Warwick John Hadfield OAM is an Australian

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

, songwriter, playwright, author and poet. Hadfield was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 1997, he moved to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

when his wife Alison Hadfield took up a senior management role at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

where with Professor Pip Hamilton she helped create and raise the University's research profile. After completing high school, he spent ten years working in the New South Wales public service. His love of sport led to Hadfield to working for local

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

newspapers and the AAP, covering grade cricket in Sydney. He moved to England and worked for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' covering sport. On returning to Australia, Hadfield was employed as a journalist with ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' in the 1980s and early 1990s and held the positions of Chief of Staff, Editorial Writer and Chief Sports Correspondent. He covered major international sporting events involving Australian athletes and teams, including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, international cricket and rugby union. Between 1992 and 1997, he was employed as Marketing Manager for ABC Tasmania. Since 1996, he has been with

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

including The Sports Factor presenter and

RN Breakfast ''Radio National Breakfast'' and sometimes shortened to ''Breakfast'', is a national early morning news program in Australia, broadcast since 2005. The program is broadcast live in the eastern states, and on delay in other states, on the Austra ...

sports editor and presenter. Hadfield was

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

communications manager for three years. He has volunteered his expertise to several Geelong organisations – Newtown and Chilwell Cricket Club and Friends of Barwon Side Quarry in terms of administration and publicity. Hadfield stated that "Mentorship from cricket commentary doyen

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...

and learning respect from legendary AFL coach Kevin Sheedy" had inspired his sport journalism career. He founded the musical group Dancing with Socrates and it has released three EPs. In 2022, the song The Old River Knows written by Hadfield and recorded by Lindsay Field, Sam See and Glyn Mason was released. Hadfield's book ''Never Short of a Word'' contains a collection of his writing including short stories and poems. In 2019, Hadfield was awarded OAM for service to broadcast media as a journalist and to the arts, music and the community.

Books

* Cricket rebels by Chris Harte and Warwick Hadfield, Sydney, QB Books, 1985. * Sporting diets by Warwick Hadfield. Sydney, Lilyfield Publishers, 1987. * Never short of a word by Warwick Hadfield. Self published, 2012. * Sheeds: follow your dreams by Kevin Sheedy with Warwick Hadfield, Melbourne, Crown Content, 2001. * The 500 club: footy's greatest coaches by Kevin Sheedy with Warwick Hadfield. Melbourne, News Custom Publishing, 2004. * The long march: reflections from a lifetime in football by Kevin Sheedy with Warwick Hadfield. Melbourne, Slattery, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadfield, Warwick Living people Australian sports journalists ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian male songwriters Australian writers Writers from Geelong Year of birth missing (living people)