Aaron Davey (born 10 June 1983) is a former Australian Football League (AFL) who represented the Melbourne Football Club between 2004 and 2013. He is currently the Senior Coach of the Cairns City Lions, where he also served as a Player-Coach.

Aaron Davey
Photographed in March 2007
Personal information
Full name Aaron Davey
Date of birth (1983-06-10) 10 June 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Darwin, Northern Territory[1]
Original team(s) Port Melbourne (VFL)
Draft No. 3, 2004 Rookie Draft, Melbourne
Height 177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 74 kg (163 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2004–2013 Melbourne 178 (174)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2005–2009 Indigenous All-Stars 3
International team honours
2005–2006 Australia 4
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2006.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Davey was the runner-up in the AFL Rising Star award in 2004 and represented Australia in the International Rules Series against Ireland in 2005 and 2006.

Early years

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Davey, who is of Indigenous Australian ancestry with roots in the Kokatha people of South Australia,[2] was raised in Darwin, Northern Territory. He is one of five siblings, including his brother Alwyn, who played for Essendon.

Davey began playing football in the Northern Territory Football League for the Palmerston Football Club.[3] He later moved to Melbourne to pursue an AFL career and trialled with the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League.

In 2003, Davey was overlooked in the AFL draft but was selected by the Melbourne Football Club with Pick No. 3 in the rookie draft.

AFL career

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Debut Season: 2004

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Davey made his AFL debut for Melbourne in the 2004 season, where he quickly gained attention with a goal and 13 possessions in his first match. His performances throughout the season earned him an AFL Rising Star nomination, though a hamstring injury sidelined him for four games before returning for the finals.

At the end of the season, he won the AFLPA best first year player.[4]

Season 2005

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In 2005, Davey played all 22 games and represented Australia in the International Rules Series. He finished third in Melbourne's Best and Fairest award and won the AFLPA Marn grook Award for Best Emerging Indigenous Player.

Season 2006

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Davey played across multiple positions, including forward, midfield, and backline. He gained attention for his pace and versaitility and earned three Goal of the Year nominations, including two consecutive, soccer-style goals.[5]

Seasons 2007-2010

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In 2007, Davey was suspeneded for two games for striking.[6] He struggled with injuries in 2008 but had a standout 2009 season after being moved into the midfield under new coach Dean Bailey. That year, he won Melbourne's Best and Fairest award, the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal. In 2010, Davey finished fourth in Melbourne's Best and Fairest and was Melbourne's equal leading vote-getter at the Brownlow Medal.

Retirement

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Davey announced his retirement on 20 August 2013 and played his final AFL game on 1 September 2013 against the Western Bulldogs.

Statistics

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[7]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2004 Melbourne 36 19 28 20 131 50 181 21 50 1.5 1.1 6.9 2.6 9.5 1.1 2.6 0
2005 Melbourne 36 23 30 32 198 81 279 49 71 1.3 1.4 8.6 3.5 12.1 2.1 3.1 0
2006 Melbourne 36 22 37 15 253 74 327 79 63 1.7 0.7 11.5 3.4 14.9 3.6 2.9 2
2007 Melbourne 36 18 24 13 200 58 258 57 70 1.3 0.7 11.1 3.2 14.3 3.2 3.9 2
2008 Melbourne 36 15 11 10 164 73 237 48 44 0.7 0.7 10.9 4.9 15.8 3.2 2.9 0
2009 Melbourne 36 22 9 8 357 147 504 60 90 0.4 0.4 16.2 6.7 22.9 2.7 4.1 6
2010 Melbourne 36 20 8 9 289 98 387 45 75 0.4 0.5 14.5 4.9 19.4 2.3 3.8 10
2011 Melbourne 36 11 5 7 127 50 177 29 31 0.5 0.6 11.5 4.5 16.1 2.6 2.8 0
2012 Melbourne 36 8 7 3 51 33 84 13 37 0.9 0.4 6.4 4.1 10.5 1.6 4.6 0
2013 Melbourne 36 20 15 12 162 53 215 39 42 0.8 0.6 8.1 2.7 10.8 2.0 2.1 2
Career 178 174 129 1932 717 2649 440 573 1.0 0.7 10.9 4.0 14.9 2.5 3.2 22

Honours and achievements

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Media appearances

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Davey made an appearance on the AFL Players Revue of the Grand Final edition of The AFL Footy Show doing a Michael Jackson impersonation.

In 2009, Davey appeared alongside other AFL footballers in an AFL television advertisement titled "AFL: In a League of its Own”, which featured prominent AFL players playing Australian rules football at famous sporting venues around the world, and in the middle of other sports being played, including basketball, Association football and American football. In the advertisement, Davey receives a handball from Brett Deledio on a basketball court, before proceeding to kick the ball to Chris Judd.[8]

Davey is a frequent panellist on The Marngrook Footy Show.

Personal life and family

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Davey is the older brother of Alwyn Davey, who played for Essendon, and is related to Brownlow Medallist, Gavin Wanganeen, and NBA player Patrick Mills.[9]

His sister, Bronwyn, was part of the first AFL Women's Draft, playing for the Melbourne Football Club's women's team recruited from Greenacres, South Australia.[10]

Charitable work

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In 2005, Davey became an ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation.[11] In 2013, he participated in Coastrek, running 50km to raise funds for the foundation and to raise awareness about the health issues affecting Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander communities.[11]

References

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  1. ^ VIBE Australia Archived 11 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ AFL Record. Round 9, 2009. Slattery Publishing. pg 75.
  3. ^ "Aaron Davey - Legend | AFL Northern Territory". www.aflnt.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Aaron Davey timeline". melbournefc.com.au. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Just give Aaron the car now!" aboriginalfootball.com.au 12 July 2006. URL accessed 7 September 2006
  6. ^ Matthews, Bruce (17 July 2007). "Strike costs Davey two matches". Herald Sun.
  7. ^ Aaron Davey Player Profile at AFL Tables Archived 22 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "AFL Commercial 2009 - In A League Of It's [sic] Own - HD". YouTube. ALZ. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Lions News". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  10. ^ Twomey, Callum (15 May 2013). "Pearce the first pick in AFL's inaugural women's draft". Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Davey set to trek for awareness". www.heraldsun.com.au. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
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