| Gavin Wanganeen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Gavin Adrian Wanganeen | ||
| Nickname | Wanga | ||
| Born | (1973-06-18)18 June 1973 (age 52) Mount Gambier, South Australia | ||
| Original team | Salisbury North (SAAFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 12,1989 National Draft,Essendon | ||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||
| Position | Utility | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1990, 2006 | Port Adelaide (SANFL) | 27(48) | |
| 1991–1996 | Essendon | 127(64) | |
| 1997–2006 | Port Adelaide | 173 (138) | |
| Total | 327 (250) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1992–1998 | South Australia | 8 (1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Gavin Adrian Wanganeen (born 18 June 1973) is a formerAustralian rules footballer and, after retirement, artist. He played for theEssendon Football Club andPort Adelaide Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL), and also for thePort Adelaide Magpies in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL). ABrownlow Medal winner andAustralian Football Hall of Fame inductee, Wanganeen was appointed Port Adelaide's inaugural captain upon entry into the AFL in1997 and is the firstIndigenous Australian footballer to win the Brownlow Medal and reach the 300-game milestone at senior VFL/AFL level.
Since retirement, Wanganeen has taken up painting, exploring hisKokatha identity in his artwork. He was an ambassador for theAdelaide Fringe in 2019.
Gavin Adrian Wanganeen was born on 18 June 1973[1] inMount Gambier to a footballing family; his great-grandfather had played for the local team,Koonibba Football Club, at theKoonibba Mission, nearCeduna, on the west coast ofSouth Australia.[2] His family, who areKokatha people,[3] moved from Mount Gambier toPort Lincoln for a few years. When Wanganeen was five, they moved again toSalisbury, a northern suburb of Adelaide.[4]
Wanganeen played junior football forAdelaide-basedSouth Australian Amateur Football League clubSalisbury 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]
Wanganeen made his senior SANFL debut with Port Adelaide in 1990 at only 16 years of age, one of the youngest ever drafted.[5] The1990 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's1990 SANFL Grand Final win kicking two goals.[6]
Wanganeen's potential was identified early by Essendon, and after losing another South Australian star,Craig Bradley, to Carlton, Bombers coachKevin Sheedy was determined to secure Wanganeen. As he recalled in an interview forThe Football Record:
We always knew he was an exciting talent. We had spotted him very early and watched his progress through the Port Adelaide Reserves to the seniors and knew he would make the grade at AFL level. A lot of people told us he would not shift from Adelaide, but I suppose that only made us all the more determined to get him across.[7]
After doing a deal with Melbourne, Essendon secured Wanganeen with Pick number 12 in the1989 VFL Draft. Wanganeen debuted for the club in1991, Round 2 in a win against Richmond.[citation needed]
Essendon came from the clouds in1993 to win their 15th VFL/AFL premiership with a team that became known as the "Baby Bombers". Wanganeen enjoyed a special year individually, with his fearless attacking approach from defence typical of Essendon's play that season. He would end up winning the first of his fiveAll-Australian jumpers, then followed by winning the1993 Brownlow Medal, polling 18 votes (which included four counts of three votes late in the season) to edge out Carlton'sGreg Williams (who would win his second Brownlow the following season), and North Melbourne'sWayne Carey.[8] He was the firstIndigenous Australian footballer to win the Brownlow Medal.[9]
At 20 years of age, Wanganeen was the youngest winner of the League's best and fairest award since Fitzroy'sDenis Ryan in 1936.[10]
He was also a key player in South Australia'sState of Origin Carnival Championship, and Essendon's Premiership win that year. In2002, Wanganeen was voted the 19th best Essendon player of all time in the "Champions of Essendon" list.[citation needed]
Wanganeen returned to Port Adelaide in1997 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 the2000 AFL season which saw a return to his best form.[citation needed] In2003 Wanganeen was favourite to once again win the Brownlow (he finished equal second). In2004 Wanganeen won his second premiership medal inPort's first AFL premiership side. Wanganeen played his 300th AFL game in the2006 season, but then injured his right knee in an SANFL game for thePort Adelaide Magpies, which led him to retire from football.[11] Wanganeen was the first Aboriginal player to play 300 AFL games.[3]
Wanganeen found a new passion following the closure of his football career and has become an accomplishedvisual artist, with two solo exhibitions by 2018[12] and much of his artwork decorating his home in suburban Adelaide.[13]
His second exhibition,Through the Stars,[12] was part of the 2018South Australian Living Artists Festival in Adelaide.[14]
In April 2025, Wanganeeen partnered with Nordic Design Furniture, with his artwork hanging in their showroom on Magill Road,Stepney.[15]
In 2013, Wanganeen was appointed senior coach ofPulteney Grammar School's football team.[16] He also had business interests, involving ownership of threeAnytime Fitness centres atModbury, Port Adelaide, and Essendon.[17]
He served as a voluntary ambassador for the Australian branch of theWhite Ribbon Campaign, a men's campaign that tacklesviolence against women, and participated in the 2013 "Cycling for Culture" event to draw attention to the importance of language and culture to Aboriginal well-being, specifically to attract funds to contributing to the further development of theKaurna language.[17]
In February 2019, Wanganeen was appointed one of three Fringe Ambassadors for theAdelaide Fringe, where he appeared in conversation withHolly Ransom for theFringe Talk Show.[18][19]
In 2021, Wanganeen competed onAustralian Survivor: Brains V Brawn as part of the Brawn tribe.[20] After his tribe lost the immunity challenge on day 7, Wanganeen got voted out, being the third person voted out and placing 22nd.[citation needed]
In May 2023, it was announced that Wanganeen would be participating in thetwentieth series ofDancing with the Stars. He was paired with Megan Wragg.[citation needed]
TheGavin Wanganeen Indigenous Scholarship (GWIS) was established at theUniversity of South Australia in 2005 to support disadvantaged Indigenous students to complete a university degree.[17]
TheGavin Wanganeen Medal, for the Best player under 21, was instituted at PAFC in 2006.[5]
Wanganeen first married Stephanie Richards, and they share a daughter and a son,Tex,[21] who is also a footballer.[22]
Wanganeen married Pippa Hanson in July 2012[13][23] and they have four daughters together.[13]
Wanganeen is the first cousin of AFL players and brothersAaron andAlwyn Davey,[24] and a third cousin ofRabbit Proof Fence actressNatasha Wanganeen.
Wanganeen's football statistics between 1991 and 2006 are shown in the table below.[25]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | ||
# | Played in that season's premiership team |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1991 | Essendon | 4 | 18 | 12 | 13 | 155 | 89 | 244 | 39 | 38 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 8.6 | 4.9 | 13.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| 1992 | Essendon | 4 | 21 | 11 | 17 | 238 | 121 | 359 | 55 | 73 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 11.3 | 5.8 | 17.1 | 2.6 | 3.5 |
| 1993# | Essendon | 4 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 267 | 146 | 413 | 69 | 30 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 12.1 | 6.6 | 18.8 | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| 1994 | Essendon | 4 | 22 | 12 | 9 | 286 | 101 | 387 | 82 | 42 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 13.0 | 4.6 | 17.6 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| 1995 | Essendon | 4 | 23 | 10 | 10 | 267 | 124 | 391 | 60 | 27 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 11.6 | 5.4 | 17.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 |
| 1996 | Essendon | 4 | 21 | 14 | 8 | 242 | 111 | 353 | 64 | 43 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 11.5 | 5.3 | 16.8 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| 1997 | Port Adelaide | 1 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 219 | 129 | 348 | 49 | 28 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 11.0 | 6.5 | 17.4 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
| 1998 | Port Adelaide | 1 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 176 | 60 | 236 | 52 | 28 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 11.7 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 3.5 | 1.9 |
| 1999 | Port Adelaide | 1 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 193 | 92 | 285 | 59 | 15 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 12.1 | 5.8 | 17.8 | 3.7 | 0.9 |
| 2000 | Port Adelaide | 1 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 120 | 55 | 175 | 36 | 9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 12.0 | 5.5 | 17.5 | 3.6 | 0.9 |
| 2001 | Port Adelaide | 4 | 24 | 41 | 22 | 256 | 109 | 365 | 75 | 26 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 10.7 | 4.5 | 15.2 | 3.1 | 1.1 |
| 2002 | Port Adelaide | 4 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 201 | 83 | 284 | 64 | 21 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 10.1 | 4.2 | 14.2 | 3.2 | 1.1 |
| 2003 | Port Adelaide | 4 | 25 | 15 | 18 | 433 | 91 | 524 | 161 | 33 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 17.3 | 3.6 | 21.0 | 6.4 | 1.3 |
| 2004# | Port Adelaide | 4 | 19 | 24 | 10 | 193 | 103 | 296 | 86 | 17 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 10.2 | 5.4 | 15.6 | 4.5 | 0.9 |
| 2005 | Port Adelaide | 4 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 227 | 135 | 362 | 75 | 29 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 9.9 | 5.9 | 15.7 | 3.3 | 1.3 |
| 2006 | Port Adelaide | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Career | 300 | 202 | 149 | 3473 | 1558 | 5031 | 1027 | 460 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 11.6 | 5.2 | 16.8 | 3.4 | 1.5 | ||
| 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 | |
Team
Individual
Team
Individual
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |