Bailey Banfield (born 26 February 1998) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Banfield grew up in Broome,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He lived there until he finished Year 7 before moving to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to attend senior schooling at Scotch College.

AFL career

Overlooked in the

2016 AFL draft The 2016 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2016 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowe ...

, Banfield played for

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(WAFL), being a part of the Colts ( WAFL) premiership side in 2015 and winning their 2017

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award. He finished with 22 WAFL games for

. He was then selected by Fremantle with their first selection, fifth overall, in the 2018 AFL rookie draft. Banfield made his AFL debut for Fremantle in the opening round of the

2018 AFL season The 2018 AFL season was the 122nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

after a series of impressive pre-season games. He signed a two-year contract extension during the season, tying him to Fremantle until 2020. Banfield was elevated to Fremantle's senior list in 2019. Banfield had a standout performance during round 12 of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season was the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featur ...

, kicking a career-high four goals during Fremantle's 14-point win over the . The

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

would prove to be a career-best season for Banfield. He was named on the

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of th ...

for Fremantle's opening game of the year against the Brisbane Lions. He kicked Fremantle's first goal of the game, and collected 14 disposals during the 23-point come from behind win. He was impactful the next week against at

Marvel Stadium Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

, collecting 18 disposals and kicking two goals. His fine form throughout the season saw him ranked above average in almost every statistic. As of April 18, 2024, he was ranked the third-best wingman in the league by Champion Data, despite primarily playing as a high half-forward. After attracting interest from several

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 ...

-based clubs due to entering 2024 as an unrestricted free agent, Banfield signed a two-year extension to remain at the Dockers until at least 2026.

Personal life

Banfield married Julia Edwards in October 2024.

Statistics

AFL statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 20, 2025.'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , 41 , , 20 , , 5 , , 5 , , 162 , , 129 , , 291 , , 65 , , 81 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 8.1 , , 6.5 , , 14.6 , , 3.3 , , 4.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 41 , , 7 , , 2 , , 1 , , 39 , , 54 , , 93 , , 18 , , 30 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 5.6 , , 7.7 , , 13.3 , , 2.6 , , 4.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 41 , , 5 , , 2 , , 0 , , 26 , , 21 , , 47 , , 8 , , 18 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 5.2 , , 4.2 , , 9.4 , , 1.6 , , 3.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 41 , , 6 , , 4 , , 2 , , 29 , , 27 , , 56 , , 12 , , 14 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 4.8 , , 4.5 , , 9.3 , , 2.0 , , 2.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 41 , 23 , , 18 , , 14 , , 102 , , 41 , , 143 , , 46 , , 26 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , , 6.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 41 , 14 , , 11 , , 9 , , 89 , , 71 , , 160 , , 41 , , 16 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 6.4 , , 5.1 , , 11.4 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 41 , 22 , , 20 , , 13 , , 174 , , 140 , , 314 , , 74 , , 56 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 7.9 , , 6.4 , , 14.3 , , 3.4 , , 2.5 , - ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, , , , 41 , 16 , , 4 , , 2 , , 119 , , 82 , , 201 , , 47 , , 34 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.4 , , 5.1 , , 12.6 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 113 ! 66 ! 46 ! 740 ! 565 ! 1305 ! 311 ! 272 ! 0.6 ! 0.4 ! 6.5 ! 5.0 ! 11.5 ! 2.8 ! 2.4

WAFL statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 12, 2025.'' , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, ,

, , 51 , 2 , , 1 , , 0 , , 20 , , 18 , , 38 , , 6 , , 7 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 9.0 , , 19.0 , , 3.0 , , 3.5 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, ,

, , 34 , 20 , , 4 , , 5 , , 322 , , 162 , , 484 , , 80 , , 112 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 16.1 , , 8.1 , , 24.2 , , 4.0 , , 5.6 , - ,

, ,

Peel Thunder The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

, , 2/13 , 11 , , 9 , , 4 , , 191 , , 99 , , 290 , , 46 , , 79 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 17.3 , , 9.0 , , 26.3 , , 4.1 , , 7.1 , - ,

, ,

, , 24 , 6 , , 7 , , 8 , , 49 , , 27 , , 76 , , 22 , , 24 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 8.1 , , 4.5 , , 12.6 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , - ,

, ,

, , 24 , 3 , , 3 , , 5 , , 16 , , 10 , , 26 , , 9 , , 9 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , 5.3 , , 3.3 , , 8.6 , , 3.0 , , 3.0 , - ,

, ,

, , 55/24 , 3 , , 6 , , 4 , , 36 , , 9 , , 45 , , 17 , , 16 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 12.0 , , 3.0 , , 15.0 , , 5.7 , , 5.3 , - ,

, ,

, , 24 , 2 , , 5 , , 0 , , 15 , , 12 , , 27 , , 5 , , 11 , , 2.5 , , 0.0 , , 7.5 , , 6.0 , , 13.5 , , 2.5 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 47 ! 35 ! 26 ! 649 ! 337 ! 986 ! 185 ! 258 ! 0.7 ! 0.6 ! 13.8 ! 7.2 ! 21.0 ! 3.9 ! 5.5 Notes

References

External links

* * * *
WAFL Player Profile and Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banfield, Bailey 1998 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players Claremont Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People educated at Scotch College, Perth Peel Thunder Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen