Richard Colless inherited a hospital case Richard Colless on Four Corners in 2002. SOME claim Richard Colless is the man that saved Sydney. Others romance his role in reviving the relevance of South Melbourne. All regard him as critical to the spread of the Sherrin north. Irrespective of how the reigning premiers fare this season, when Colless's reign as Swans chairman ends next February, he will leave both Sydney and the indigenous code in a far superior shape to when he arrived from Western Australia. The game is sold on high marking, freakishly kicked goals and breathtaking courage, so it is the on-field heroes of the sport most celebrated in history. That would sit well with Colless. According to Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland, while it is his close mate's job to ensure the Swans are a viable entity off-field, he has always stressed the core business is to win games. Colless's announcement on Thursday that his tenure is almost complete brought praise from all quarters -- everyone from the superstar coach to the courageous captain to the boss of "Town Hall" with whom the feisty Sydney chairman shared more than the odd blow-up praised his imprint on both the Swans and the competition at large. As Ron Barassi told The Weekend Australian yesterday: "I think Australian football has been very fortunate to have him involved. We all know where Sydney sits now but it is doubtful they would have achieved any of that without him. In Colless's time as chairman, the Swans have claimed two premierships and reached four grand finals. They are perennial finalists and a club respected competition wide. It is in stark contrast to his arrival. At the time, the Swans had finished last for three years in succession. Gun youngsters Shannon Grant, Anthony Rocca and Darren Gaspar were drafted and spent the compulsory two years before returning to the AFL heartland. Talented teens such as Wayne Carey and John Longmire, who said yesterday Colless would be embarrassed by the plaudits directed his way, were sold at bargain prices in order to get some cash, any cash, through the door. As inaugural coach and long-time board member Rick Quade said yesterday: "They talk about balance sheets. I don't think one existed when he arrived. It was interesting to read that Andrew Demetriou made a comment about Richard inheriting a club in trouble. Really, he inherited a hospital case. We were on our knees, there is no question, both on field and off it. It was the last roll of the dice. Thank God Richard came along. Some may argue, but I think he is undoubtedly the most important figure in the history of South Melbourne and the Sydney Swans. You only have to look at the scoreboard then and now. I think he saved the Swans. Courageous Sydney captain Paul Kelly, a favourite of Colless who is immortalised in bronze outside the SCG, gave a players' perspective of where Sydney stood at the time. "We were pretty awful," Kelly said. We had finished bottom three years in a row and we did not have much support. We didn't have sponsors. We didn't have money. We didn't have fans. It just felt so temporary and there was always talk that we were going to fold. I remember going away on a footy trip to Hawaii and there was talk we would not be there when we got back. Barassi, who is considered the game's greatest identity and was lured north to coach in 1993, concurred with Kelly. I have never seen a greater mess. I could not imagine it being any lower," Barassi said. Yet Colless, who was West Coast's inaugural chairman and was a well-regarded coach at amateur level in Western Australia, turned it around. The important thing initially was sharpening the administration of the club. It proves once again that the cornerstone of on-field success depends on the administration. It is the administration first," Barassi said. On field the decision to recruit the outstanding but controversial Tony Lockett ended up proving a masterstroke, Longmire said yesterday. The Swans reached the grand final in 1996 in Rodney Eade's first year in charge. "There's no doubt Lockett was a big decision and really helped AFL football and put it on the map up here at that time in history," Longmire said. I think what needs to be said, and Richard would be quite embarrassed by this, but in terms of not just the Sydney Swans but in AFL football in NSW, there have been two pretty significant figures. One is Tony Lockett and I'd suggest the other one would be Richard Colless. Colless's decision to lure Ireland, who was working with Brisbane, in part stemmed from the time the two spent swapping ideas on how best to build the game in what is still firmly rugby league territory. He is a strident defender of the cost-of-living allowance granted to Sydney and GWS Giants, striking out at detractors as recently as Thursday. It is just over 10 years since he famously gave Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, who remains critical of the concept, "the bird" on national television when saying "Up yours, Eddie." The Magpie boss is still in the cross-hairs. "Sure there were a few stoushes with Town Hall and others . . . but it was never personal," Quade said. He could be feisty and would come out swinging pretty hard at times but it was always about putting the club first. Perhaps less recognised is his role in returning to the fold South Melbourne supporters disenfranchised when the club was sent north by the VFL for the 1982 season. One needed only walk down Clarendon Street in South Melbourne after the Swans won the 2005 flag to see the red and white still thumped strong in its birthplace. Ireland said Colless's dedication to the club's heritage had helped strengthen membership in Victoria. Nor has it all been rosy. While only Eade has lost his job during Colless's time in the job -- Barassi stood aside for a younger man and premiership-winning coach Paul Roos orchestrated a successful handover to Longmire -- the controversy that surrounded the flirtation between Sydney and then Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace in 2002 has a place in football infamy. Colless this week described it as the most difficult time in his tenure. He also spoke at length last season about a battle with depression, which he believes stems from suffering concussion while playing amateur football in Perth, that almost forced an early resignation a few years ago. Those interviewed by The Weekend Australian also talk of Colless's "feisty" temperament. As Kelly said: "We didn't always agree, let me tell you that. We had some massive blow-ups. Colless will continue to work hard through the last 10 months of his chairmanship, Ireland says, but the Sydney chief executive believes his friend will look forward to being able to arrive at the SCG in years to come "in his jeans."