Dane Swan’s football career not over yet as EDFL club Westmeadows reviews terms of AFL injury payout
FORMER Collingwood champion Dane Swan’s suburban club is fighting to get him back on the field, arguing an insurance payout for the injury that ended his AFL career, should not stop him playing local football.
North West
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FORMER Collingwood champion Dane Swan’s suburban club is hoping to expose what it claims is “vague” wording in an AFL agreement that is preventing him from playing local football.
The agreement is linked to an injury payout the former AFL star received in 2016 under an AFL-linked scheme.
The Brownlow medallist was essentially stopped from playing football again at any level, after he received a payout worth about $400,000 for a 2016 foot injury that ended his AFL career.
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Essendon District Football League club Westmeadows has engaged a QC to review the conditions, in a bid to have Swan play the second half of the season.
Swan made two appearances for Westmeadows in April after securing a temporary clearance to take the field from AFL legal guru Andrew Dillon.
But the clearance was for one week only, and before Swan was cleared, his insurer officially informed him he would be breaching the terms of the payout by playing local footy.
The 34-year-old has not been paid by the Tigers and the contract the club submitted to the EDFL earlier this year indicated he would be playing for free.
Westmeadows coach Grant Smith said Swan had planned to line up against Craigieburn on Saturday before pulling out.
“This agreement he’s signed, in regards to his insurance, the clause around him playing or not is quite vague,” Smith said.
“He’s not wanting to take the risk on it going bad for him. One of the dads of a kid at the club is a Queen’s Counsel, so we’ve given him the document to look at.
“He’s going to come back to us at the end of this week and give us his opinion on how this might stack up in court if it got to that point.
“If it’s favourable, then he will play most of the season after he gets back from Russia.”
If Swan and his manager Liam Pickering decide to pursue to matter, it will be dealt with by the AFL.
Swan, whose penchant for overseas holidays is well known, will be attending the soccer World Cup in Russia, which starts on June 14.
“He wants to play the back half of the season, but he just needs to wait to get the legal advice that means he wouldn’t be liable for any kind of repayment of the insurance payout or anything like that,” Smith said.
“If it’s OK, he’ll play pretty much every game from when he gets back from the World Cup, which was always the plan.”
Swan was tight-lipped when quizzed after his first senior appearance for his junior club on April 21.
“I’d love to, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Swan said when asked if he could be seen in a Westmeadows jumper beyond Anzac Day.
“It was awesome to come down and give something back to a club where it all started for me.
“It looked a bit dicey there at one stage, but thankfully I think common-sense prevailed and they’ve let me come down and do my thing.”
Smith said Westmeadows was simply seeking clarity.
“The statement in the statement in the agreement says ‘in the unlikely event you ever football again, you’re receiving this payout’,” he said.
“We’re just trying to get more clarity around what an unlikely event looks like.
“The feeling at the moment is there’s enough vagueness in there, it would be hard to rule either way.
“He’s only playing local footy with a few of his mates and family for the fun of it.
“Does that mean he couldn’t play domestic basketball? It might be hard for people to believe, but he’s genuinely doing it to help us out. There’s no fallacy in that story.
“Hopefully it goes our way. We’re pretty confident, but we’re just super cautious because we don’t want to put him at any risk and the club doesn’t want to be liable for anything as well.”
Swan enjoyed a decorated 258-game career over 14 seasons for Collingwood and was a member of the Magpies’ 2010 premiership team.
He was a five-time All-Australian and won three Copeland trophies and has since built a career in the media.
The AFL has overhauled the career-ending injury payout system, allowing more players to access the fund but for lesser funds.
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