Outgoing Sydney Swans chairman Richard Colless is one of the most successful sporting administrators in Australia, but his farewell dinner last night felt more like a big family party rather than an obligatory "pat on the back" function. As well as leaving behind an AFL team with 2 premiership trophies, Richard Colless has helped create a club that feels like a family.
When Colless took over as chairman of the Swans in 1993, the club was in trouble - they finished dead last in the AFL in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Since then however, the Swans have played in 14 AFL finals series with 2 premierships, but the Colless legacy is more than just about footy, it's about family.
At his dinner in Sydney's Middle Harbour, where every guest was hand picked by Colless and his wife Susie, the praise for Richard Colless the man was befitting of somebody who built a club the envy of sports organisations around Australia. In her remarks, AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn quoted George Bernard Shaw when he said "Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery, it's the sincerest form of learning," to highlight the point that the Swans have become a model on which other clubs are trying to build themsleves.
Stories of the Swans success flowed freely, but there isn't a lot that hasn't been said about the rise of the Sydney Football Club, what was more intriguing was HOW that success came about, and the one word that was repeated all night was...family.
AFL analyst Mike Sheehan referred to Colless as "the 5th Sheehan brother," but what set the tone of the night was when Susie Colless, before she even mentioned her husband, congratulated her son on his engagement the night before. It was a warm family feel where everybody in the room felt included, and most directly were in Colless' hour long speech, at one point he said "Barnaby Howarth is one of the bravest blokes I know." I felt good when I left at the end of the night.
That is the legacy that Richard Colless will leave behind - people feel good to be involved with the Swans, it's a rags to riches success story, but the success is more than just about win/loss records, as Swans defender Lewis Roberts-Thompson said at an end of season dinner:
"I feel lucky to be part of two families - the Roberts-Thompsons and the Swans."
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