EFNL 2025: AFL great Dane Swan to play for Oakleigh District

The diary of AFL great Dane Swan fills up quickly in local footy season – with the Brownlow medallist’s latest stop pencilled in.

Dane Swan will feature for Oakleigh District this season. Pic: Michael Klein.

He’s back in black and white.

AFL great Dane Swan has been unveiled as Oakleigh District’s latest signing, with the 2011 Brownlow medallist set to kit up for the Eastern Division 3 club in a one-off appearance on June 14.

The five-time All Australian turned 41 on Tuesday and will feature in the Round 10 clash with Silvan at Princes Highway Reserve.

A link with another boom recruit led Swan to the Oaks.

“He’s really good mates with Luke Potts, and they both celebrated their birthday down in Sorrento on the weekend,” Oakleigh District playing-coach Blake Pearson said.

“They played together at St Kilda City and have a really good friendship, so that was the start of it.”

Swan has been no stranger to local footy since his 258-game AFL career finished, representing a plethora of clubs Australia-wide.

He opened last season with a one-off showing for Kinglake in the Northern league, and finished the year with Southern Division 1 outfit Port Melbourne Colts following stops at Tyntynder and Hallam – his talents even reaching as far as Broken Hill, Darwin and the Hinterland.

The triple Collingwood best and fairest returns to the Eastern league following a cameo for The Basin in 2023.

Swan gets a kick for The Basin in 2023. Picture: Field of View Photography

Pearson said the 2010 premiership star had already been lighting up the training track.

“It’s a one-off game for us at the moment, but he’s come down to a couple of training sessions and he’s been really good in our match sim,” he said.

“When you’ve got someone who’s a Brownlow medallist and a premiership player, it’s pretty handy to have … at the couple of training sessions he’s been down, he’s asking questions of how we want to play and move the ball and defend the ground.

“If he has a really good understanding of what our systems are, couple that with his experience at AFL level, it allows him to be able to teach and coach on the ground.

“Certainly the players have been taking a lot in when he has been at the club.”