Wayne Weidemann (born 21 October 1966) 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

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

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). The “Weed” as he was fondly known as, was a highly underrated player, often showing strength, agility, versatility and ability in directing play up forward or back.

Early life

Weidemann, the son of

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

player Peter Weidemann, was originally from Fish Creek in the

South Gippsland South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. It is part of the larger Gippsland Basin bioreg ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. here are they now? WeidemannBy Katrina Gill 22 March 22, 2016 He began playing Under-8s for the Fish Creek Football Club. As a teenager he was scouted by St Kilda and played trail matches. In 1988 also trained with Richmond and Collingwood. However he was not selected in the

1988 VFL Draft The 1988 VFL draft, held on 9 November 1988, was the third annual national draft held by the Victorian Football League (now known as the Australian Football League). It consisted of a pre-season draft and a national draft. In 1988 there were 112 ...

. Hoping to be picked up by the struggling Sydney Swans through regional zoning, he moved to Canberra and played with the

Eastlake Football Club The Eastlake Demons (formerly known as the Canberra Demons) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Australian Foo ...

. During this time he made the ACT representative squad. It was there that he was recruited by

Woodville-West Torrens Football Club Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The club was formed in 1990 from a merger of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football club ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) where he spent the 1990 season.

AFL career

In 1991 he was invited to train with the AFL's Adelaide Crows, though still eligible for the draft, the Crows did not take him in the 1991 AFL Draft however he was kept on their list and made his AFL debut against Hawthorn at

Waverley Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) is an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. The first venue to be designed and built specifically for Australian Rules football, for most of its history, its pu ...

in Round 16. Weidemann played 68 AFL games between

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 ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and kicked 26 goals. Nicknamed "Weed", Weidemann was a fearsome looking character with long blond hair and a fierce stare reminiscent of a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

warrior. He had a cult following amongst Adelaide fans, and the collective cry of "Weed" could be heard whenever he went near the ball during an Adelaide home game. Rumours of internal disgruntled selection table members for three years constantly created disharmony for the AAT panel and the AFL courtesy of Weidemann's omission from the team.

Post-AFL

After his retirement from the AFL, he coached SANFL club West Adelaide, before being sacked from the position in 2007. Prior to coaching West Adelaide, he played at SAAFL club Kilburn then was player coach at SAAFL division one club Gaza, where they were Premiers in 2003, their Centenary year. Weidemann was an assistant coach at Devonport in the Tasmanian Statewide Football League, winning a

William Leitch Medal The William Leitch Medal, named after the highly regarded former Australian rules player and Tasmanian Football Administrator William Douglas Leitch (1863–1943), was an annual award which was presented to the best and fairest player in the TANF ...

in 1998. Weidemann also coached the Coolamon Rovers Football club in the

Riverina Football League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footba ...

from 1999 to 2001, taking them to two Grand Finals and one Premiership during his tenure. In 2010, Weidemann was coach at

South Australian Amateur Football League The Adelaide Footy League (AdFL), formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL), is a semi-professional Australian rules football competition based in Adelaide, South Australia. Comprising sixty-seven member clubs play ...

(SAAFL) Division Two club PHOS Camden. Although Wayne got the side back into Division 1, Weidemann parted ways with PHOS and signed as coach of the struggling Broadview Football Club Division 1 A Grade side in 2013 also re-signing in 2014. He replaced former SANFL player Phil Harrison. Broadview are continuing to struggle in Division 1 as they have been plagued with injuries. Weidemann has come into Broadview in 2013 with other new Coaching staff including former Port Adelaide player and two time SANFL Magarey Medallist Damian Squire and Mark Kemp.PhantomsFC
/ref> Wayne, along with Squire and Kemp, moved to coach Walkerville Football Club for the 2017 season and were reappointed for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Since 2021 Wayne's son Jake plays for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL, he is the current vice captain

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weidemann, Wayne Adelaide Football Club players Devonport Football Club players Woodville-West Torrens Football Club players West Adelaide Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from South Australia William Leitch Medal winners 1966 births Living people