Where were you on Saturday 26 March, 2016?
Were you one of the 33,857 at the SCG watching Collingwood’s season-opener against Sydney live? Or were you at home watching on TV?
Did you see Dane Swan’s career end before your own eyes? Or did the social media storm engulf you once the news broke that the champ was down?
Taylor Wilson remembers the night vividly.
The 2011 Brownlow Medallist’s long-term partner glanced at her phone and automatically feared bad news.
“I had like 25 messages and missed calls from everyone,” Wilson says in Collingwood Media’s upcoming documentary 'Last Call'.
“I looked at a message and someone said “oh my god, is he okay?”
“I just panicked.”
The memory is just as clear for parents Bill and Deidre Swan.
“I could see by the look on his face,” Deidre recalls.
“I said to Bill 'he’s broken his leg or something' because you could see the pain he was going through.”
“When he didn’t get straight up I thought 'something has happened here'. And then when they showed it (in) slow-motion, it looked really bad,” Bill adds.
Former teammate Chris Tarrant was quick to get in contact with Swan after watching his close friend’s leg collapse underneath him.
However the 258-gamer’s quick wit quickly shone through via text message.
“In Swanny’s true sense of style, he said to me ‘are you still going to Europe in the middle of the year, because I’m coming’,” Tarrant says.
The 49-minute feature follows Swan in what would go on to be the final season of his 15-year career at Collingwood.
It also includes in-depth interviews with Wilson, both Swan’s parents, former teammates Tarrant and Ben Johnson, manager Liam Pickering and respected AFL journalist Mike Sheahan.
Airing at 7pm this Thursday on collingwoodfc.com.au, the documentary provides a unique insight into the struggles of Swan as he recovers from his injury and comes to terms with the decision to end his football career.
CLICK HERE for more details on the film and its release.
