Amazing Speech

[Cpt. Kirk]

Can a speech get much better then that?

Martin Luther King has nothing on Goodes.

[Nich]

Loved it. Love the Club. Let's do this!! 2012!! Year of the Swan!!

[MightyBloods]

It was a great speech! I loved it! I just pray that the younger players take note and respond. We are close and only need a few kids to step up to really challenge this year.

[Xie Shan]

I wish I'd remembered to watch the live stream, now!

Stirring stuff from Goodesy, I really like the way he wove the stories of other Swans players into the speech. I am a massive nerd when it comes to this stuff, on my first ever trip to Vegas last year the highlight was attending the final of the World Championship of Public Speaking...

[wolftone57]

A very strong motivational speech. He is always very articulate and his message is so direct you can't mix the meaning. Beautiful stuff about Kirkie and Teddy. I love Teddy because he has been on the scrap heap and picked himself up and prospered. Well done.

[Kirkari]

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I wish I'd remembered to watch the live stream, now!

Ditto!

I did smile at a bit of Horses speach that was quoted in the papers "While listening to some of the greats that have gone before us, a message that has been consistent is the value of team. It takes a team to be successful, not just individual talent. A group of people working together that puts egos aside so a greater cause can be achieved."

Lets face it, historically the Swans have always been about individual stars (certainly since Archie Crofts' day). We have a long history of stars winning Brownlow's, and ego's walking out of the club after a spat with the coach (then taking on the coaching role themselves). So while the lessons from the past are probably how not to do things, at least they seemed to have been learned.

[dimelb]

A fine speech from Goodsey. I hope Jesse was listening hard when he got to self-belief.

[ABloodsMan]

Forget the speech, is that the first time we've seen Alex Brown this preseason?

[707]

Stirring stuff, I was glued to the small screen and a cleverly woven speech. I just hope a number of our fringe players take all that on board.

[Primmy]

Anyone notice that Tony Armstrong did not take his eyes of Goodsey?

[satchmopugdog]

Anyone notice that Tony Armstrong did not take his eyes of Goodsey?

I wouldn't have either if I was there.!!!!!!! Hero worship I hope

[giant]

Didn't hear the speech but not surprised. Goodesy may well make his biggest mark on the game after his playing days are over, in just about any capacity that he so chooses.

[top40]

They (ie the Captains) do it every year, great/memorable/inspiring speeches at the Jumper
Presentation. Makes me so proud to support the Swans.

[WolfGang]

Here's what Goodes had to say to the capacity crowd gathered at the Westin Sydney tonight:

Before I begin I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet tonight - the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I would also like to pay my respect to all elders past and present.
To the people inducted into our Hall of Fame tonight, congratulations and well deserved.
To our present Hall of Famers here tonight, those who have been inducted over the past few years, welcome to you and thank you for your continued love for our great football club.
Tonight is a significant night for all players. Tonight I received my 15th Sydney Swans jumper. I can still remember the then NSW Premier Bob Carr giving me my 1st jumper at Star City all those years ago.
Tonight, nine players have received their 1st jumper and this event is about welcoming you and your families to your new family - the Swans family.
Last year on this occasion, Macca (Jarrad McVeigh) spoke about the strength of our team?s culture, and its values. He spoke about our team-first attitude, our unity and our discipline as a group, and said we needed every player on board.
Mostly, we heeded Macca?s call and were on board - and no-one more than my remarkable co-captain himself. No-one lived our team ethos more than Macca last year, and I want to thank him for that.
But there is a constant refrain in football - we know we need to be better this year, both as a team, but also as individuals. Playing AFL football is an absolute privilege, but it is also a constant challenge in an increasingly competitive environment.
This year I want to drill down and talk about what I believe, from my 15years of experience, are the individual characteristics you need to have if you are going to have a lasting impact on this group and this footy club.
We rightly talk a lot about the team, but if each link in our chain is stronger, then our chain is much more likely to hold firm and fast, to withstand the pressures that inevitably come during a long season.
Like I said earlier I have been around a long time. This year as a club we celebrate 30 years in Sydney, and it occurred to me the other night that I have been part of this Sydney Swans family for half of that entire time.
I have seen some great players with a huge amount of talent have long, successful careers at this club.
I have also seen players who have had a lot of talent who just didn?t make it. And believe me, I know it isn?t always easy. When I first came to this club as pick number 43 in the 1997 draft - when some of you were only four years old - I readily admit, I struggled. I didn?t have a stamp that said I was going to win a Brownlow Medal - I had coaches who berated me, who rode me hard, who picked out all my faults and let me know about them day after day.
I didn?t get a game until 1999, and it wasn?t until a few years later that I felt established in the side. Even then, I could never stand still. You need to be constantly evolving as a player and a person.
But no matter what stage of your career you?re at, whether you?re a first year rookie like Harry Cunningham or an old hand like me or Jude, there are some things that don?t change, some things you need no matter where you are on the climb.
They are the characteristics, the individual traits, that separate those who have made it, from those who came here and didn?t leave a lasting impact.
Firstly I want to talk about RESILIENCE.
The definition of Resilience: the ability to recover readily, as from misfortune. Being capable of returning to an original shape or position, as after having been compressed.
What does it look like? Something like this boys: I start my career by being put on a Swans supplementary list for a year. I play all year in the reserves and I am dropped for the preliminary final. Then I receive a letter 3 months later saying I am not required back at training the following year.
I go back home to play local footy for two years and finish my studies, but I work hard on my own, doing weights, agility, whatever I can manage in my backyard at night that might make me a better player.
I then get an invite back to train in the next pre-season. I spend a month living on a teammates? couch, training my guts out trying to impress, and I finally get selected on the rookie list.
I improve my fitness and durability every year that I play but it?s still not a smooth path, I?m still not a fashionable footballer, and I?m almost cut again!
I get my last lifeline. Then, in a period of four years I win the best and fairest twice and I am the runner up twice. I am part of the first Sydney-based team to win a premiership. I play 241 games, 200 of them consecutively until I retire at the age of 33. I am Brett Kirk.
Secondly I want to talk about SELF BELIEF.
The definition of self belief: trust in your own abilities.
I am drafted at pick 27 and two years later I make my debut. I am in and out of the team for the next 3 years. At the end of that year - five years after I was drafted and with just 33 games under my belt - I ask to be traded to continue my career at a new club.
After playing as a forward I am switched to the backline in the 1st game of the next season, which happens to be against my old club. I end up playing on the full forward after he has kicked 6 goals in the 1st quarter. I keep him goalless for the next quarter but we lose by 27 points. I miss two games for the year and play in a losing Grand Final.
Two years later I back into a pack and puncture a lung and break some ribs, so I miss the rest of the season.
The next season I measure myself against the best back men in the league and make a plan to close the gap between them and me. I struggle to hold my spot - I spend almost half the year playing reserves and am facing the end of my career.
But an injury to a key defender gives me a chance. I work on the little things and commit to my plan, I don?t falter. From then on, I never miss a game due to a bad performance and become a key cog in the backline. The next year I am voted into the leadership group. I am Ted Richards.
The last characteristic I want to talk about is DETERMINATION.
Determination defined: firmness of purpose
I work as a boilermaker in the day, and I run around the block every night in my local town to lose 20 kilos. I am Shane Mumford.
I ignore the coaches and outsiders who say I am too short and will never play AFL. I am Kieren Jack.
I move to the other side of the world to play a game I have never played before. I am Tadhg Kennelly, I am Mike Pyke, I am Tommy Walsh.
These are insights into just a few of the journeys some of our family members have been through, and the journeys they are still on.
Ted, Kieren, Mummy, me, we never think we?ve made it. We know those characteristics are as important now as they were the day we received our first AFL jumper.
We can give you the road map, we can tell you what we expect from you. We can share our stories with each other. But without your own personal well of resilience, self-belief and determination you are just going through the motions. They are the things we want you to draw on when no-one is watching, when no-one is telling you to do it, when you?re home at night thinking about how you?re going to attack training the next day.
Resilience - getting up off the ground every time you get knocked over, playing to an acceptable level week in and week out.
Self-Belief - having a plan and sticking to it no matter what bumps may come along the way, having a trademark and doing everything you can to deliver on it.
Determination - hard work is the start of it and the end point of it. You have to want it so bad for you to make the sacrifices and do the extra work.
I want to win another premiership and I want to share that with all of you boys, but you have to show me that you want it as bad as I do.
At the Swans, we are here to help you, to support you, but only you can make it happen.