Michael Werner (born 10 June 1969) 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 who played for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

and the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

in the

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). Werner, who was from Canberra, started his career at Manuka-Weston after playing junior football with Eastlake. He spent the 1988 season in the SANFL as a full-forward with West Torrens and kicked 38 goals to finish as their leading goal kicker. In 1988 he also represented the ACT at the Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival. Essendon then secured his services with pick nine in the

1988 VFL draft The 1988 VFL draft, held on the 9th of November 1988, was the third annual national draft held by the VFL/AFL, Victorian Football League (now known as the Australian Football League). It consisted of a pre-season draft and a national draft. In 1 ...

and he went on to spend the next four seasons as a key forward in the AFL. He kicked 27 goals in 1990 but missed that year's finals series where Essendon made the Grand Final. In 1991 he made just six senior appearances but notably kicked four goals in Essendon's Elimination Final loss to Melbourne. At the end of the 1992 season, Werner was traded to Sydney. In his first game against his old club, and third for Sydney, Werner kicked a career best six goals. He later played with Gisborne and kicked a record 173 goals in the 1997

Riddell District Football League The Riddell District Football Netball League (RDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. The RDFNL covers towns in the Macedon Ranges and an area from Rockbank in the south to Broadford in the north. T ...

season.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Werner, Michael 1969 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Sydney Swans players West Torrens Football Club players Gisborne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory Manuka Football Club players New South Wales Australian rules football State of Origin players