Best AFL podcasts, Round 1: Swan’s stunning alcohol confession, Ablett’s hidden struggle
Former Collingwood star Dane Swan has admitted he secretly drank alcohol at recovery sessions during his playing days. FOOTY PODCAST ROUNDUP
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
So much footy media, so little time. If you’re overwhelmed by the volume of AFL podcasts on offer, don’t stress — we’ll compile the best bits on heraldsun.com.au each week.
Here were the podcast moments that made waves among footy fans ahead of Round 1.
Dane Swan’s astounding alcohol confession
Dane Swan has admitted he consumed alcohol at Sunday morning recovery sessions during his playing days at Collingwood.
The Brownlow Medallist is proud to have never missed a Sunday morning recovery session throughout his 258-game career, but admits he wasn’t always “in a good state”.
“I turned up, no matter how f**ked I was,” Swan said on the Hump Day with Scotty and Swanny podcast this week.
“I remember sitting (at the club) there in recovery one morning at like 9am. I’d been at a party.
“I left the party, grabbed a Gatorade bottle, filled it up three quarters Gatorade, one quarter vodka and sat on the bikes doing recovery drinking vodka Gatorade — just waiting to go back to the party.”
When his co-hosts laughed in disbelief, Swan asked “What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with that? Where the f**k do you want me to start,” 1999 Coleman Medallist Scott Cummings responded.
But Swan insisted he had little choice but to drink at recovery.
“If I hadn’t have topped up I would’ve been f**ked by the time I got back to the party, and I wouldn’t have gone. And the unfortunate thing was the party was at my house, so there was nothing I could do about it. I had to go.”
Ablett’s secret struggle
It’s become the norm for AFL players to acknowledge mental health issues, but in years gone by, most kept quiet — even the superstars.
Speaking about Jesse Hogan’s troubles on the first SuperFooty podcast of 2019, Herald Sun journalist Jon Anderson revealed that one of the game’s greatest players struggled to cope with the pressure of expectation in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“The greatest player I’ve ever seen was Gary Ablett Snr. I spoke to Gary privately about the pressure he suffered from,” Anderson said.
“We don’t think of that because he’d go out and kick six goals for fun … but (there were times where he’d) pull over on the side of the road on his way to Kardinia Park, and cry uncontrollably for 20-30 minutes, because of the expectation once he walked through those gates.
“This is from one of the greatest players ever. So he felt it (the pressure) — who knows how Jesse Hogan’s feeling?”
Carlton star the AFL’s best: Crows tagger
Despite a 104-point victory against the Blues, Adelaide midfielder Hugh Greenwood says he is haunted by having to run with Carlton star Patrick Cripps — and believes he’s the best player in the competition.
Speaking on the first episode of The Advertiser’s The Lowdown podcast this week, Greenwood said he hasn’t forgotten his Round 23 clash with the Blues superstar when asked who would lead his ‘top 50’ list going into the 2019 season.
“I picture Round 23 against Carlton last year. I had a job on Cripps, and he had 17 clearances,” Greenwood said.
“So it was a long day at the office, but we won by 100 points so it was okay.
“Cripps is just one of those guys that’s hard to play on. He should even play more forward because he’s dangerous there too.”
Port Adelaide co-captain Tom Jonas, who also headlines The Lowdown each week, offered up a slightly left-field suggestion when asked who was the game’s best player.
“I was leading towards a Josh Kennedy (West Coast) type, just because I reckon what he does on both sides of the ball — kicking goals and what he gives on defence — is huge,” Jonas said.
“But closer to home (in Adelaide) Sloaney would have to be up there, and you have that bias because I see what Robbie (Gray) does day in, day out (at training).
“He’s a real big-moment operator, and that’s got to count for a heap.”
‘Extraordinary’ Dogs youngster ready to shine: Murphy
There hasn’t been much for Western Bulldogs fans to get excited about since the club’s 2016 premiership, but former skipper Bob Murphy is tipping emerging ruckman Tim English to become a “special” player in 2019.
“Tim English’s potential is extraordinary. He doesn’t look like a boy anymore,” Murphy said on the first Freedom in a Cage podcast episode of 2019.
“He looks like he’s found a competitive edge to him, that I wasn’t sure that that was there yet.”
Murphy is expecting English to float back to assist the Bulldogs’ backline at times this season.
“I wonder now, with Dale (Morris) going down, maybe that’s something Tim English will add to us as well. On first glance he looks like a natural ruck-forward, but maybe not. … maybe he could be that floating extra defender. He reads the ball so well in the air and he’s just got that timing.
“Tim did things in his first couple of years during pre-seasons where a lot of us senior players would look at each other and go ‘that was something a bit special’ — below his ankles and above his head. He could be a real player for us.”
Footy’s most intense ‘bubble’
It’s often said that AFL players in Melbourne are forced to deal with more scrutiny than those at interstate clubs.
But four-club player Scott Cummings says that’s not the case.
“The bubble … it’s in Melbourne, but nowhere near as big as it is in Adelaide. Adelaide’s the worst,” Cummings said on the Hump Day with Scotty and Swanny podcast this week.
“I met five people who didn’t follow footy in Adelaide in two years. Five people, that’s it.”
Co-host Dane Swan disagreed, saying “try playing at Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond or Carlton.”
But Cummings had the final say.
“Well, I’ve played at two of those, (so) I sorta know what you’re talking about,”
Having spent three seasons at West Coast, on top of his stints at Essendon, Port Adelaide and Collingwood, Cummings is in a better position to comment on this topic than most.
Christensen’s crippling addiction
Former Cat Allen Christensen has opened up about the consuming gambling addiction that stripped him of a fortune and forced him out of Geelong.
The Lions midfielder estimates he had lost “definitely hundreds of thousands of dollars” after battling the addiction that left him “absolutely wrecked” at training after betting into the early hours of the morning.
“I’d deposited just over $300,000 into my account,” Christensen revealed on his Addicted to the Game podcast this week.
“My biggest outlay was $18,000 on a horse. It got caught on the rails.
“Losing that amount of money … then the next race I acted like it never really happened.
“The biggest amount I won was around $50,000 in a day, but I think I lost a lot of that over the next week.
“It was like a rollercoaster, there was no consistency.”
You can read the full story here.
Through the fire: How Rioli found happiness after ‘very dark days’
Willie Rioli’s best footy comes when he’s happy according to his cousin Dean – but there was serious doubt he’d ever get back here. MATT TURNER tells the Port star’s story of perseverance.
Eight years since Port’s last loss to Sydney: Where are they now?
Port has the wood over Sydney – in fact, the Swans haven’t beaten the Power in eight matches. So where are the players from that Swans win in round 20, 2016, now?