Danyle Pearce (born 7 April 1986) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.
[edit] Early life
Danyle is of Indigenous Australian descent and his ancestry can be traced to the Kokatha.[1]
Pearce began playing for he Sturt Football Club in the SANFL. He also represented South Australia in basketball, as a point guard.
[edit] AFL career
He made his AFL debut in Round 18, 2005 for the Port Adelaide Power. He was named Best First Year Player for the Power in 2005 and nominated in round 3, 2006 for the AFL Rising Star award.
Pearce won the 2006 NAB Rising Star with 43 votes out of a possible 45. Second place for this award was Andrew Raines with 35. This made Pearce become the first former rookie-listed player to win the award[2]. In his speech, Pearce said "My kneecaps were shaking" and "I loved the free food" since Pearce also admitted that he came to the awarding ceremony for the food and entertainment.
Danyle played in the International Rules series against Ireland in 2006.
Pearce also won the Gavin Wanganeen Medal, being the first to receive the newly created 2006 award, for best up and coming rising star at the Port Adelaide Football Club, and the AFLPA's Marn Grook Award. He received 13 votes in the 2006 Brownlow Medal despite being his team's youngest player.
During the unsuccessful 2008 season Pearce suffered from a form slump and was dropped down to Sturt for a week, however, he showed a good display in round 22 with 28 possessions and a goal.
Is the fastest player in the AFL today running the 100 metre at 10.87 seconds, which is just faster than Daniel Wells & Brett Deledio who run the 100 m at 10.96 seconds[citation needed]
[edit] Personal Life and Trivia
Pearce suffers from short-sightedness and has worn contact lenses since 2005.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
