Phil Read (born 20 October 1979) 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 for the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

and

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

. Read was educated at

Wesley College, Perth Wesley College, informally known as Wesley, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys and girls (co-ed to Year 6 and boys only Years 7–12), situated in South Perth, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The college is a Uniting ...

West Coast Eagles

Drafted by the Eagles, Read kicked 12 goals in 21 games in his rookie season. During the "

Demolition Derby Demolition derby is a non-racing motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehic ...

" in Round 21, 2000, Read was struck numerous times during an attempted fight with Fremantle's

Dale Kickett Dale Mathew Kickett (born 4 May 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer. Kickett played for Fitzroy Lions, West Coast Eagles, St Kilda Saints, Essendon Bombers, and Fremantle Dockers, all being between 1990 - 2002. Kickett holds the shared ...

. This started a melee involving a number of players which led to Kickett being suspended for a total of 9 weeks and Read for two with a hefty fine for multiple wrestling offences. Persistent injury problems forced him to miss the entire 2001 and 2002 seasons before returning in 2003 to play 11 games before being delisted at the end of the season.

Melbourne career

Selected by the Demons in the 2004 Pre-Season draft Read played 21 games in his first season for his new club but hamstring injuries struck again over the next two years and he was restricted to 8 games in 2005. Read reappeared in the Melbourne seniors midway through the 2006 season but remained a bit-part player for the rest of the year. Despite a string of best-on-ground honors playing for Melbourne's reserve club

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

(including a 46 possession game) he was unable to break back into the Melbourne squad for the finals. Read was voted best on ground in Sandringham's

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

2006 Grand Final victory over

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. Read was delisted by Melbourne at the end of the 2006 season. He signed with Geelong reserves for the 2007 season. After signing with Geelong reserves, Phillip Read was then linked to the Subiaco Lions in the WAFL for the 2008 season. Phil Read was crucial in Subiaco's third consecutive Premiership.

References

External links

*
Demon Wiki profile
1979 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players West Coast Eagles players East Fremantle Football Club players Sandringham Football Club players Subiaco Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People educated at Wesley College, Perth {{AFL-bio-1970s-stub