right to place a final, winning bid if it is at least $50 higher again. For example, if someone offers $1 extra at 4.59.59pm on Monday, the previous bidder can claim the prize if they offer an additional $50 plus the $1. In a different scenario, if a new bidder offers an additional $50 by the deadline, the prize is theirs.

• For further information, click onto Swing to Swim starts with a seismic splash.
• Danang/Hoi An is an ideal weekend retreat. Located on China Beach, one hour’s flight from Hanoi/Saigon with loads of accommodation options. Perfect for families, friends and children. A special side trip after the ANZAC Friendship Match (21 April) and ANZAC Dawn Service (25 April).
• To register your interest in sponsoring and/or playing in the Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day and Dinner on 17 March 2012, email the Vietnam Swans. Again, the Corporate Golf Day package is not redeemable at this event.

The Saigon Times reports on the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match.

The Saigon Times published an article yesterday on last weekend’s Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match. The article was titled, “Vietnamese beat Aussies at their own game” and was written by Michael Smith. It is reproduced below.

The Vietnam Swans bowed on Saturday to a visiting AFL team of mostly overseas-Vietnamese players from Melbourne.

Twenty members of the Southern Dragons flew from Melbourne to HCMC to play the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match at the RMIT fields and beat the Swans 11. 14. 80 to 5. 6. 36.

John Hong of the Southern Dragons said, “It was more about playing the game. It didn’t matter what the score was, but we came here to win.”

Hong said most of the team, which is mostly Vietnamese players, made the trip purely to play against the Swans.

He spoke for the rest of the team members when he said it was special to “tie links together” and play Aussies in Vietnam.

The Swans relished the opportunity to play the match-fit Southern Dragons, who won last year’s final in Melbourne’s Southern District Football League.

Swans’ player, Bill Crang, said, “It was good to be playing a team that take their footy pretty seriously.”

“They’re Asian but they put a lot of effort into their team, training, coaching, working on set plays etcetera and they are fit,” Crang said.

“On the field it has nothing to do with heritage. It was a very nice link to have the opposite setup, Vietnamese Asians living in Australia vs Australians living in Asia,” he said adding it was a great day.

The Dragons’ fitness and training shone through in the second half of the match when they really took control

Another visitor from Australia, Sydney Swans’ Fan Development Executive, Mickey Martin said he was very impressed by the standard of Asian football.

The inaugural game which was four or five years in the making marked the first time the Southern Dragons have visited Vietnam as a team to play football.

• To read the original article, click here.
• To see more photos of the match, click here for the Swannies’ Web Album.
• To see new photos taken by Keira, click here.
• To view other articles written about the Vietnam Swans, click here.

Trimphant Dragons on Saturday after winning the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match in Saigon.

The first 58 pho-tos of the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match played between the Swannies and Southern Dragons last weekend are now available.

The pho-tos can be viewed on line in the Swannies’ Web Album.

Special thanks to photographers Ross McRae, Melissa and Chloe.

Update: Additional action photos from the match, taken by Keira, can be viewed by clicking here.