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From the rookie list to premiership success, Brent Macaffer and Alan Toovey have called time on their football careers. The pair has shared many challenges and triumphs over the past decade and endeared themselves to Collingwood fans. Macaffer began his AFL career in a memorable way, securing his first senior game as a late inclusion on ANZAC Day in 2009 and kicking a goal with his first kick. Pick No. 26 in the 2007 Rookie Draft, Macaffer took his chances when they presented over the next 18 months and found himself a premiership player at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Two knee reconstructions in three years (2012 and 2014) halted the 28 year old's career but in between setbacks his reinvention as a tagger produced a break out year in 2013 where he was shutting down some of the game's most respected midfielders. Throughout his 77 games, Macaffer secured a premiership medallion, finished fifth in the club's 2014 best and fairest and was named in the club's five-man leadership group this year. Coach Nathan Buckley said Macaffer's career has thrown everything at him. "His growth as a person through it all has been significant. He played many roles in his time and gave everything he had to them," Buckley said. "Above all, his care and support for his teammates endeared them to him and he became a strong leader as a result." Toovey's football journey has spanned over a decade and includes 159 games for Collingwood. A fan favourite, the Collingwood army's affectionate chant of 'Toooovs' echoed around the MCG every time the defender ran off half back with the ball in hand. Selected at pick No. 2 in the 2006 Rookie Draft, the West Australian wasted little time making his mark, earning his senior debut in Round 3 the following year. Consistency and tenacity meant Toovey quickly became a vital cog in Collingwood's backline, continually shutting down some of the games' best small forwards. Toovey was a member of the 2010 premiership team and received the highly-regarded Darren Millane Award as best clubman in 2012 before a knee injury cruelled his 2013 season. Buckley described Toovey as reliable, dependable, selfless and an absolute competitor. "Alan achieved the ideal of being a great teammate from his first game and carried on for 11 seasons," Buckley said. "Tooves' contribution to his team was consistent effort and attitude and you knew he would just get the job done...every time." Macaffer and Toovey will play out the AFL and VFL seasons.
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COLLINGWOOD champion Dane Swan has announced his retirement after admitting he couldn't trust his injured foot to hold up into a sixteenth AFL season. The Magpies superstar confirmed the news in a letter to members shortly after 10.30am, with the club holding a media event to celebrate his career featuring Swan, president Eddie McGuire, former coach Mick Malthouse, coach Nathan Buckley and his father, Billy Swan. Swan said he came to the decision to retire "two or three weeks ago" despite his heart telling him to play on. In the end the superstar midfielder knew he couldn't go on after the horrific broken leg and foot he suffered in Round 1 this year. "Two or three weeks ago I thought it was probably time," he said. "I just couldn't trust my foot to go around anymore. "I was trying to fight the decision in my head. I've probably known for a while that I didn't think I could play but going down and watching the boys I'd like to get back out there. "I was probably trying to push that decision in my head. In my heart I wanted to go on but my head knew that I couldn't go on. "I spoke to Bucks a couple of times and he sort of said deep down you'll know. "It was right in my gut that I needed to go. "Thankfully I probably got the best out of myself. Did I look after myself as well as some of the others? "Probably not but I think I got the best out of my career and the best out of my life in these last 15 years. "I've been lucky I've had the best of both worlds — do what I want off the field and play some decent footy on it as well." Swan paid tribute to premiership teammate Ben Johnson, who he said helped him realise the hard work it takes to play AFL football. It's well documented the star midfielder was on the outs at Collingwood, with then-coach Malthouse giving him one more chance to continue his career. "There's no doubt without that I was gone. I had no idea how hard it was to be an AFL player. I can't thank them (Johnson and his mates) enough," he said. "They showed me and they forced me to work because they cared about me too as a person and thought I could play." Buckley lauded the star midfielder's work ethic despite his carefree persona and involvement in the well-publicised "ratpack" "There was raw talent, clearly but there was a particular off-season when he started training with 'Johnno' (Ben Johnson) and it was either going to go one way or the other," Buckley recalled. "He just decided ... he had a couple of really good mates to push each other along and it really was the impetus that started the success of that late 2000s and ultimately the flag (in 2010). "That was Swanny just deciding he wanted to make the most of this along with Johnno and a couple of others and they trained over the off-season and came back in really good shape and his game started building from there. "One thing that Swanny does do and really took from that was he wouldn't want to tell anyone that ... he worked as hard as he actually did throughout his career. He wouldn't want to give the impression he actually cared or tried. "But that's in fact what we saw internally and if he wasn't doing it out on the track he'd be building himself on the treadmill and doing his six 500s, which was his staple. "And doing it at a pace that no one else would be able to keep up with." McGuire said there's no doubt Swan has earned his place in the history of the football club alongside names including Gordon Coventry, Peter McKenna and Tony Shaw. "One of the greatest players in the history of the Collingwood Football Club," McGuire said. "He's the player of his generation." His father Billy, a gun footballer in his own right, paid tribute to the dedication of his son to his career. "It's a testament to Dane, he just improved every year," he said. Swan announced his retirement in a letter to members, declaring "the end has arrived" as he revealed the painful reality of the horrific broken leg and foot he suffered in the opening five minutes of the Round 1 clash against Sydney. "I once said that Collingwood couldn't get rid of me. I joked about being an indestructible pest, a cockroach, capable of surviving anything life or the game could throw at me," he said. "Playing football, for Collingwood, was fun and fun, as some of you may have gathered over the years, is a powerful motivation of mine," he said. "The truth, of course, is that I am not indestructible and with a surgically repaired foot that aches with every step, I have played my last game. The end has arrived." The Brownlow Medallist paid tribute to the football club he played his entire AFL career at, in an emotional thank you to the members and supporters that have followed his career. "But in retirement there is still something very true in what I said about staying at Collingwood," he said. "It is the place that, in football terms, I have called home for the last 15 years, somewhere I will always feel I belong. That I can return to. "In a way, I will never leave Collingwood because I know Collingwood will never leave me. "You should know that whatever I was able to give back, whatever my career amounted to, I will always owe Collingwood. "I wore the black and white stripes with pride, always feeling that you were equally proud top see me waddle out in number 36. We were good together." Swan played 258 games for Collingwood, with former coach Mick Malthouse expected to be among those to be present at his press conference and pay tribute to the Brownlow Medallist. Past players, current teammates and family will also be in attendance. Swan to is set to be compensated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the foot injury that has forced his exit. It's understood Swan will be eligible for a payout of about $400,000. The compensation clause, part of the AFL-AFL Players' Association collective bargaining agreement, allows players who suffer new career-ending injuries access to 50 per cent of their base salary in the last year of their contract. Players have to prove their retirement came from an injury that was not from a pre-existing condition, which Swan should have little trouble in doing. The Brownlow medallist broke three bones — including a fracture of his Lisfranc — in the opening minutes of Collingwood's Round 1 clash with Sydney. Swan, 32, was taken at pick No. 58 in the 2001 national draft and became one of Collingwood's most decorated and loved players. |
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Farewell Dane Swan, Alan Toovey and Brent Macaffer
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