Robbie West (born 7 March 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 the

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 Footscray 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). Originally from

Ovens & Murray Football Netball League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray ar ...

club

Wodonga Wodonga (Pallanganmiddang language, Waywurru: ''Wordonga'') is a city on the Victoria (Australia), Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of ...

, West was drafted by West Coast at the

1990 AFL Draft The 1990 AFL draft was the 5th annual draft of Australian rules footballers to the 14 clubs in the Australian Football League. It consisted of the national draft held at the end of the 1990 season, the pre-season draft held before the 1991 AFL ...

and made his AFL debut in the

1991 AFL season The 1991 AFL season was the 95th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), which was known previously as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season ran from 22 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away seas ...

. West was unable to break into West Coast's strong side, managed just three games in each of his first two seasons, instead playing most of his football with

Western Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) club West Perth, winning the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

for best and fairest player in the WAFL as well as West Perth's Fairest and Best award. West's most successful year in the AFL came in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

when he played 10 games and the following year he crossed to Footscray for one season. In 1995 he joined

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) club

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, playing 25 games, playing in Port's premiership team, and winning the club's best and fairest award. West was the victim of an assault in late 1995 that left him fighting for his life. West recovered and after rehabilitation played for Port Adelaide again in 1997, playing seven league games and 14 reserves games. Not surprisingly, West never regained his form of 1995, but it was a major feat that he was able to recover and return to league football.

Personal life

West's son, Connor West was drafted to West Coast in the 2021 mid-season rookie draft, and made his debut in round 18 of the 2021 season.

References

*
Robbie West's player profile at The Power From Port
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Robbie 1969 births Living people Western Bulldogs players West Coast Eagles players West Perth Football Club players Sandover Medal winners Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Magpies players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People from Wodonga