Toby Bedford (born 27 May 2000) is an

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 playing for the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

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), having initially been drafted to in the

2018 AFL draft The 2018 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2018 AFL season. For the first time, the AFL draft featured live trading ...

. A small forward, he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2020 season.

Junior career

During his junior career, Bedford played for the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup and was part of Melbourne's

Next Generation Academy In Australian rules football, zoning (originally called district football, or electorate football in South Australia) refers to a system whereby a given area, either region or lower-level football league, is reserved exclusively for one club. Zo ...

, which allowed Melbourne to match any other club's bid on Bedford during a draft. He also represented Vic Country at the

2018 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2018 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 23rd edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. The tournament was played in two divisions, with the best players from across the entire Division 2 Academy series, combined into an Allies team wh ...

. He also played for his school side Melbourne Grammar School in the APS competition. Bedford's strong performance in a TAC Cup preliminary final victory over the Sandringham Dragons, in which he amassed three goals, six tackles and 13 disposals, was highlighted by Fox Sports and ESPN. His speed and tackling were noted as strengths; ESPN likened his play to West Coast defender

Lewis Jetta Lewis Jetta (born 4 May 1989) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Swan Districts Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Career Early career Jetta played his junior football with Carey Park Junior Football ...

. Bedford was expected to attract a second-round bid in the upcoming

AFL career

Bedford was drafted by Melbourne as an academy selection with pick 75 in the 2018 draft. He spent his first year at the club playing for Casey, Melbourne's Victorian Football League (VFL) affiliate; he played 21 matches in 2019. He made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2020 season. Bedford was traded to at the conclusion of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...

Statistics

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2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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Personal life

An Indigenous Australian, Bedford is a cousin of fellow Melbourne footballer Krstel Petrevski, who plays in the AFL Women's.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Toby Living people 2000 births Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Dandenong Stingrays players Melbourne Football Club players Casey Demons players