ON CULTURE CLUB

QThe term the ‘Bloods’ and the culture of the Sydney Swans as a club has become a popular talking point over the last decade. Former Swans captain Stuart Maxfield (pictured) got the ball rolling back in 2002 and it is often talked about now. As a player, when you are actually there and in the group, what does the Bloods culture mean? A A lot of it is to do with guys moving to Sydney from interstate because there is not too many blokes actually from Sydney. That means we are all put together in one place and the only real people you have around you is the people at the footy club. We become pretty close. It is about having high standards, holding yourself accountable if you stuff up or something like that. At that time you are a 24/7 AFL footballer so you always have to be doing the right thing and that is what it is about. The culture is driven from the very top of the club and the leadership group drive it the most but it is individual as well. It is probably driven more by the leadership group through the whole playing list. Q Is it something that the playing group would often speak about, upholding that Bloods culture? A It is spoken about every day. It is the same as most football clubs, really, you need to go in there and do the right thing at the club as soon as you get there every morning. It is about having respect for your teammates as well as the football club. When the success came as a football club to Sydney, then the culture stuff started to be spoken about more externally. Every football club would aspire to have a culture like that but I think we just did it the best.