Dane Swan always defied conventions.

Perhaps that is why he holds such a special place amongst the pantheon of Collingwood champions. He was one of the greatest players to pull a black and white jumper on, but was just as adored off the field as a character when they were meant to have been replaced by homogenised heroes.

More uniquely, he came to be appreciated by opposition supporters - a rarity for a Collingwood player.

He was, much to his own mirth, the polar opposite of what a 21st century footballer was meant to look like ... or be like ... or even act like.

Seemingly, he had the wrong body shape, with his chunky frame; he ran almost with a waddle. He had an awkward kicking gait, but got so much practice that he would become effective in his disposal, and a reliable kick for goal. He had a life away from football, and never appeared hostage to the game's demands, at times straddling the line of accepted AFL behaviours. But no matter what happened off the field, he always produced on it.

Swan hated team meetings, but loved his team. He loved the freedom the game gave him, but hated the pretence and focus that was its by-product. He came across as blasé, almost nonchalant about his place in the game. But that laconic veneer belied a competitive spirit born out of his working class background, a will to win and an understated pride in his performance.

Through it all, the highs (and there were countless) and the lows (there were a few), Swan become one of the most unlikely of stars across 14 seasons, 258 games, three consecutive Copeland Trophies, a Brownlow Medal, five straight All-Australian selections, and was a vital member of the 2010 Premiership side. Eddie McGuire would say: "He is one of the greatest players in the history of this club … he is the player of his generation.”

Not bad for a player who came so close to being sacked long before he made an imprint on Collingwood's history. That came after an off-field incident in late 2003 which had him before the courts and on the brink of a sacking. That might have been the end of the Swan story, but for Mick Malthouse seeing something in the young man from the wrong side of the tracks, and a few teammates who recognised the need to steer him in the right direction.

"I thought I was going to get sacked after the blue (fight) I got into and obviously got to the meeting (and) Mick just sort of said 'This is your last chance', but I've proven him wrong because I've had more than one," he said.

He possessed a good football pedigree, as the son of VFA great Billy Swan, who kicked a goal after the final siren to give Williamstown the 1990 flag when Dane was six.

"Dad would want me to kick on my left. I'd crack the shits and go home," he would recall about early kick-to-kick sessions with his dad. "If I didn't want to do something, no one could make me.”

He had shown talent from his earliest days at Westmeadows, particularly his performance in the club's under 14s premiership (wearing the No.13). But there was a question mark on how much he wanted an AFL career. He struggled with the disciplines at the elite under 18s level before a chance meeting with Malthouse when he came to speak with the Cannons during the 2001 season flicked a switch in Swan's mind.

"I didn't have a great year (in TAC Cup in 2001)," he said. "But before the finals, Mick came down and spoke to us ... he said: 'Forget about what's done. What matters now is how you play on the big stage’.”

Swan would end up being a star in the Cannons’ premiership, outperforming a kid called Nick Dal Santo in the process. That resulted in him being chosen as pick 58 for Collingwood in the blue-chip 'Super Draft' of 2001, finding out about his selection while on 'Schoolies' on the Gold Coast, and turning up to his first day of training “hungover.”

He spent the first few seasons playing with the Magpies' affiliate Williamstown in the VFL, and was a member of the VFL premiership side in 2003 - the same year he played three senior games for Collingwood. Then came the trigger point of his career. Sensing his ability as a player, and his likable nature, Ben Johnson and Chris Tarrant worked on smoothing out some of Swan’s rough edges in regards to preparation.

"We thought this kid has a fair crack ... that's when he got into a bit of trouble," Johnson recalled. "That's why we took him under out wing and 'Swanny' started to work his arse off."

Swan was forever grateful for the career intervention. "Ben Johnson made me follow him on runs," he said. "He has never lifted a weight in his life but, if you know Chris Tarrant, he obviously has a fair rig and he put me in the weight room so without them two there is no chance I would have been here.” His evolution crept up on some, as did the artwork on his body.

He enjoyed a good 2006, and the following year was afforded more midfield time. He was the 2007 Brownlow bolter when he was among the leaders at the halfway mark of the count. The only problem was he hadn't been invited to the night and wasn’t about to leave Alan Didak's couch – where he was dressed as Superman - as part of Collingwood's 'Mad Monday'.

He won the first of three consecutive Copeland Trophies in 2008, as he transformed into the club’s most important midfielder. He could turn a game in a heartbeat, and could lift his team with a burst from the middle or a goal. "He was a big game player," Maxwell said. "I would go up to him and say 'mate, I need something from you here, I need you to win the ball, I need a clearance. I need something'. He would always deliver."

He took his game to a higher plain in 2010. He may not have won the Brownlow Medal that year - he was a $1.60 favourite - but he had a career-high 820 disposals, won his third Copeland, the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFL Coaches Association’s Champion Player of the Year, and countless other awards. But it was the premiership medal that meant the most, and his goal at the 10-minute-mark of the third quarter of the Grand Final replay put that beyond doubt.

Sadly, a follow-up premiership medal didn't come, but the 2011 Brownlow Medal did. He would also become the first winner of the award to take an overseas sabbatical during the course of the season.

After having some issues in the first half of the year, Swan was told by Collingwood it wanted him to rest from the Queen’s Birthday clash with Melbourne, and head to Arizona for altitude training. He came back fresh. Before his mid-season Arizona trip, he polled 13 votes from 10 games. After returning from the US, he would poll 21 more votes from his next 11 games.

He carried on his good form in 2012 and 2013, making it five consecutive seasons with 700 or more disposals. Across his career, he cracked up 6928 disposals at an average of 26.85.

But there were further off-field controversies. Criticised for appearing a little heavy early in 2012, he kicked a telling goal in the Anzac Day game and rubbed his belly, as a sign to his detractors. More seriously he was suspended by the club for two weeks during the 2012 season for an alcohol-related breach. In hindsight, it may have cost him back-to-back Brownlow Medals. He finished third with 25 votes, behind the original winner Jobe Watson (30 votes). But when Watson was ruled ineligible four years later, Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin (both 26) were declared the winners. One vote from those two missing games might have made a difference.

His biggest challenge came in 2014, when a number of injuries impacted his effectiveness. Yet he still managed 17 games before prematurely ending his season, which he would later call "putrid." He responded magnificently in 2015, silencing the doubters, by playing 21 games, finishing second in the Copeland Trophy and breaking the all-time career record for a Collingwood player in Brownlow votes. “I’m like a cockroach, they can't kill me, he said at the time.

But just minutes into the Round 1 2016 clash with Sydney, he broke his foot in three places – including the Lisfranc fracture. He tried to overcome it, but it was too serious: “I just couldn’t trust my foot to go around anymore.”

If he had been sacked in late 2003 it would barely have created a ripple; his retirement in late 2016 was a production at the club worthy of his place in the game. "I don't regret anything," he said. "I did it my way."

He sure did.