his breakout season as he placed fourth in the Copeland Trophy and was a surprise packet at the Brownlow, leading for most of the night before finishing sixth with 20 votes. 2008 The 2008 Copeland Trophy winner had a strong year averaging twenty-five disposals, seven marks, three tackles and one goal a game. Swan led the team in total disposals (590) and kicks (368), second in marks (163), and third in handballs (222) and tackles (75). He had 14 games of 25 possessions or more and kicked two or more goals on six occasions. Round 10 against was one of Swan's best, collecting 34 possessions, 10 marks and two goals. In round 14 against , he had 30 touches and 13 marks. 2009 In the 2009 season, Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, 7.8 marks, 3.0 tackles and 5.4 inside-50s per game. He was one of the AFL's most prolific ball winners, along with being an in-and-under specialist winning the contested ball at most stoppages whilst also running hard. In Collingwood's 2009 round 10 clash against , Swan obtained 48 possessions, 22 kicks and 26 handballs. This was the best disposal count in a decade and was then the third-highest-recorded disposals count in one match, behind Greg Williams' 53 and Tony Shaw's 50. It was a record since the length of game quarters was shortened from 25 minutes to 20 minutes in 1994, until surpassed in round 22, 2011 by 's Scott Thompson (51 disposals). He was ranked third for total inside-50s, fourth in total goal assists, first in total kicks, fourteenth in total handballs, first in total disposals, tenth in total marks, fifth in inside-50s per game, thirteenth in goal assists per game, second in kicks per game, second in disposals per game. He was voted runner-up at the AFLPA MVP awards (polling 584 votes), finishing behind Gary Ablett (688). He was regarded as one of the front-runners for the Brownlow Medal, but finished outside the top ten. Swan was selected in the 2009 All-Australian team, but controversially as a half forward flanker, rather than as a midfielder, which is his usual position. 2010 Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, including 19 kicks per game, totalling a then AFL record 820 disposals for the season. On 6 September, Swan won the AFL Players Association MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy) after a vote by the players. That year he was also elected as the