Dear supporters,
 
Out of respect for the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh and his long association with Port Adelaide, the public celebration of Dane Swan’s 250th match planned for Thursday evening will be held over until the following round, when we play West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, July 18.
 
Thursday night’s match marks the first opportunity for Port Adelaide to publicly mourn Walsh’s tragic passing and as such Collingwood has decided that it would be inappropriate to intrude on this moment. The important milestone rituals – a banner and the celebration of team-mates on-field post-match – will be held over. Nor will Collingwood players enter and leave the field to the club theme song.

Swan’s significant milestone – the 2011 Brownlow Medallist is to become just the 12th Collingwood player to play 250 matches for the club – will now be fittingly honoured before what is expected to be a capacity home crowd at Etihad for the match against the Eagles.
 
We look forward to seeing you there.
 
Gary Pert
Collingwood Chief Executive Officer