Alwyn Davey

Alwyn Davey, Jr. (born 15 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) between 2007 and 2013.

Alwyn Davey
Personal information
Full name Alwyn Davey
Date of birth (1984-05-15) 15 May 1984
Place of birth Darwin, Northern Territory
Original team(s) South Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft No. 36, 2006 national draft
Height 174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2007–2013 Essendon 100 (120)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Davey is of Indigenous Australian descent with tribal ancestry that can be traced to the Kokatha people in South Australia[1] Alwyn was born to mother Lizzie,[2] named after father Alwyn Davey[3] and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Davey played his junior football in darwin. His father died when he was eight years old.[3]

Davey moved to Adelaide to play football semi-professionally with South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Davey first attracted the attention of AFL talent scouts after the impressive first and second seasons of his brother Aaron for the Melbourne Football Club.

In the 2006 pre-season, Alwyn was invited to train with his brother at Melbourne, and many believed that the club would take a chance on him. The Demons already had a crumbing forward in Aaron and many clubs were averse to drafting short players. Furthermore, by the time of the draft, Alwyn had turned 22. Most draftees are taken at just 18, making him considered old for the national draft. Most therefore had picked Alwyn Davey to be taken by Melbourne as with a rookie selection.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy had become particularly interested in the progress of Aaron Davey and since the success of Andrew Lovett, fast indigenous players in general. Davey was drafted by the Bombers in the 3rd round of the 2006 AFL Draft.

Career

2007

Davey made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2007 season, making an immediate impression and played in every game until Round 14.

He has featured several times amongst the Bombers' best including an outstanding ANZAC Day match. In his first 5 AFL matches he got an incredible 5 goal of the year nominations including 2 on ANZAC Day.

Davey became known for his explosive speed. He has been known to take 2.75 secs to run from 0–20 metres. This is thought to be the fastest in the league, even more than speedster Chris Judd. From debut, Davey became one of the shortest players in the AFL.

He quickly earned a cult following at Essendon, gaining the nickname is "Froggy", due to his appearance.

During the round 14 game against Geelong, he suffered a broken arm when crashed into while on the ground by Kane Tenace. The injury forced Davey to miss the rest of the season, and Essendon's form slumped during the period that he was on the sidelines, eventually missing the finals.

At the end of the 2007 AFL season, Alwyn won the AFL Army Award, recognising players who produce act(s) of bravery or selflessness to promote the cause of his team, during a game for his smother and 2nd and 3rd efforts against Hawthorn in round 6. He had 3 of the final 6 nominations in the award.[4]

2008

While running at training after round Four in 2008, Davey twisted and injured his right knee when changing direction, requiring immediate surgery and making him unavailable for the rest of the season because this would require him to miss between 6 and 12 months. Despite the injury, Davey continued to train but coach Matthew Knights did not risk him.

2009

In 2009, his defensive pressure in the forward line has been a welcome return to the Essendon squad, currently leading the tackle count.

2013

In 2013, Essendon Football Club announced that Alwyn Davey would not be offered a contract for the 2014 AFL season.

Post-AFL

Davey, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his team-mates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal,[5] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in December 2017; as a result, he served approximately seventeen months of his suspension and missed the 2016 winter season and parts of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 summer seasons.[6]

Personal life

Alwyn and Aaron Davey are cousins of Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen.[3] Alwyn was named after his father.[3]

Statistics
[7][8]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2007 Essendon29141510946716146541.10.76.74.811.53.33.92
2008 Essendon2955133387110231.00.26.67.614.22.04.60
2009 Essendon2920141314113127248870.70.67.06.613.62.44.41
2010 Essendon2916221410410320734861.40.96.56.412.92.15.40
2011 Essendon2914168746814229631.10.65.34.910.12.14.50
2012 Essendon291729211217920033661.71.27.14.611.81.93.90
2013 Essendon29141912785513325461.40.95.63.99.51.83.30
Career 100 120 79 645 541 1186 225 425 1.2 0.8 6.5 5.4 11.9 2.3 4.3 3

References
  1. AFL Record, Round 9, 2009, Slattery Publishing, p 75.
  2. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/aaron-davey-considers-leaving-melbourne/story-e6frf9jf-1225780945073
  3. Flanagan, M., "The Davey pacesetters", Real Footy, 9 May 2007. Retrieved on 9 May 2007.
  4. "Davey honoured by Army Award nod".
  5. Twomey, Callum (31 March 2015). "Thirty-four present and former Bombers cleared of all drug charges". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. "Alwyn Davey statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  8. "Alwyn Davey of the Essendon Bombers Career AFL Stats". Retrieved 1 October 2012.
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