Swannies and Blazers look to merge as better off-field club conduct is highlighted at the Swans’ awards night

The South Hedland Swans and the Hedland Blazers have plans in place to merge next year. . The announcement was made at the South Hedland Swans end-of-year awards ceremony on Saturday night which recognised the best players from their league and reserves sides. The Swans off-field progress was also highlighted at the event Swans club vice president Ethan Gould said they had achieved one of their main goals which was better off-field conduct. “Overall our club has gone (in) leaps and bounds compared to previous years,” he said. “We had a lot more success with the league than we have done in the last few seasons. “We were more interested as a club in how we could clean up our act off the field and I think we have probably achieved that. “We tried to implement more family-friendly stuff within the club and I think that showed on the field.” The league side improved from last place to second last this year and the reserves improved from third to second. While the reserves missed out on the grand final after a 7.10 (52) to 4.3 (27) loss to the Kats, Mr Gould said he was impressed by how the club had responded to this season’s challenges. “We had a lot of boys who were playing with each other for the first time and towards the end of the year I felt we had built a really good culture with a lot of our players,” he said. “The players really started playing for each other and I think it really started to show in the last couple of weeks.” Mr Gould also revealed the club had plans to merge with the Hedland Blazers Women’s club next season. When the Blazers were founded they serviced Port and South Hedland but the Port Hedland Rovers established its own women’s side this year. While plans haven’t been formalised, Mr Gould said both clubs were very keen on the merger. “Essentially the plan is to merge the two clubs,” he said. “We still have to submit the paperwork with the West Australian Football Commission so nothing is set in stone. “But we are pretty committed to making that happen and I know the Blazers are as well.” Aside from their improvement in off-field culture, there were a number of stand-out performances throughout the season, which were recognised at the awards presentation. Kane Edwards received the Best and Fairest award, with Atherren Hicks the runner-up, while Peter Stevens was the league side’s top goalscorer. In the reserves, Saika Bero Jnr. was named the best and fairest, with Goran Grabovica the runner-up and Kevin Geary the leading goal-kicker. For the Blazers, Kirty Kubala received the best and fairest award, followed by Piper Murdoch. Danella Mene was the leading goal-kicker for the womens’ side.