Darryl Wakelin

Personal information
Birth	11 August 1974 (1974-08-11) (age 35), Whyalla, South Australia
Recruited from	Port Adelaide (SANFL)
Height and weight	192cm / 94kg
Playing career¹
Debut	2 April 1995, St Kilda Football Club vs. West Coast Eagles, at WACA
Team(s)	St Kilda Football Club (1995-2000) 115 games, 8 goals Port Adelaide Power (2001-2007) 146 games, 4 goals Total - 261 games, 12 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2007 season
Career highlights
*Port Adelaide Premiership Player 1994 (SANFL), 2004 SANFL Jack Oatey Medal 1994 St Kilda AFL Cup winnings side 1996 St Kilda Minor Premiership Side 1997 Port Adelaide Pre-Season Premiership Player 2001, 2002 Port Adelaide Best Team Man 2005

Darryl Wakelin (born 11 August 1974) is a former Australian Rules Footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Power in the Australian Football League as a defender. He is the twin brother of Collingwood Football Club player Shane Wakelin. He retired from AFL at the end of the 2007 AFL season, and played his last game in the 2007 AFL Grand Final loss to Geelong.

[edit] Childhood

Darryl was born in Whyalla but moved to Kimba at just six months old. His father was a wheat sheep farmer. He was 13 when he moved to Port Lincoln. At 16 he was identified by the Port Adelaide Magpies along with his twin brother and they made the move down to Adelaide.

[edit] AFL Career

[edit] St Kilda Football Club

In 1994 he played in a premiership with the Magpies league team, winning the Jack Oatey Medal for best afield in the absence of his twin brother, Shane - he had already left for St Kilda. In 1995, Darryl left the club to join his brother at St Kilda. He played his first game in Round 1 of the 1995 season. His career started superbly with the Saints, averaging 10 disposals in his first season.

Wakelin played in St Kilda’s 1996 AFL Ansett Australia Cup winning side - the club's first AFL Cup win.^[1]

Wakelin played in 17 of 22 matches in the 1997 AFL Premiership Season home and away rounds in which St Kilda Football Club qualified in first position for the 1997 AFL Finals Series, winning the club’s 2nd Minor Premiership and 1st McClelland Trophy. ^[2]

By the end of the 2000 season, the Saints were looking for younger players and scrapped the brothers along with many other players. In total, he played 115 games for St Kilda, kicking just 8 goals.

[edit] Port Adelaide

In 2001 he joined the Port Adelaide Power without his twin brother, Shane, who moved to Collingwood. In 2004 he won a premiership with the Port Adelaide Power after his brother had lost in the two previous Grand Finals. During 2005 the Wakelin Brothers became the most capped pair of twin brothers overtaking Steven Febey and Matthew Febey. In Round 12 of 2006, he picked up a career high 22 disposals against West Coast. In round 5, 2007, Darryl played his 250th game. On the 29th of August 2007 he announced his retirement from AFL at the season end, which in fact concluded for him as part of the 2007 Port Grand Final team.

[edit] Trivia

• Wakelin has a pharmacy degree from the Victorian College of Pharmacy.

[edit] See also

1994 SANFL Grand Final

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Darryl Wakelin profile on the Official AFL Website of the Port Adelaide Football Club
• Darryl Wakelin's statistics from AFL Tables