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Another player who's made major advances under Mark Graham's coaching. That's not entirely surprising, given Graham's standing as one of the best back row forwards the game has seen. Swann also played for Graham's old Otahuhu club earlier in his career. Signed by the Warriors as an 18-year-old in 1994. He developed so quickly he'd played three tests for the Kiwis (as a replacement against Great Britain in 1996) before he'd even appeared at first grade level for the Warriors. Made that step in 1997 and was named the Warriors' Development Player of the Year. Has established himself as the Kiwis' regular loose forward, missing only one test since his debut. That was when Tawera Nikau returned for the Anzac test in 1997. Swann started in all of the Warriors' 24 NRL matches in 1998 and again last year. The big change, though, was that Mark Graham switched him to the second row midway through the year where he developed into a strong weapon on the left-hand side of the Warriors' attack. That not only helped Nigel Vagana and Lee Oudenryn on that side of the field, but Swann himself. He scored seven tries in 1999 after touching down just once in his first two seasons with the club.
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