David Rhys-Jones (born 16 June 1962) is a former

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 played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

and 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). Rhys-Jones's reputation as a footballer is somewhat sullied by his regular visits to the

AFL Tribunal The AFL Tribunal is the disciplinary tribunal of the Australian Football League (AFL), an Australian rules football competition. The Tribunal regulates the conduct of players, umpires, and other officials associated with the AFL and its clubs. ...

; he currently holds the record for being the most reported player in VFL/AFL history, having had his number taken by umpires 25 times over his 13-season career. However, when fit and available, Rhys-Jones's versatility, pace and agility made him a valuable footballer; the best example being when he was given the challenging task of playing in defence on champion and AFL Hall of Famer

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club, Sydney Swans and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Born to Irish immigrant parents, ...

in the 1987 VFL Grand Final and held him goalless for the only time that season, resulting in Carlton winning its 15th VFL premiership and Rhys-Jones unanimously being awarded the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990, the competition was known as the Victorian Footbal ...

for best afield by the voting panel.

Career

Rhys-Jones began his career with South Melbourne in 1980, which relocated north becoming the Sydney Swans in 1982. He moved back south to join Carlton in 1985 after a pay dispute. He remained with Carlton until his retirement in 1992. Rhys-Jones was a superbly balanced footballer, capable of playing in multiple positions and equally adept as a goalkicking option as he was at shutting down opponents. His nullifying of

in the 1987

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

earned Rhys-Jones the

. He was awarded nine

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 ...

votes that year. In 1992, Rhys-Jones was appointed captain-coach of the North Launceston Football Club. After playing his 50th game in the 1995 winning grand final team, Rhys-Jones left to coach Frankston in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

. After three years of successive finals appearances, including two grand finals, Rhys-Jones quit Frankston to concentrate on media commitments. In 2000, he was appointed coach of

Heidelberg Football Club The Heidelberg Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Heidelberg, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League (Australia), Northern Football League. The club also has a junior side, known as the Heidelberg Junior ...

. After a run of injuries in 2001, he decided to pull on the boots himself. The tribunal ruling that he was not allowed on the field forced Rhys-Jones to give his quarter-time team addresses from behind the boundary line. The following year, he announced in his biography that he used

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

once during his playing career.

Statistics

: , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, , , , 40 , 4 , , 3 , , 4 , , 30 , , 14 , , 44 , , 10 , , , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 7.5 , , 3.5 , , 11.0 , , 2.5 , , , , 0 , - , scope=row ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, , , , 30 , 18 , , 1 , , 5 , , 175 , , 108 , , 283 , , 56 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 9.7 , , 6.0 , , 15.7 , , 3.1 , , , , 3 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, , , , 30 , 21 , , 3 , , 11 , , 186 , , 168 , , 354 , , 59 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 8.9 , , 8.0 , , 16.9 , , 2.8 , , , , 1 , - , scope=row ,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, , , , 30 , 14 , , 9 , , 6 , , 154 , , 115 , , 269 , , 58 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 11.0 , , 8.2 , , 19.2 , , 4.1 , , , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, , , , 30 , 19 , , 23 , , 13 , , 178 , , 127 , , 305 , , 64 , , , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 9.4 , , 6.7 , , 16.0 , , 3.4 , , , , 0 , - , scope=row ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, , , , 26 , 19 , , 22 , , 13 , , 156 , , 153 , , 309 , , 59 , , , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 8.2 , , 8.0 , , 16.3 , , 3.1 , , , , 2 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, , , , 26 , 17 , , 4 , , 3 , , 166 , , 134 , , 300 , , 70 , , , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 9.8 , , 7.9 , , 17.6 , , 4.1 , , , , 3 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

^# , , , , 26 , 20 , , 7 , , 4 , , 172 , , 166 , , 338 , , 64 , , 21 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 8.6 , , 8.3 , , 16.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , 9 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, , , , 26 , 19 , , 17 , , 7 , , 150 , , 111 , , 261 , , 69 , , 33 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 7.9 , , 5.8 , , 13.7 , , 3.6 , , 1.7 , , 3 , - , scope=row ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, , , , 26 , 16 , , 2 , , 3 , , 129 , , 143 , , 272 , , 69 , , 27 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 8.1 , , 8.9 , , 17.0 , , 4.3 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, , , , 26 , 8 , , 15 , , 6 , , 52 , , 46 , , 98 , , 26 , , 7 , , 1.9 , , 0.8 , , 6.5 , , 5.8 , , 12.3 , , 3.3 , , 0.9 , , 0 , - , scope=row ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, , , , 26 , 1 , , 1 , , 1 , , 3 , , 2 , , 5 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, , , , 26 , 6 , , 5 , , 2 , , 27 , , 23 , , 50 , , 8 , , 8 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 4.5 , , 3.8 , , 8.3 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 182 !! 112 !! 78 !! 1578 !! 1310 !! 2888 !! 613 !! 96 !! 0.6 !! 0.4 !! 8.7 !! 7.2 !! 15.9 !! 3.4 !! 1.4 !! 21

Honours and achievements

Team * VFL premiership player ():

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

Individual *

Personal life

Rhys-Jones married his second wife Cheri Donnelly in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 2001. They have a son and a daughter together.Herald Sun: Family battles with Cooper's insatiable hunger
/ref> Additionally, Rhys-Jones has three children from his first marriage. Rhys-Jones and wife Cheri took over the Canada Hotel on Melbourne's

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the wor ...

, in 2002, renaming it the Plough and Harrow Hotel. That year, Rhys-Jones joined a reality show on Channel 7, called '' The Club'', and he was chosen by audience votes to coach a new Australian rules football team in the

Western Region Football League The Western Football Netball League (WFNL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball league, based in the western suburbs of Melbourne. History The league was formed in 1931 as the Footscray District Football League (FDFL). ...

. The team was named the Kensington Hill Hammerheads, which Rhys-Jones coached to a premiership in its first (and only) year. Rhys-Jones lives in Melbourne.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys-Jones, David Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Sydney Swans players North Launceston Football Club players North Launceston Football Club coaches Norm Smith Medal winners 1962 births VFL/AFL premiership players Frankston Football Club coaches