Sam Davidson (born 13 December 2001) 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 with 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 ...

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 and education

Davidson grew up in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and attended St Kevin’s College. He grew up playing junior football for East Brighton Vampires and Ormond in the South Metro Junior Football League. Davidson grew up a

supporter, watching from the stands during the drought-breaking

2016 AFL Grand Final The 2016 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between and the at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. It was the 121st annual AFL Grand Final, Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the V ...

. He enrolled in a medical degree at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, playing local football at St Kevin’s Old Boys, Sale City,

Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agricu ...

and South Mildura due to rural Hospital placements until 2024, when he made the decision to alter his studies five out of six years into the degree to pursue an AFL career. He then played for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in the VFL in

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 ...

winning the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the most talented young player in the competition.

AFL career

Davidson was selected at Pick 51 in 2024 national draft as mature aged recruit by the same club he had supported since childhood, the Western Bulldogs. Even attending a match, the same day he had a pre-draft interview with the club. He impressed and showed his talent in a pre-season game against collecting 29 disposals and a goal. Due to these impressive performances he made his debut in round 1 of the

2025 AFL season The 2025 AFL season is the 129th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season features 18 clubs and will run from 7 March to 27 September, comprisi ...

. On debut, Davidson kicked a goal and had 10 disposals. In only his third game, an 8 point win over , he was judged amongst the best on ground, with a 31 disposal game.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Sam 2001 births Living people Western Bulldogs players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne People from the City of Bayside