Chad Warner (born 19 May 2001) is an

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 who plays for the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

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). He was recruited by the

with the 39th draft pick in the

2019 AFL draft The 2019 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2019 AFL season. Key dates Mid-season rookie draft The first mid ...

Early football

Warner played for the Willetton Junior Football Club in his home suburb of Willetton in

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 played for

East Fremantle East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

in the

Western 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 ...

colts division for the 2019 season, playing 9 games and kicking 8 goals. He also represented Western Australia in the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...

. He also played football for his school

Aquinas College, Perth Aquinas College, informally known as Aquinas or AC, is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Single-sex education, single-sex Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary Day school, day a ...

in the

Public Schools Association Established in 1905 the Public Schools Association, or the PSA, is an association of seven independent boys schools in Perth, Western Australia. The term "public school" references the historical usage of the term and the model of the British p ...

. His father Travis Warner, and grandfather Graeme Warner, both played football for the Nhill Football Club in the

Wimmera Football League The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat, Victoria, A ...

. Travis moved to Perth in the late 1990s to play for South Fremantle 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), playing 34 games in three seasons.

AFL career

Debut Seasons (2020–2021)

Warner debuted in the Swans' eight point loss to the

Richmond Tigers The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, the club comp ...

in the 6th round of the

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th 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 ...

, alongside teammate Dylan Stephens. On his debut, Warner picked up 8 disposals, 2 marks and 2 tackles. After a great start to the

2021 AFL season The 2021 AFL season was the 125th 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 ...

, Warner received a

2021 AFL Rising Star The NAB AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a standout young player in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules footba ...

nomination after he kicked 2 goals, collected 20 disposals and had 417 metres gained in a career best performance against in Round 3. He re-signed with the club the day he received his nomination, keeping him at the club until 2023. The following week saw him named as one of the Swans' best after he collected 23 disposals, his highest total in a game to that point. In 2021 Warner missed Round 13 due to leg soreness. He returned in their 1-point loss to in Week 1 of the Finals.

Rise (2022–2023)

Warner started the 2022 season by missing the opening round with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

but he played the next game and was the one who kicked the ball to

Lance Franklin Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013 and the Sydn ...

when he kicked his 1000th goal. He then enjoyed a breakout 2022 season with his incredible burst and impact per touch immediately marking him as one of the best young players of the competition. AFL journalist Damian Barrett spoke many times about the high esteem he places him in, even counting him a certainty to win the Brownlow at some stage. His incredible season was awarded when he was included in the

All Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

Squad and was the runner-up in the

Bob Skilton Medal The Bob Skilton Medal is an annual Australian rules football award presented to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Sydney Swans (formerly the South Melbourne Football Club) throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Foot ...

. He was the clear best on ground for the

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

in their grand final loss. In Round 5 of the 2023 season Warner played his first game alongside his younger brother Corey Warner in which Corey kicked his first goal. In ’s Indigenous Round clash with Warner stepped up collecting 29 disposals and kicking 2 goals to be awarded with the Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal for Best on Ground in the game. Warner finished the 2023 season after playing 21 out of a possible 24 games for and polling his teams’ second most Brownlow votes with 16 on the night. His poll was only behind fellow young gun

Errol Gulden Errol Gulden (born 18 July 2002) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Gulden is a dual All-Australian team, All-Australian and won the Bob Skilton Medal in 2023. He ...

who polled 27.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of Round 20 2025''. , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 9 , , 5 , , 14 , , 3 , , 3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.5 , , 2.5 , , 7.0 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 13 , , 8 , , 5 , , 135 , , 81 , , 216 , , 31 , , 48 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 10.3 , , 6.2 , , 16.6 , , 2.3 , , 3.6 , , 1 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 24 , , 20 , , 24 , , 327 , , 220 , , 547 , , 80 , , 97 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 13.6 , , 9.2 , , 22.8 , , 3.3 , , 4.0 , , 12 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 21 , , 15 , , 15 , , 309 , , 209 , , 518 , , 65 , , 90 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 14.7 , , 10.0 , , 24.7 , , 3.1 , , 4.3 , , 16 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 25 , , 35 , , 19 , , 361 , , 226 , , 587 , , 104 , , 79 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 14.4 , , 9.0 , , 23.4 , , 4.1 , , 3.1 , , 23 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 1 , 19 , , 17 , , 19 , , 279 , , 139 , , 418 , , 70 , , 68 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 14.6 , , 7.3 , , 22.0 , , 3.6 , , 3.5 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 104 !! 95 !! 82 !! 1420 !! 880 !! 2300 !! 353 !! 385 !! 0.9 !! 0.7 !! 13.6 !! 8.4 !! 22.1 !! 3.3 !! 3.7 !! 52

Family

Warner is the older brother of fellow Swans player Corey Warner.

Honours and achievements

Team *

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

(

) Individual * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2021 (round 3) *

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

* 2x Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal: 2023, 2024 * Brett Kirk Medal: 2025 (game 1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Chad 2001 births Living people Sydney Swans players All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People educated at Aquinas College, Perth 21st-century Australian sportsmen