Swans On Screen
HISTORY IN RED AND WHITE
2020 RFNL SEASON (CANCELLED)
Riverina Championships
Ganmain-GGM, Leeton-Whitton, Mangoplah-CUE, Osborne, Turvey Park, Wagga Tigers
Round 1-6 Semi-Finals Prel. Final Grand Final
COMINGS AND GOINGS FOR 2020
IN: Ryan Bullus (Waratah, NTFL), Riley Irvin (St George Dragons), Leigh Owen (Westmeadows).
OUT: Toby Blissett (Northern Jets), Jacob and Lucas Conlan (Albury Tigers), Jordan Crowe (Coleambally), Sam Foley (Barellan United), Jordan Iudica (Queanbeyan), Ben King, Reece Matheson (Barellan United), Sam Mcginn (Mangoplah-CUE), Ethan Murphy (Leeton United SC), Heath Northey (Randwick City Saints), Guy Orton (Coleambally), Jack Rowston (Banyule, Northern FNL), Theo and Thomas Valeri (Coleambally), Ben Watts (Coleambally); Will Griggs (Queanbeyan Tigers).
NO CASH, NO WORRIES - by Matt Malone
ONE of the Riverina's most accomplished footballers has declared he would play for nothing in a bid to get football underway this season.
Two-time Jim Quinn Medallist Guy Orton is on board with the proposed cuts to the salary cap this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orton threw his support behind AFL's nationwide salary cap reduction, announced last Friday, that is set to help clubs bear the brunt of coronavirus over the next two seasons.
Orton former coach of both Griffith and the Riverina League representative team drew plenty of attention when he joined Farrer League club Coleambally over the off-season as the Blues' prized signing. Orton threw his support behind any cuts to player payment this year.
"I'm definitely on board, if it's going to help out the clubs in anyway, I reckon it's a no brainer," Orton said. "You play for the enjoyment of it; the payment is just a bonus really. "That's how I look at it anyway. "
"If the season started up on Saturday and they said you're not going to get paid for the whole year, I'd rather be playing footy."
The AFL announced the salary cap for 2020 would be cut in half in the first instance, then a further pro rata reduction. It is likely to see the cap for both Riverina and Farrer Leagues slashed from $95,000 to $23,500 should a one-round half season go ahead.
Orton is on board with that. "If we don't do that now, our kids and later on might not be the same and they won't get the opportunities we got," he said. "It's just a bonus. For someone like me to say you get paid to play footy, and you've got a full-time job, it's pretty good.
I'd rather be playing football and not getting paid, then getting paid and the clubs are not doing too well."
Source - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday April 22, 2020.
STILL HOPE FOR SWANS' SUPPORTERS
SEASON 2020 we set sail and embark on the turbulent seas of “coronavirus” football. We may regard the future with some doubt, but not without hope and we shall do our best to carry on as requested by AFL Riverina management. You have all been wonderfully patient with us, and I’m sure that again you will understand the many difficulties which have to be overcome, not only by ourselves, but by our fellow clubs. We decided, without any hesitation, to support the League in the interest of the game and hopefully carry on in the coming season.
Do try and make it worthwhile. There is a great deal of time and hard work put in, and it is not always easy to raise a team, after many departures post 2019, so please give your encouragement, and if we receive a good hiding let us still enjoy ourselves and give the other club's a bit of credit for having a good side. COYS. Source - "The Man on the Fence" - Friday May 1, 2020.
GRIFFITH SWANS FOOTBALL NETBALL CLUB STATEMENT
THE committee has made the decision to withdraw from the Riverina Football & Netball Season for 2020. With recent COVID-19 events over the past few weeks changing the risk significantly and the club's responsibility to not only our players but the supporters, the players extended family groups and the wider community we felt it was no longer in the best interests of everyone to continue.
The huge area involved and the spread of player movement across the competition means that it became quite difficult to balance the risks. Big thanks to the coaches and their playing groups, the passion and commitment of everyone is what makes our club great.
And thanks to the AFL Riverina board and CMC who have done their best to provide a platform for competitions through uncharted territory. We look forward to continuing to provide some great social events that is a great element of being part of the Swans family.
The committee already has some great ideas to get everyone together so keep an eye out in coming weeks for the info! We will focus on also get stuck in to planning for the 2021 season along with helping get our South West Junior season and our Auskick and NetSetGo programs underway. Source - Griffith Swans FNC 13.17pm - Friday, July 10, 2020.
SWANS SIT OUT 2020 SEASON - by Peter Doherty
THE Riverina League has lost a second club for the year with Griffith Swans deciding on Friday afternoon not to participate.
They joined Narrandera in making their own call and informed AFL Riverina of their decision. "We'll withdraw from the competition as well," Griffith president Jeff Harris said. "Like most clubs, we're being heavily weighing up the risk versus reward balance.
For us, the risk - not for the playing group as much as the supporters and the wider community - got to the point where that is weighing heavily on everyone. "With that in mind, we think, it's best for everyone if we withdraw from senior footy and netball."
Harris said the Swans will leave the door open for the juniors at this stage. "Hopefully we can get a South West junior season up, and Auskick programs," he said. "They're obviously a little bit more geographically insular.
So, we can have a bit more confidence that they might be a viable prospect."
The Swans had players in the border regions, including Jacob and Lucas Conlan, who'd gone to test themselves in the Ovens and Murray but were going to come back to the Swans. The rules restricting travel out of Albury made that another factor to consider.
"We were happy to provide them somewhere to play footy until that obviously became a big question mark over the last week.
It's unfortunate guys like that - the two Conlans, Isaac Campbell, Jack Rowston - had gone away to play higher level and haven't had that opportunity," Harris said. "Where it made sense, we would have been happy to welcome them back into the club."
Harris said they didn't want to spend the weekend in limbo and the rapid development of this week had changed their mind.
"With the season just around the corner, we thought it was appropriate.
We met during the week to come up with the club perspective and wait and see what the AFL Riverina board was doing but at the end of the day, it's an opportunity to get on with it and provide some clarity for everyone," Harris said.
Like his Narrandera counterpart Mark Savage, Harris thanks the AFL Riverina board for their tireless efforts in trying to give clubs a competition to play in. The Swans say they'll work hard to keep their community together and prepare for next season.
We'll go into some planning for next year but also look at ways of keeping our playing group involved in the footy club, looking at events and getting together and what we can do, getting the boys and netballers together," Harris said.
Source - The Area News - Monday July 13, 2020.
COMING TO GRIPS WITH WINTER OF NO FOOTY - by Peter Doherty
SATURDAY might carry a slightly unsettling feeling for more than a few footballers around the region as a competition starts, but only for some. Coolamon co-coach Jamie Maddox has never missed a season and here he is, not injured, not retired, but not playing for the first time in as long as he can remember. "It'll be a bit weird I suppose. It's been a long time since not having to play footy in the winter months.
So, it will be a strange feeling seeing them run around, for sure," Maddox said. "We're selling our house, so I'll doing a bits and pieces around home. I won't be going to watch any footy. I'll just spend some time with the kids and the family."
Coolamon were among the final Riverina League and Farrer League clubs to withdraw. The Hoppers wanted a mandatory exclusion of non-Riverina players and coaches from the AFL Riverina Championships.
Maddox said the stop-start year had been frustrating, but the playing group had then enjoyed getting to training for a few weeks. "Things in the end just didn't turn out how we thought so it was a bit disappointing how it all ended up but in terms of the club and the community, the decision we have made has been well supported and well-received," Maddox said.
Maddox is a two-time premiership player, former representative captain and a Jim Quinn Medalists, sharing the honour in 2012 with Guy Orton and Chris Gordon.
Orton won the Riverina League best and fairest twice in his time but had switched to Farrer League club Coleambally for this season.
He recalls having one year off between junior and senior footy, but he made up his mind later by playing in Darwin and playing six seasons back-to-back over three years.
The former Griffith and Riverina League rep coach field some interest once the Blues opted out.
But this window of excitement had shut. "I'm enjoying my weekends at the moment, with work being busy and we're doing house renovations. And I'm spending more time with the girls. It's been quite enjoyable," Orton said.
"When it comes around next year, I'll be keen to go but to start halfway through, or now, it'd be pretty hard to do I reckon."
But Orton feels for younger players and acknowledges he'd have been 'shattered' if it happened early in his career.
He understands the excitement around clubs like Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong who have maintained that if the government advice allows sport, they want in. For them, today feels like Christmas in July.
"It's exciting, the fact that we can just play," GGGM coach Christin Macri said. "Yes, we've benefited from some boys coming back and that sort of stuff, but we just wanted to play. "These boys want to play footy - they're the ones who have done the work - and we just said we'll keep pushing along until we know otherwise. I'm just glad we're playing for them even if it's just six weeks and a couple of weeks for finals.
Source - Weekend Advertiser, Saturday July 25, 2020.
TIME TO GO HOME - by Peter Doherty
WILL Griggs who steered Griffith to two grand final appearances in his two seasons as coach, has called time on his stint at the Swans. After five seasons at the club, including two as an assistant coach, Griggs has committed to play at Queanbeyan Tigers again next year.
He won a premiership back at his home club this season, travelling from Griffith to play in the AFL Canberra competition after the Swans withdrew from the AFL Riverina Championship.
"It wasn't an easy decision, but I think it's time to go back home and see the family and all my mates back there," Griggs said.
"It's been a good few years but it's time for the next chapter."
Griggs has been a key figure in the turnaround at the Swans since joining the club in 2015.
He was assistant to Adrian Pavese in 2016 and 2017 when the Swans returned as a finals force in the Riverina League.
He then looked like leading them to the promised land, but a premiership ultimately proved elusive.
Despite an impressive record of 31 wins in 38 games as coach, there grand final losses to Collingullie-Glenfield Park and Wagga Tigers in 2018 and 2019. He says "they did keep me awake for a few weeks afterwards" but this year's success helped him come to terms with the disappointment personally.
Before Griffith, Griggs had only played with Queanbeyan. He leaves grateful for his time at a club that broadened his horizons and gave him an opportunity to coach. "I knew I wanted to get into coaching at some stage but didn't know that it would be that early in my career, which I really enjoyed," Griggs said.
"It was challenges like that that were tough at times but also rewarding, seeing how the boys developed over the years.
"And to have some success getting into two grand finals in a row. Unfortunately, we didn't win them, but they gained some experience.
The boys really took everything on board, so it was a credit to them and a credit to the club for having faith in myself to do the job. I can't thank them enough.
Griggs played 89 games in the red and white, emerging as one of the top players in the league in recent years, whether influencing the game across half-back or going through the middle.
He was honoured to represent the Riverina League multiple times, including as captain against AFL Canberra in 2019, in what might be the last representative fixture for a while.
Griggs isn't planning to move from Griffith for another few months yet and, with the Swans seeking his successor, he said he'll be more than happy to help out with the pre-season.
However, he's about ready to retire from coaching. "I think I'm going to take a step back on the coaching (at Queanbeyan) and just enjoy my footy for the last few years," he said. "It's pretty taxing being a coach and they've got some great coaches (Pavese and Kade Klemke).
I think I'll just sit back and try to help out where I can." Source - The Area News, Monday November 9, 2020.