Still on speeches and it seems Barry Hall is a demanding man. A shocked Hall, who arrived at the Guernsey Presentation believing he was handing out guernsies, only to be told he was being inducted into the Swans Hall of Fame, revealed on stage that he had tried to contact his partner twice on the way to the event, but she had failed to answer her phone. From there he simply assumed she was cheating on him and began making plans for a fun night out. Luckily for Hall, his partner was ready to surprise him on arrival at the function where he was told he was set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
There is always a smattering of Swans faithful at a training session, but rarely does a Hollywood A-lister drop by to monitor the work of John and the troops, like on Tuesday when Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara popped down to Lakeside Oval. There were many unhappy players who missed the chance to have their photo taken with the star, as they remained on the training track during the visit. Among the few to get a prized shot with Vergara was Tom Mitchell, who completed training early, dashed to his locker to retrieve his phone, before sprinting some 800 metres to catch the lady famed for her role as Gloria, which does a little to contradict his Instagram hashtag #askedmeforaphoto.
James ‘The Missle’ Magnussen may have some competition from an unlikely source ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016. Swans coach John Longmire laid down the gauntlet to Australia’s swim stars with a blistering win in a match-race over 25 metres at the team’s Coffs Harbour camp. ‘Seahorse’ easily accounted for Swans’ dietician Lorraine Cullen and now has his sights set on Olympic glory. Though slowing to a one-beat kick over the final five-metres, the man himself is confident he can put together a strong 50m and secure himself a relay spot.
Things are heating up in the kitchen at Swans HQ with the development group boys in throws of a serious My Kitchen Rules competition. SwansTV will bring you the final group’s attempt in the next few weeks, but no stone is being left unturned in the pursuit of the perfect score from judges Josh ‘Manu’ Francou and Nick ‘Activated Almonds’ Davis, along with Dennis Carroll and Jared Crouch. A group including Aliir Aliir, Harry Marsh and Lloyd Perris opted for candles, candles and more candles to woo the judges, while on Tuesday night, it was case of My Rig Rules, with Tim Membery and Tom Mitchell opting for a shirts-off policy in the kitchen.
Mike Pyke, who returns to action at Blacktown on Thursday evening, is planning another bumper season of Open Pyke for 2014. It seems only the biggest names in the game will suffice for the Canadian, who will be sitting down in front of the fireplace with one of the biggest in the next few days. Pyke is so confident in the success of the series, he is contemplating a head-to head ratings battle against Fox Footy’s own Open Mike. Stay tuned to SwansTV for more on Open Pyke’s big launch episode.
