David Rodan

David Rodan (born 8 October 1983) is a Fijian Australian rules footballer goal umpire and a retired professional who played for the Richmond Tigers, Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons.

David Rodan
Rodan with Port Adelaide in 2011
Personal information
Full name David Rodan
Date of birth (1983-10-08) 8 October 1983
Place of birth Fiji
Original team(s) Calder Cannons (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 33, 2001 National Draft, Richmond
No. 86, 2006 National Draft, Port Adelaide
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2002–2006 Richmond 065 0(43)
2007–2012 Port Adelaide 111 0(86)
2013 Melbourne 009 00(2)
Total 185 (131)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Australia 2 (0)
Umpiring career
Years League Role Games
2017– AFL Goal umpire 18*
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Rodan is the first Fijian-born player to reach 100 AFL games.[1]

He is currently an AFL goal umpire.

Early life

David Rodan was born in Fiji[2] to mother Amelia and father David Snr, both of Tongan heritage. He spent his first year in the town of Lami near Suva. When he was three years old, his family moved to Australia.[3] His father wanted him to play rugby union, but there were no rugby clubs for juniors in his area. Instead, he tried Aussie Rules, beginning junior football with Oak Park and the Holy Child Football Club in Broadmeadows, and he developed a passion for the sport.[4]

Rodan rose through the junior ranks until dominating in the TAC Cup competition, winning back to back Morrish Medals (2000 and 2001).

AFL career

Richmond (2001 - 2006)

Rodan was recruited by AFL club Richmond at the end of 2001 at pick 33. He played every game for two years (from his debut in 2002), and was nominated for the AFL Rising Star award in his debut season and kicked 17 goals of which three were nominated for the Goal of the Year award.

Playing for Richmond, he played as a small crumbing forward along with Andrew Krakouer in the early part of his career.

He became an Australian citizen in September 2002 in order to get a passport to travel to London, England to participate in an Australian Football Exhibition Match against Essendon as his Fijian passport had expired.[5]

After the retirement of Matthew Knights, Rodan shifted into the midfield.

He did not participate in the 2005 regular season due to a severe knee injury. Rodan made a return to league football in 2006, but was delisted at the end of the season, first hearing of his sacking at the club's best and fairest function via an impromptu speech from captain Kane Johnson.[6]

Port Adelaide (2007 - 2012)
Rodan with Port Adelaide in 2007

Rodan was given a career lifeline when he was drafted by Port Adelaide with the final selection of the 2006 AFL draft.

Rodan did not miss a game in the 2007 season, which meant he played in the 2007 AFL Grand Final. He received six Brownlow Medal votes at the 2007 medal count including a best on ground 3 votes for his round 12 performance, putting him in the top 60 players in the competition.

Rodan ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in a training injury in December 2009 and was expected to miss the entire 2010 season.[7] However, following ligament augmentation and reconstruction surgery, which replaced the torn ligament with one made of polyester fibres, Rodan was able to play in round six, 2010.[8]

Melbourne (2013)

Rodan was traded to the Melbourne Football Club on 25 October 2012. Port Adelaide had initially stated that he had been delisted, but had not formally lodged the paperwork with the AFL allowing a trade to be made between Port Adelaide and Melbourne. He was traded for Pick no. 88 in the 2012 AFL Draft.

Rodan announced his retirement after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament again in Round 22 against the Adelaide Crows.

Rodan won the fourteenth season of Dancing with the Stars.[9]

West Preston- Lakeside (2015)

Rodan teamed up with the Northern Football League team West Preston Lakeside for a two-year period in 2015 and played a total of 16 games.[10][11]

VFL Goal Umpiring (2016)

In March 2016, Rodan began training as a VFL goal umpire with his intention to become an AFL-listed goal umpire by 2017. This training opportunity presented itself through the Scanlon Foundation's assistance to introduce people of more indigenous and multicultural backgrounds to Australian rules umpiring.[12] He did so and at the end of 2019 he had goal umpired 27 AFL matches.[13]

References
  1. http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/208/Default.aspx?newsId=3040
  2. Drugunalevu, Eliki Great talent Fiji Times. Friday, 13 August 2010
  3. No fairy-teal ending for Rodans from foxsports.com.au
  4. Official Website of the Australian Football League > News Article > Rodan wins Rising star nomination
  5. Eva, Bruce "Rodan to become an Australian citizen" AFL Record. 30 September 2002
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Port Adelaide's David Rodan likely to miss entire 2010 season". FoxSports. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  8. "Rodan's LARS recovery stuns coaches". ABC. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  9. "Dancing With The Stars 2014 line-up: Which celebrities we'd rather see on Seven's dancing show". news.com.au. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  10. Tim Michell (2015), Former AFL player David Rodan joins Northern Football League club West Preston-Lakeside for two years, Leader Community News. Retrieved from: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/sport/former-afl-player-david-rodan-joins-northern-football-league-club-west-prestonlakeside-for-two-years/news-story/8febac29b5081e7a088a031ff3e09043
  11. Jennifer Phelan (2015), David Rodan flags goal umpiring career, Telstra Media. Retrieved from: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-17/david-rodan-flags-goal-umpiring-career
  12. Callum Twomey (2016), Ex-player David Rodan hopes to be make AFL umpiring debut in 2017, Telstra Media. Retrieved from: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-03-09/explayer-david-rodan-hopes-to-be-make-afl-umpiring-debut-in-2017
  13. http://aflua.com.au/umpires/umpire-statistics/
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