Will Minson

William Gerald Minson (born 11 April 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Will Minson
Minson in 2008
Personal information
Full name	William Gerald Minson
Date of birth	11 April 1985
Original team(s)	Norwood (SANFL)
Draft	No. 20, 2002 National Draft, Western Bulldogs
Height	199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	106 kg (234 lb)
Position(s)	Ruckman
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2004–2016	Western Bulldogs	191 (81)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016.
Career highlights
VFL premiership player: 2016 2005 AFL Rising Star nominee All-Australian team 2013
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Minson grew up in Norwood, South Australia and played football with the Norwood Football Club up until the under 18's.

He was a student at St Peter's College, Adelaide, where he played the majority of his junior football, while also playing as a junior footballer at Walkerville FC.

AFL career

The Western Bulldogs recruited Minson in the 2002 AFL Draft at pick number 20. He made his debut with the club in 2004.

He was known for his physical presence, being suspended for striking Geelong star Cameron Ling in just his second game.

In round 14 2008, with the Bulldogs playing Port Adelaide in their annual game in Darwin, Minson was involved in a confrontation with Kane Cornes, a Port Adelaide midfielder. Minson appeared two days later in an interview with the Foxtel AFL program On the Couch, apologising on the couch for a derogatory comment made to Cornes. The actual comment is said to have concerned or been directed towards Kane's newborn son who has suffered from health problems, and in particular questioning Kane's priorities in choosing to play football in Darwin that weekend, rather than being back in Adelaide in support of his wife and son. Minson claimed that what was said was in "the heat of battle".[1]

In round 12 2012, following the Western Bulldogs' victory over Port Adelaide, Minson was again embroiled in a controversy over allegedly sledging Danyle Pearce, another Port Adelaide player. The comments, which are said to have concerned Pearce's mother, were made in the final quarter of the match, immediately after the two were wrestling at a stoppage and during a subsequent melee. Whilst the incident was not elevated to the AFL tribunal, the Western Bulldogs fined Minson and imposed a one-week suspension on him as punishment for the silly indiscretion. Because of the prior incident with Kane Cornes, a media frenzy ensued. In a press conference two days after the game, Minson said he was "deeply regretful for any comments that were made", and that he had "no intention of ever putting anyone through that again".[2]

In October 2016, Minson announced he would no longer be playing for the Western Bulldogs and he would explore his options during the free-agency period.[3] After failing to find a new club during the free-agency period, he was subsequently delisted by the Western Bulldogs.[4]

Statistics

[5]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

H/O

Hit-outs

	Led the league for the season only
	Led the league after season and finals

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals								Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O
2004	Western Bulldogs	27	5	1	1	10	7	17	4	4	37	0.2	0.2	2.0	1.4	3.4	0.8	0.8	7.4
2005	Western Bulldogs	27	17	4	4	86	64	150	33	52	207	0.2	0.2	5.1	3.8	8.8	8.8	1.9	12.2
2006	Western Bulldogs	27	13	8	4	58	46	104	25	24	131	0.6	0.3	4.5	3.5	8.0	1.9	1.8	10.1
2007	Western Bulldogs	27	6	0	1	26	22	48	8	13	73	0.0	0.2	4.3	3.7	8.0	1.3	2.2	12.2
2008	Western Bulldogs	27	25	19	11	175	91	266	88	58	313	0.8	0.4	7.0	3.6	10.6	3.5	2.3	12.5
2009	Western Bulldogs	27	25	16	4	143	165	308	89	70	365	0.6	0.2	5.7	6.6	12.3	3.6	2.8	14.6
2010	Western Bulldogs	27	15	8	7	88	75	163	48	32	197	0.5	0.5	5.9	5.0	10.9	3.2	2.1	13.1
2011	Western Bulldogs	27	9	6	2	62	49	111	32	23	167	0.7	0.2	6.9	5.4	12.3	3.6	2.6	18.6
2012	Western Bulldogs	27	21	4	6	138	154	292	57	67	667	0.2	0.3	6.6	7.3	13.9	2.7	3.2	31.8
2013	Western Bulldogs	27	22	7	5	152	168	320	40	81	860	0.3	0.2	6.9	7.6	14.5	1.8	3.7	39.1
2014	Western Bulldogs	27	21	4	6	144	108	252	33	81	757	0.2	0.3	6.9	5.1	12.0	1.6	3.9	36.0
2015	Western Bulldogs	27	10	3	3	62	40	102	17	41	265	0.3	0.3	6.2	4.0	10.2	1.7	4.1	26.5
2016	Western Bulldogs	27	2	1	0	9	5	14	1	6	32	0.5	0.0	4.5	2.5	7.0	0.5	3.0	16.0
Career			191	81	54	1153	994	2147	475	552	4071	0.4	0.3	6.0	5.2	11.2	2.5	2.9	21.3

Personal life

Minson has a younger brother, Hugh, who formerly played in the Australian Football League with Port Adelaide before being forced to retire through injury.[6]

Off the field, Minson is known for his intelligence and multi-faceted abilities - he plays saxophone, speaks fluent German and is currently studying civil engineering at the University of Melbourne.[7] He is also heavily involved with the charity Red Dust, which operates sporting and lifestyle clinics in remote aboriginal communities and, more recently, in very poor areas of India.[2]

References

1. Lalor, Peter (1 July 2008). "Minson sorry after Cornes sledge".
2. Devlin, Rebekah (19 June 2012). "The dumbest smart bloke in the AFL".
3. "Will Minson's Kennel career comes to an end". WesternBulldogs.com.au. Bigpond. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
4. Schmook, Nathan (28 October 2016). "Dogs promise rookie spot for delisted knee victim Josh Prudden". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
5. "Will Minson". AFL Tables. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
6. Young Port ruckman Hugh Minson retires
7. Football is not the limit of player skills

External links

• Will Minson's profile on the official website of the Western Bulldogs
• Will Minson's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Will Minson at AustralianFootball.com