Tom Downie (born 27 April 1993) is a former 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 who played for the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

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). A ruckman standing , he was recruited by the club in the 2011 national draft with the 56th pick overall. Downie made his debut in round 20,

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 ...

against at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...

. He played a total of nine AFL games—one in 2013, seven in 2015, and one in 2016—before announcing his retirement in May 2017 in order to deal with mental health issues.

Early life

Before he started his professional football career, Downie played for Australia in the under-17 basketball world championships in 2010. He switched focus to football and played two games for the

North Ballarat Rebels The Greater Western Victoria Rebels is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Talent League, the statewide under-18s competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They recruit players from the Ballarat, Wimmera and Sou ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

in 2011, showing potential as a ruckman but needing time to develop into a stronger AFL player. He was drafted by with the 56th pick in the 2011 national draft.

Career

Downie was inconsistent in 2012, playing for Greater Western Sydney's reserves side in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL ) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural ...

. He went into 2013 out of contract and in doubt over whether he'd be at the club any longer, but he improved his form and earned both an AFL debut in round 20 against and a contract extension. In 2014 his contract was again extended, keeping him at the Giants until at least the end of 2016. Through the rest of Downie's career, he was only ever used in the AFL as a replacement ruckman for when

Shane Mumford Shane Mumford (born 5 July 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who most recently played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has also previously played for the Geelong Football ...

was injured. His inexperience at the top level showed and, in general, the Giants suffered when Mumford wasn't available. Downie had been suffering from anxiety and taking medication for it, but in 2016 he decided to wean himself off of it, thinking that he had recovered and no longer needed it. In a pre-season game in 2017 Downie walked off the ground having a severe panic attack. Due to a struggle with anxiety, he was then moved to Greater Western Sydney's long-term injury list before deciding to leave football altogether. Downie made a comeback to football in

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 ...

, joining the

Old Scotch Football Club The Old Scotch Football Club, nicknamed the Cardinals, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, Victoria, Camberwell. It affiliated with the List of Old Scotch Collegians, Old Scotch Collegians Association ...

in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...

(VAFA). He was awarded the GT Moore Medal for the

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 ...

player in

Premier B Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, finishing with 27 votes. He was then recruited by VFL team Williamstown and, up until the end of 2022, has played 22 games and kicked 6 goals, winning the Gerry Callahan Medal for the best and fairest player for Williamstown in 2022 and making the VFL Team-of-the-Year.

Personal life

After quitting the AFL, Downie went through a "very dark time", but he recovered and went on to work with trouble children at his local

Police Citizens Youth Club Police & Community Youth Clubs (PCYC) or Police and Community Youth Clubs is a network of Australian non-profit, community organisations, founded in New South Wales. In some states such as NSW, they are constituted as an Incorporated Association. ...

and encourage men suffering from poor mental health to speak out.

Statistics

''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2017 season''Tom Downie's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 44 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 3 , , 1 , , 4 , , 1 , , 5 , , 2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 44 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0 , , 15 , , 30 , , 45 , , 18 , , 26 , , 154 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.1 , , 4.3 , , 6.4 , , 2.6 , , 3.7 , , 22.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 44 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 2 , , 3 , , 5 , , 2 , , 2 , , 20 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 20.0 , - ! colspan=3, Career ! 9 ! 2 ! 0 ! 20 ! 34 ! 54 ! 21 ! 33 ! 176 ! 0.2 ! 0.0 ! 2.2 ! 3.8 ! 6.0 ! 2.3 ! 3.7 ! 19.6

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Downie, Tom 1993 births Living people Greater Western Sydney Giants players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Greater Western Victoria Rebels players Williamstown Football Club players People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat