Sport
13 June, 2026
Rutley devises a plan to sour Swan cameo song
NORTH Central competition resumes on Saturday after the third league-wide bye for the season, with a former AFL champion pulling on the boots.
NORTH Central competition resumes on Saturday after the third league-wide bye for the season, with a former AFL champion pulling on the boots.
Ex-Collingwood premiership winner and Brownlow medallist Dane Swan will play a one-off match for struggling Charlton against Boort.
Boort has struggled with injury this season and won its first senior game before the bye against St Arnaud, while the Navy Blues are winless and have lost all of their six games by more than 100 points.
It’s unlikely that one champion player aged 42 will turn around Charlton’s fortunes, but his appearance has created excitement for the Navies and their opponents alike.
Swan has played regularly this season on an ad hoc basis with a range of clubs in Victoria and Western Australia.
Boort coach Andrew Rutley said: “It’s good for Charlton and good for the league to have someone of his stature, a champion footballer.”
Rutley has done his research and has a plan in mind.
“I’ve been looking at his recent stats, and he has had a lot of rebound defensive 50 numbers,” he said. “We will try to find the right match-up and exploit him the other way.”
North Central teams now have a run of three consecutive matches before the last bye of the year for the winter school holidays.
Wedderburn is on top of both the senior football and A Grade netball ladders, with neither side having tasted defeat this year.
That record is unlikely to change this week, with the Redbacks up against sixth-placed St Arnaud in the football and the netballers having another weekend off due to the Saints’ withdrawal from A Grade this year.
Tom Metherell’s third year in charge has seen clever recruiting that has helped Wedderburn rise from outside the finals last season to senior premiership favouritism.
Three teams have broken clear on the ladder – Wedderburn, Sea Lake Nandaly and Calder United – with the Redbacks having disposed of both of the other two sides so far, with one round left before teams begin to meet for a second time.
The Redbacks’ A Grade netball team is unbeaten since 2024, with Boort their closest challenger and their fiercest rivals, although they are three games adrift of the two-time reigning premiers with a match in hand.
The clubs will meet next in round 12 at the end of July.
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