| Andrew Embley | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Embley in the2005 AFL Grand Final | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Andrew Gerard Embley | ||
| Nickname(s) | Embers, Whack, Tickets | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-06-27)27 June 1981 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Bassendean JFC | ||
| Draft | 57th pick,1998 National Draft | ||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 91 kg (201 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Wingman | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1999–2013 | West Coast | 250 (216) | |
| International team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2004 | Australia | 2 (0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Andrew Gerard Embley (born 27 June 1981) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played with theWest Coast Eagles in theAustralian Football League (AFL). He is known for winning theNorm Smith Medal as the best player in the2006 AFL Grand Final.
Embley was born inPerth and began his career withSwan Districts in theWest Australian Football League (WAFL). He was recruited by West Coast with the 57th pick in the1998 National Draft. Embley made his debut in the first match of the1999 season, and was anAFL Rising Star nominee the following year. In 2004, he representedAustralia in theInternational Rules Series. Embley was one of West Coast's vice-captains between 2004 and 2006, and played a key part in West Coast's victory overSydney in the 2006 AFL Grand Final. He was awarded theNorm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground. Embley retired at the end of the2013 season after 250 games for the club. He also kicked 216 goals, finishing second inthe club's goal-kicking in 2003 and 2006.
Embley was born inPerth, Western Australia, to parents Maurice and Anne Embley. His father is ofAnglo-Burmese andSpanish descent and was born inRangoon, emigrating to Australia in 1964 with his family after the1962 Burmese coup and settling inVictoria Park. His mother, originally fromBallarat, is ofItalian andIrish descent. His father played reserves football forPerth, and also represented Western Australia in the 1973 national junior athletic championships inMelbourne.[1] Embley's brothers James (17 games) and Michael (8 games) have both played football for theSwan Districts Football Club.[2][3] Michael Embley also was rookie-listed by West Coast for three seasons from 2004 to 2006, but did not play a senior game for the club.[4] Along with his brothers, Embley attendedTrinity College inEast Perth, and played junior football for the Bassendean Junior Football Club. He made his WAFL debut forSwan Districts in 1998,[5] and was recruited by the West Coast Eagles with the 57th pick overall in the1998 National Draft.
Embley made his debut for West Coast in the first round of the1999 season, aWestern Derby againstFremantle, gathering nine disposals and taking three marks. He played nine games in total for the season, as well as 13 WAFL games forClaremont as part of anaffiliation with West Coast which lasted until 2000. Embley played 28 games over the next two seasons, mainly as ahalf-forward flanker, scoring 29 goals including three four-goal hauls.[6] He was nominated for the2000 AFL Rising Star for his efforts againstPort Adelaide inround 14.[7]
WithJohn Worsfold having replacedKen Judge as coach of the club prior to the start of the2002 season, Embley established himself as a regular part of the Eagles' line-up over the next two seasons, playing in losing elimination finals in both the2003 and2004 finals series. He kicked 31 goals in 2003 to finish second in the Eagles' goalkicking behindPhil Matera (62 goals). A 25-disposal, four-goal game againstCollingwood in round eight, 2003, earned him threeBrownlow Medal votes, the first of his career. Embley was named vice-captain of West Coast for the 2004 season, and also representedAustralia in that year'sInternational Rules Series.[8] Embley played 18 games for the Eagles in the2005 season, including all of the Eagles' finals and theGrand Final loss toSydney. He played 23 out of a possible 24 games in the Eagles'2006 season, playing mainly across thehalf-forward line andwings. Embley also kicked 31 goals for the season to be the club's second leading-goalkicker behindQuinten Lynch (65 goals).[9] Despite injuries late in the season, Embley played a key role in the team's successfulfinal series. He averaged 26 possessions and kicked five goals across the Eagles' three finals matches, despite playing the semi-final against theWestern Bulldogs with a paralysed vocal chord.[10] He took a game-saving mark in the preliminary final againstAdelaide in a game the Eagles won by 10 points. He was awarded the 2006Norm Smith Medal as thebest-on-ground player in the Eagles'Grand Final win overSydney for his 26-disposal, two-goal effort.[11][12]
Embley played only 13 out of a possible 24 games during the2007 season, missing seven games between rounds 6 and 12 and four games at the end of the season due to a hamstring injury.[13] He was dropped as Eagles vice-captain for the 2007 season.[14] Embley played 42 out of a possible 44 games during the2008 and2009 seasons in a shift to a more midfield role. He played his 150th game for the Eagles against theWestern Bulldogs inRound 6, 2008 in a 60-point loss, earning life membership of the club. He received three Brownlow votes for a best-on-ground performance against the Western Bulldogs inRound 19, 2009, getting 32 possessions and scoring four goals.[6][15] Embley played 20 games in2010, including his 200th game in the AFL againstAdelaide inRound 10.[16] After a strong pre-season, Embley started the2011 season with two best-on-ground efforts againstNorth Melbourne andPort Adelaide, receiving some credit for West Coast's strong start to the season after a wooden spoon the previous year.[17][18] The round eightWestern Derby againstFremantle was the only match Embley missed through the entire season, playing 24 out of a possible 25 games, and also recording several personal bests, including career-high numbers in disposals, tackles, and Brownlow votes.[6]
In the2012 NAB Cup, Embley injured his left shoulder, but played the first two games of theregular season before opting to have surgery, missing much of the Eagles' season as a result.[19] He returned to football via Swan Districts, his first WAFL match since the 2002 season.[20] Having successful tested the durability of his shoulder, Embley returned to West Coast's side for the round 20 match againstGeelong, starting as the substitute.[21] He played every remaining game of West Coast's season, recording 22 disposals and four goals in the club's elimination final defeat ofNorth Melbourne.[22] However, in the following week's qualifying final loss toCollingwood, Embley turned the ball over late in the game, resulting in a Collingwood goal, with theHerald Sun describing him as "at one of his lowest ebbs".[23] At the end of the 2012 season, he signed a further one-year extension to his contract with West Coast.[24]
In what was to be his final season at AFL level, Embley was again troubled by injury, straining a hamstring in theNAB Cup and missing another three weeks with a foot injury early in the season.[25][26] He also struggled for consistency during the season—of his eleven matches during the season, he played three consecutive matches only once.[6] Embley spent portions of the season in the WAFL, averaging 23 disposals over five games for Swan Districts.[5] When he did play for West Coast, he was often used assubstitute, especially towards the end of the season.[27] Embley announced his retirement towards the end of the 2013 season, retiring at the same time asAdam Selwood, a premiership teammate.[28] The pair, who had not been regular selections in the team throughout the season, were selected for what was described as "farewell game" in the team's final match of the season, at home against Adelaide.[29] The match was Embley's 250th at AFL level, and he became the seventh West Coast player to reach that milestone.[30]
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 | |||||
| 1999 | West Coast | 32 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 41 | 17 | 58 | 17 | 4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0 |
| 2000 | West Coast | 32 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 87 | 42 | 129 | 47 | 19 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 6.7 | 3.2 | 9.9 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2001 | West Coast | 32 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 94 | 78 | 172 | 60 | 12 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 11.5 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2002 | West Coast | 32 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 122 | 64 | 186 | 66 | 34 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 6.8 | 3.6 | 10.3 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 2003 | West Coast | 32 | 19 | 31 | 19 | 237 | 105 | 342 | 104 | 28 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 12.5 | 5.5 | 18.0 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 5 |
| 2004 | West Coast | 32 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 211 | 112 | 323 | 89 | 45 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 12.4 | 6.6 | 19.0 | 5.2 | 2.6 | 4 |
| 2005 | West Coast | 32 | 18 | 24 | 21 | 260 | 115 | 375 | 102 | 37 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 14.4 | 6.4 | 20.8 | 5.7 | 2.1 | 8 |
| 2006 | West Coast | 32 | 23 | 31 | 29 | 313 | 130 | 443 | 138 | 33 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 13.6 | 5.7 | 19.3 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 5 |
| 2007 | West Coast | 32 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 166 | 100 | 266 | 65 | 23 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 12.3 | 7.7 | 20.5 | 5.0 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2008 | West Coast | 32 | 21 | 7 | 13 | 311 | 181 | 492 | 156 | 41 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 14.8 | 8.6 | 23.4 | 7.4 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2009 | West Coast | 32 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 292 | 180 | 472 | 102 | 53 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 13.9 | 8.6 | 22.5 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 4 |
| 2010 | West Coast | 32 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 264 | 200 | 464 | 105 | 69 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 13.2 | 10.0 | 23.2 | 5.3 | 3.5 | 3 |
| 2011 | West Coast | 32 | 24 | 17 | 19 | 312 | 206 | 518 | 113 | 104 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 13.0 | 8.6 | 21.2 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 11 |
| 2012 | West Coast | 32 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 97 | 42 | 139 | 31 | 16 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 12.1 | 5.3 | 17.4 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2013 | West Coast | 32 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 101 | 41 | 142 | 34 | 21 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 9.2 | 3.7 | 12.9 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 0 |
| Career | 250 | 216 | 182 | 2908 | 1613 | 4521 | 1229 | 539 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 11.6 | 6.5 | 18.1 | 4.9 | 2.2 | 40 | ||
Embley married Rayne Bryant, the daughter ofKevin Bryant, who played forEast Perth andNorth Melbourne, in December 2006. After 10 years of marriage the couple separated. The couple have three children together, a daughter and two sons.[32][33][34]
Embley co-owned restaurant,Beluga, inClaremont, withDean Cox, which opened in April 2011.[35][36] He is working with Catalano's Seafood in Perth, in sales and doing regular cooking demonstrations.
Embley is currently part ofTriple M Perth Rush Hour Drive show with Katie Lamb and the Triple M Perth AFL call team withLachie Reid,Dennis Cometti andXavier Ellis and producer Tom Atkinson.
Embley married Caitlyn Fogarty on 5 November 2021 in Perth. She is the daughter of businessman Brett Fogarty and 2020 West Australian Australian of the Year Annie Fogarty.[37] Fogarty leads the family'sFogarty Foundation supporting education program in Western Australia. In August 2022, the couple announced the birth of their daughter Francesca Anne.
