Wayne Kenneth Otway (born 24 June 1956) 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 with

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 ...

in the

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 ...

(VFL). Otway was unable to play a

WANFL 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, ...

game while at

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

and had to wait until he switched to

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

to make his senior debut. He was a member of East Perth's 1978 premiership team and in 1980 won their "Best and Fairest", the F. D. Book Medal. He was already 25 years when he made the move to Essendon and would spend two seasons with the club.AFL Tables: Wayne Otway
/ref> In 1982, his first season, he amassed 440 disposals at an average of 20 per game. A rover, he missed only one game during the season and was Essendon's second most prolific goal-kicker with 46 goals, three short of

Simon Madden Simon Madden (born 30 December 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire 19-season career with the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. Madden is one of the most decorated players in the club's history and wi ...

. He had played one of his best games when he made his debut in the opening round of the season, against Footscray at Windy Hill. Essendon won by 109 points, with Otway contributing 28 disposals and five goals. His last appearance in 1982 was an elimination final, where he was inaccurate with one goal and four behinds. In the Brownlow Medal count at the end of the year he finished with nine votes, the equal third most by an Essendon player. Injuries meant he played only 14 games in 1983 but he still found a lot of the ball, averaging just under 19 disposals. He finished his career back in Western Australia with East Perth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otway, Wayne 1956 births Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Essendon Football Club players East Perth Football Club players Swan Districts Football Club players Living people