Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. I am sure like our playing group and our coaching staff, you are also filled with a mix of emotions.

I met with the players yesterday and I said to them what I say to you now. I’m not really sure how to get the balance right between the disappointment of Grand Final day, and giving a brief summary of our season. However, I will try my best.

I’ll start with the Grand Final, and I want to congratulate the Western Bulldogs, their entire club, and their supporters.  It has been a long wait for you all, and our supporters understand how you feel – 72 years was a long time for them.

So how do we assess ourselves?

Clearly extreme disappointment. Some might think that our players and coaches set our standards extremely high, and this isn’t always easy to live up to.  However, these standards aren’t actually demanded by either group – they’re demanded by the game itself and what it takes to compete at the pointy end, year in, and year out.

I feel for our supporters, especially the ones who made the trip at great expense. I feel for our staff, and I most of all, I feel for our players.

Unfortunately, we don’t get the game back.

I would like to extend a thank you to our retiring players.

Tom Derickx: your contribution to the club on and off the field has been greatly appreciated.

And Ben McGynn – tough and fearless. A real energy giver at your best.

And finally Teddy Richards. The epitome of a quality clubman who gave everything on and off the field. More will be said later in the night.

During last years B & F speech – I spoke of two themes that were our aims for 2016:

1. Consistency of performance

2. Play a competitive brand of finals-type football, whilst blending in the next generation of Swans players.

It’s hard to argue this wasn’t achieved. Seventeen wins, five defeats with three of those games by less than a goal.

All without names like Jetta, Bird, Pyke, Shaw and some bloke named Goodes. These names were replaced by others you may or may not have heard of, but were all very important in the roles they played.

And they all have their own “stories” and tales of resilience:

You probably have heard of the bloke in the number 23 jumper. Having Lance back to his very best on and off the field has been fantastic to see.

This time last year Tom Papley was less worried about U turns on the football field, and more concerned about S bends when working as a plumber.

Sam Naismith, Xavier Richards and George Hewett’s immediate thoughts were how to break into the team and hold a spot. They probably never imagined that they would be standing together, arm in arm, listening to the National Anthem in a final, not once, not twice, but four times – including in front of 100,000 people at the MCG and more than four million people on TV.

Harry Marsh was delisted this time last year, yet kept his chin up and worked hard. He not only just got on with it, but dragged others with him. He helped them. Twelve months later he played at the MCG for the first time in his life – in a Preliminary Final in front of almost 80,000 people.

Then there’s Colin O’Riordan from Tipperary. As a true Irishman he might have even been having a Guinness on the other side of the world around this time last year. He’d certainly never even seen an AFL footy, yet alone played the game. A year later he’s made the NEAFL team of the year, and was a key leader of our younger brigade. A bright future awaits. Not to mention his side job – as a tour leader through central Australia.

And what about the player who has taught us all probably more than anyone else about the life lesson of resilience.

All the way from a Kenyan refugee camp, Aliir’s story is truly remarkable. His grin and genuine happiness after the siren of the Preliminary Final, despite being injured and likely not to play the next week, sums him up. We look forward to what’s ahead for him.

I’m hoping you all hear a lot more about those names through their performances.

Not to mention the names that didn’t play last Saturday – Sam Reid, Alex Johnson, and others that either haven’t or won’t look out of place in the red and white .. and on the big stage.

Thank you to Jarrad McVeigh, Kieren Jack, our leaders and senior core group of players. Your work rate at training, contributions in meetings, and consistent performances on game day set the example for others to follow.  Having five All Australians is just one small example of standards.

Thank you to the coaches. I feel very fortunate to have this group teaching, supporting and driving both the playing group and myself. You all simply make us better.

Thanks to our medical and conditioning group, IT team, welfare support, Gina, Vanessa, and every role – either full or part time.  Your professionalism, and setting and embracing new ideas has been fantastic. And your lack of ego means the players are always 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd on our list of priorities.

New benchmarks keep being set by everyone on Level 3, our media department, our Melbourne office and our recruiting team. High standards across the club keeps everyone striving to be the best we can.

Thank you to Andrew Pridham and the Board. You make all of our jobs across the club a bloody lot easier to do. All I’ve known is a strong and stable Board – and I don’t take this for granted.

And Andrew Ireland and Tom Harley continue to be the best at what they do – and that is plenty!

Not to mention all of our partners who we all appreciate greatly.

Finally, to our partners and supporters: nothing would have made us happier than standing here sharing the cup with you all tonight.

However, I hope you feel a bit like me. That the fog from the weekend’s disappointment is starting to clear. And you agree with the many messages that I’ve received over the past few days – and that’s a message that almost every player on our list has improved. And most importantly, it’s a message of pride in what they continue to achieve, and what they stand for.

Thanks for coming and have a good night.