Darren Mead (born 29 March 1971) is a former

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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er with the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

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 governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) and

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Football career

After being a strong part of the

in the SANFL, he was retained as part of Port's entry into the

competition in 1997. However, he was initially drafted by Essendon during the 1988 VFL draft at selection 107: Mead, to turn 18 soon after for the 1989 season, did not take up the offer from Windy Hill. Mead was awarded Port Adelaide's best and fairest in the club's first year participating in the AFL. He was a strong competitor at

centre half-back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-back ...

and also occasionally played in the

ruck Ruck may refer to: * Ruck (rugby union), a contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player * Ruck (Australian rules football), an aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen * Ruck (rugby league), the area sur ...

. He became the first Port Adelaide Power player to play 100 games in 2001, and was one of the leaders of the club throughout his AFL career, which lasted from 1997 through to 2002.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Darren Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Port Adelaide Magpies players John Cahill Medal winners South Australian State of Origin players Australian rules footballers from South Australia Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players 1971 births Living people