In Jim Main's series, 'Swan Songs', on great players from the past, this week he talks to recent Swans Hall of Fame inductee, Tony Morwood...
Tony Morwood
Born: May 17, 1960
Played: 1978-89
Games: 229
Goals: 397
The boot was on the other foot for the Swans’ Melbourne manager Tony Morwood at the recent Hall of Fame dinner at Sydney’s Convention Centre.
At the inauguration of the club’s Hall of Fame in 2009, Morwood knew in advance of all those who were about to be inducted. He had been one of the driving forces behind the hugely successful function and was privy to the invitations issued to those whose names were to be etched in gold.
But this was not the case with the second Hall of Fame function. Morwood knew he had been nominated but, to use his own expression “was in total shock” when told he was about to be inducted.
He said: “I had always thought that being named in the Swans’ Team of the Century was the greatest honour imaginable, but being inducted into the Hall of fame was just as big.
“I was doubly thrilled because I knew that the key words for induction were ‘credibility, input and integrity’. It therefore was a massive honour to have my name up there with all the club greats.”
Morwood, as the club’s Melbourne manager, was always going to attend the Hall of Fame dinner, but only started to twig that he might be inducted because wife Karen, son Sam and daughter Polly also had been invited.
“Everyone close to me kept things about my pending induction to themselves and they did a good job in not letting anything slip,” Morwood said.
The only family member who did not attend the function was son Jack, who had moved to Canada to play Australian football.
Morwood explained: “I have had a strong relationship with Canadian football people for many years as the Swans have a formal link with them.
“I also have a strong personal link with former Canadian national coach Greg Everett, who went there from Melbourne 17 years ago. He told Jack that if he ever went to Canada, he would help him find a job.
“Jack, a carpenter, took up the offer when another Melbourne man named Mario, who also had been living in Canada for years, offered him a job with his building company. Jack, who is a passionate Swan, now lives in Toronto and plays with the Kangaroos club there.”
Morwood, as most Swan fans know, was one of three siblings to wear the red and white. However, elder brother Paul also played with St Kilda and Collingwood while younger brother Shane played in Collingwood’s 1990 premiership side.
While Paul and Shane elected to switch clubs after the Swans relocated from South Melbourne to Sydney, Tony was more than happy to make the move to the harbour city and became one of the finest half-forwards to have played for the club.
From suburban zone club Noble Park, he was a superb aerialist and so agile at ground level that he was regarded as one of the most dangerous forwards of his football era.
Morwood was just 29 years of age when he retired in 1989 and, after a year out of football, joined former Swan teammate Mark Browning at the Hobart club.
He later played with Mornington Peninsula club Rye before a short stint with VFA (now VFL) club Frankston and then Noble Park. More recently, he has been an assistant coach with amateur club De La Salle.
As the Swans’ Melbourne manager, he now has served the club on and off the field for most of his adult life. Few bleed for the red and white more than Morwood.
