Gavin Wanganeen

Gavin Wanganeen
Personal information
Full name Gavin Adrian Wanganeen
Nickname(s) Wanga
Date of birth (1973-06-18) 18 June 1973
Place of birth Mount Gambier, South Australia
Original team(s) Salisbury North
Draft No. 12, 1989 National Draft, Essendon
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Utility
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1990 Port Adelaide (SANFL) 027 0(46)
1991–1996 Essendon 127 0(64)
1997–2006 Port Adelaide (AFL) 173 (138)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1992–1998 South Australia 8 (?)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005.
Career highlights

Club

Representative

Honours

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Gavin Adrian Wanganeen (born 18 June 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Port Adelaide in both the AFL and the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Wanganeen won the 1993 Brownlow Medal. Wanganeen is a descendant of the Kokata people. He is the first cousin of brothers Aaron and Alwyn Davey.[1]

Early life

Wanganeen was born in Mount Gambier to a footballing family; his great-grandfather had played for the local team at the Koonibba mission near Ceduna.[2] He is an Indigenous Australian of Kokata descent.[3]

His family moved from Mount Gambier to Port Lincoln for a few years. By the time Wanganeen was 5 they moved again to Salisbury, a northern suburb in Adelaide.[4]

Wanganeen played junior football for Adelaide based South Australian Amateur Football League club Salisbury North and attended Salisbury East High School.[4]

At the age of 14, Wanganeen joined the Port Adelaide Under 17s side in the SANFL.[4]

Football career

Port Adelaide: 1990

Wanganeen made his senior SANFL debut with Port Adelaide in 1990 at only 16 years of age. The 1990 SANFL season was the last year that the competition was the highest level of football in South Australia. He played 24 matches and kicked 46 goals, winning the SANFL Rookie of the Year award, starring in Port Adelaide's 1990 SANFL Grand Final win kicking two goals.[5]

Essendon: 1991–1996

Drafted to Essendon, Wanganeen debuted for the club in 1991, Round 2 in a win against Richmond. He immediately finding a niche as an attacking defender. His quality was recognised in 1993 when he won the Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the league, the first Aboriginal Australian to do so, as well as being a key player in South Australia's State of Origin Carnival Championship, and Essendon's Premiership win that year. In 2002, Wanganeen was voted the 19th best Essendon player of all time in the "Champions of Essendon" list.

Port Adelaide return: 1997–2006

Wanganeen returned to Port Adelaide in 1997 as the club's 59th captain and its inaugural captain in the AFL. He received 11 Brownlow votes for the year, but after his first season injuries conspired to minimise his impact. He relinquished the Port Adelaide captaincy at the end of the 2000 AFL season which saw a return to his best form. In 2003 Wanganeen was favourite to once again win the Brownlow (he finished equal second). In 2004 Wanganeen won his second premiership medal in Port's first AFL premiership side. Wanganeen played his 300th AFL game in the 2006 season, but then injured his right knee in a SANFL game for the Port Adelaide Magpies, which led him to retire from football.[6] Wanganeen was the first Aboriginal player to play 300 AFL games. He was honoured by the Power by the naming of the best under 21 medal after him, the Gavin Wanganeen Medal.

Statistics

[7]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
1991 Essendon 41812131558924439380.70.78.64.913.62.22.1
1992 Essendon 421111723812135955730.50.811.35.817.12.63.5
1993 Essendon 4225326714641369300.20.112.16.618.83.11.4
1994 Essendon 42212928610138782420.50.413.04.617.63.71.9
1995 Essendon 423101026712439160270.40.411.65.417.02.61.2
1996 Essendon 42114824211135364430.70.411.55.316.83.02.0
1997 Port Adelaide 12014621912934849280.70.311.06.517.42.51.4
1998 Port Adelaide 115891766023652280.50.611.74.015.73.51.9
1999 Port Adelaide 116541939228559150.30.312.15.817.83.70.9
2000 Port Adelaide 11065120551753690.60.512.05.517.53.60.9
2001 Port Adelaide 424412225610936575261.70.910.74.515.23.11.1
2002 Port Adelaide 4201272018328464210.60.410.14.214.23.21.1
2003 Port Adelaide 425151843391524161330.60.717.33.621.06.41.3
2004 Port Adelaide 419241019310329686171.30.510.25.415.64.50.9
2005 Port Adelaide 42313822713536275290.60.39.95.915.73.31.3
2006 Port Adelaide 4100099110.00.00.09.09.01.01.0
Career 300 202 149 3473 1558 5031 1027 460 0.7 0.5 11.6 5.2 16.8 3.4 1.5

Honours and Achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
1991 7
1992 11
1993 18
1994 6
1995 7
1996 4
1997 11
1998 3
1999 11
2000 —
2001 4
2002 2
2003 21
2004 2
2005 2
2006 —
Total 109
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Essendon

Team

Individual

Port Adelaide

Team

Individual

Other Individual Awards

SANFL

Team

Individual

Personal life

Wanganeen has two children; a daughter, Mia and a son, Tex, from a previous relationship.[8][9]

In July 2012, Wanganeen married Pippa Hanson, a former Miss World entrant, model and TV presenter. The couple have two daughters, Kitty Emerald and Lulu Allegra and are expecting their third child.[10]

Since retiring from football, Wanganeen has focused on business interests involving ownership of three Anytime Fitness centres at Modbury, Port Adelaide and Essendon.[11]

Wanganeen has served as a voluntary ambassador for the Australian branch of the White Ribbon Campaign which is a men's campaign that tackles violence against women. He also lent his name to the Gavin Wanganeen Indigenous Scholarship (GWIS) at the University of South Australia, which was established in 2005 to support disadvantaged Indigenous students to complete a university degree.[11]

He is a third cousin of Rabbit Proof Fence actress Natasha Wanganeen.

In 2013, Wanganeen was appointed senior coach of Pulteney Grammar School's football team.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Flanagan, M., "The Davey pacesetters", Real Footy, 9 May 2007. Retrieved on 9 May 2007.
  2. ↑ Wanganeen, Gavin (29 June 2013). "Gavin Wanganeen reflects on his indigenous history ahead of the Journey to Recognition march tomorrow". Herald Sun.
  3. ↑ Ralph, Jon (4 June 2010). "Indigenous superman Gavin Wanganeen blazed a trail". Herald Sun. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sports Card World: Tribute to Gavin Wanganeen". users.chariot.net.au. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  5. ↑ Argent, P. "Now an immortal", Koori Mail, 16 June 2010, p. 85.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2006.
  7. ↑ Gavin Wanganeen's player profile at AFL Tables
  8. ↑ "Power pair calls it quits". The Advertiser. 29 August 2009.
  9. ↑ "Ex Power captain Gavin Wanganeen's search for love". The Advertiser. 23 October 2009.
  10. ↑ Gilbertson, Matt (20 April 2013). "Former Port Adelaide AFL star Gavin Wanganeen and wife Pippa expecting first child". The Advertiser.
  11. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
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