Sam Gray (born 1 February 1992) 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 last played for 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). In 2013, whilst playing for Port Adelaide 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), Gray was the runner-up in the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

. He made his AFL debut in round 4 of the

2014 AFL season The 2014 AFL season was the 118th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured ei ...

, after being elevated to the senior list when

Mason Shaw Mason Shaw (born November 3, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 97th overall by the Wild in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career ...

was placed on the long-term injury list. Gray was retained on Port's rookie list for the 2015 season and didn't play his first game of the season until round 8 where he played in 4 consecutive games as a small forward before being dropped back to the Magpies in the

SANFL 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 ...

. He returned to the AFL team in round 18 where because of injuries to Port's midfield, Gray was given a chance to play predominantly in the middle. Gray finished strongly in the last 6 games of the season, averaging 35 disposals and collecting

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

votes in the last 3 games. He was thus rewarded with a spot on Port's senior list for the 2016 season. He had a career best game in round 23 of the 2017 AFL season where he kicked six goals and three behinds as well as collecting 25 disposals in Port Adelaide's 115 point thrashing of

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. Playing every game in 2017, Sam Gray kicked 28 goals – the third-highest for the Power. Gray also averaged 18 touches a game and has proved to be essential in Port’s make-up. At the conclusion of the 2019 AFL season, Gray was delisted to allow him to explore his options as a free agent. He was signed by on 1 November.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Sam 1992 births Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Sydney Swans players