Aaron Davey (born 10 June 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who represented the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

between 2004 and 2013. Davey was a runner-up in the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...

award in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...

against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Early years

Davey, who is of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

ancestry with roots in the Kokatha people of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, 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 The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated a ...

for the Palmerston Football Club. He later moved to Melbourne to pursue an AFL career and trialed with the

Port Melbourne Football Club The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) – ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

. In 2003, Davey was selected by the

with Pick No. 3 in the rookie draft. He began his AFL career in 2004.

AFL career

Debut Season: 2004

Davey made his AFL debut for Melbourne in the 2004 season. In his first match, he scored a goal and 13 possessions. He earned an

nomination, but 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.

Season 2005

In 2005, Davey played 22 games and represented Australia in the

. He finished third in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's Best and Fairest award and won the AFLPA

Marn Grook , or (also spelt ''Marn Gook'') is the popular collective name for traditional Indigenous Australian football games played at gatherings and celebrations by sometimes more than 100 players. From the Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurun ...

Award for Best Emerging Indigenous Player.

Season 2006

Davey played across multiple positions, including forward, midfield, and backline. He earned three Goal of the Year nominations, including two consecutive, soccer-style goals.

Seasons 2007-2010

In 2007, Davey was suspended for two games for striking. He was injured in 2008, and then moved into the midfield under new coach Dean Bailey in 2009. In 2009 he won Melbourne's Best and Fairest award, the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Davey finished fourth in Melbourne's Best and Fairest and was Melbourne's equal leading vote-getter at the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

Retirement

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

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

Statistics

: , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 19 , , 28 , , 20 , , 131 , , 50 , , 181 , , 21 , , 50 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , 6.9 , , 2.6 , , 9.5 , , 1.1 , , 2.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 23 , , 30 , , 32 , , 198 , , 81 , , 279 , , 49 , , 71 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , 8.6 , , 3.5 , , 12.1 , , 2.1 , , 3.1 , , 0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 22 , , 37 , , 15 , , 253 , , 74 , , 327 , , 79 , , 63 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 11.5 , , 3.4 , , 14.9 , , 3.6 , , 2.9 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 18 , , 24 , , 13 , , 200 , , 58 , , 258 , , 57 , , 70 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 11.1 , , 3.2 , , 14.3 , , 3.2 , , 3.9 , , 2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 15 , , 11 , , 10 , , 164 , , 73 , , 237 , , 48 , , 44 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 10.9 , , 4.9 , , 15.8 , , 3.2 , , 2.9 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 22 , , 9 , , 8 , , 357 , , 147 , , 504 , , 60 , , 90 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 16.2 , , 6.7 , , 22.9 , , 2.7 , , 4.1 , , 6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 20 , , 8 , , 9 , , 289 , , 98 , , 387 , , 45 , , 75 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 14.5 , , 4.9 , , 19.4 , , 2.3 , , 3.8 , , 10 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 11 , , 5 , , 7 , , 127 , , 50 , , 177 , , 29 , , 31 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 11.5 , , 4.5 , , 16.1 , , 2.6 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 8 , , 7 , , 3 , , 51 , , 33 , , 84 , , 13 , , 37 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 6.4 , , 4.1 , , 10.5 , , 1.6 , , 4.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 36 , , 20 , , 15 , , 12 , , 162 , , 53 , , 215 , , 39 , , 42 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 8.1 , , 2.7 , , 10.8 , , 2.0 , , 2.1 , , 2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, 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

*Individual ** Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal: 2009 ** AFL Rising Star Runner-up: 2004 ** AFL Rising Star Nominee: 2004 (Round 1) ** Australian Representative Honours in

International Rules Football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

: 2005, 2006, 2013 ** Harold Ball Memorial Trophy: 2004 ** AFLPA Marn Grook Award: 2005 ** Indigenous All-Stars Representative Honours: 2007, 2009, 2013

Media appearances

Davey made an appearance on the AFL Players Revue of the Grand Final edition of ''

The AFL Footy Show ''The Footy Show'' was an Australian sports and variety entertainment television program which aired on the Nine Network. The show was dedicated to the Australian Football League (AFL) and Australian rules football. The show featured a panel ...

'' doing a

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

impersonation. Davey is a frequent panelist on

The Marngrook Footy Show ''The Marngrook Footy Show'' was a sport panel show broadcast in Australia focusing on Australian rules football and aimed at Indigenous viewers. Debuting on television in 2007 after 10 years on radio, the show first aired on NITV and on Chan ...

Personal life and family

Davey is the older brother of Alwyn Davey, who played for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

, and is related to

list, Gavin Wanganeen, and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Patrick Mills Patrick Sammie Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian ( Kokatha and Dauareb-Meriam) professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mills was born and raised in Canberra, and is ...

. 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.

Charitable work

In 2005, Davey became an ambassador for

The Fred Hollows Foundation The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-profit aid organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which was founded in 1992, by eye surgeon Fred Hollows. The foundation focuses on treating and preventing blindness and other vision problems in people an ...

. 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 Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

communities.

References

External links

* *
Vibe article on Aaron Davey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davey, Aaron 1983 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club players Palmerston Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Casey Demons players Australia international rules football team players Port Adelaide Magpies players Sandringham Football Club players West Preston Football Club players Wodonga Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory 21st-century Australian sportsmen