Andrew Dunkley (born 29 June 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also represented Victoria in

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco O ...

in 1998.

AFL career

Dunkley played most of his career at full-back at a time when champion forwards such as

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and various others graced the field. He was renowned for his competitiveness as well as his ordinary kicking skills. Dunkley was selected to play for the Swans in the

1996 AFL Grand Final The 1996 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Sydney Swans, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1996. It was the 100th annual Grand Fi ...

, but took the field in controversial circumstances. On the Wednesday before the Grand Final, Dunkley was reported on video evidence – which was still relatively uncommon practice at the time – for striking 's

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...

in the previous week's preliminary final. On the Thursday, Sydney successfully obtained a Supreme Court injunction to prevent the case from being heard until after the Grand Final, with the judge ruling that requiring Dunkley to face the tribunal only one day after learning of the charge and two days before the Grand Final would deny him natural justice and deny him the time required to prepare a defence. Consequently, Dunkley was free to play. When Dunkley ultimately faced the tribunal, he was suspended for three weeks.

Post-AFL and personal life

After finishing his AFL career, Dunkley moved back to Victoria with his family where he played for and coached Leongatha Football Club. He is married to Lisa and has one daughter

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who plays for the Queensland Firebirds in the Super Netball League, and two sons -

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive ( hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym o ...

who currently plays for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of t ...

in the AFL and Kyle also played AFL for the Melbourne Football Club.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkley, Andrew 1968 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Sydney Swans players Victorian State of Origin players North Launceston Football Club players