Collingwood star Dane Swan admits he’s no angel and his attitude to football has been less than perfect in the past.
But the 2011 Brownlow Medallist and three-time Magpies best and fairest says he doesn’t have a drug problem and has never posted a strike under the AFL’s illicit drugs policy.
Swan said he had been confronted by Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert and other Magpies officials several times over his off-field behaviour.
But rumours that had swirled about him during the off-season regarding issues such as drug use and wild behaviour were ridiculous.
And he said his approach to football had improved greatly since he was suspended by his club over an alcohol-related incident late last season.
“I’m clearly not an angel,” Swan told the Nine Network’s AFL Footy Show.
“I suppose I probably go out a little bit more socially than the normal footballer.
“Maybe I am a little bit of what they call a lad and I have a laidback attitude and like just to relax and have a bit of fun, I’m not footy, footy, footy all the time.
“So maybe I’m not doing everything I possibly could to get myself 100 per cent for game day.
“But I’d like to think since I got suspended last year I certainly have.
“And I’m hoping if you ask the coaches at the footy club and all the players that I certainly am a lot better this year than I ever have been.”
Swan also said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs but was tested six or seven times for them last season in what he believed was targeted testing.
“If you see what I look like and the way I run I clearly do not use performance-enhancing drugs,” Swan joked.
He said he had no problem with Pert or other Magpies officials confronting him at times over his behaviour.
“We’ve had a couple of frank conversations and I realise where I’m at and I’d like to think that they know how I’m going and where I’m at too,” he said.
Swan said while he was an easygoing character who wasn’t too bothered by rumours about him, it did bother him that his parents and partner were sometimes upset by them.
The interview was pre-recorded and Swan was fined by the Magpies on Thursday for conducting it without first gaining the club’s approval.
But while the fine is understood to be at most $5000, Swan was reportedly paid $20,000 for the interview.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Swan is an old fashioned footballer. He enjoys a beer or six, would probably like to have a cigarette before and after training, and plays like an absolute maniac on the field. Alll this off field media management and image rights and corporate stuff ? Not his thing. It wouldnt surprise me if he's paid his house off and when renewal time comes around goes 'You know, I saved a million bucks when I played footy, and I'd rather play in the Ammos'.
Pollock
Guest
Horses for courses. Swan doesn't need to be 100% focused all the time to be a quality player. What works for one doesn't work for all and it is hard in team sports to accommodate individuals without appearing to favour a player. Being too hard line is probably not the approach to take to get the best from Swan. I'm no great fan of Collingwood but looks to me that Swan puts in when he plays and would go far to say that they would not have won the flag without him. His form may have slipped last year at times but was coming off a pretty high base.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Like Cheech and Chong or Keith Richards?
Ando
Guest
He looks like a druggie!! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].