The Sydney Swans Football Club would like to congratulate assistant coach Steve Johnson on receiving AFL life membership on Wednesday night.
Johnson was one of ten recipients of life membership at the AFL Season Launch held at the Forum in Melbourne.
Eddie Betts, Michael Long, Rex Hunt, Mike Fitzpatrick, Andrew Mackie, Kade Simpson, Shaun Ryan, Jordan Lewis and Chris Donlon were also acknowledged for their service to the industry.
The star forward played 293 matches with Geelong and Greater Western Sydney from 2002 to 2017 including three premierships during his time at the Cats.
He was known for his performances on the big stage which is highlighted with his 2007 Norm smith Medal win in Geelong’s drought breaking flag.
Following his retirement Johnson accepted a role with the Swans as forward line coach for the 2018 season.
The former Giant recently spoke about his enjoyment for his new role with the Swans.
“I’ve found, especially those forward line players I’m working with, have been really responsive,” Johnson said.
“I’m not here to tell them how to play footy so much, (but) just to make sure that they’ve got an environment where they can develop a bit of synergy.
“I’ve found tapping into someone like Lance’s footy brain has been really good as well, he obviously knows a lot about the game (and) watches more footy than what people realise.
“I didn’t really know too much about Buddy before I came here, I (had) never really met him off field.
“Just sitting down with him and speaking about footy has been really refreshing, just hearing about his ideas and getting to know him as a person. He’s really easy to communicate with and a really nice fella.”
