Travis Varcoe
Travis Varcoe (born 10 April 1988) is an Australian rules footballer for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Geelong Football Club from 2006 to 2014.
Travis Varcoe | |||
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Varcoe playing for Collingwood in August 2018 | |||
Personal information | |||
Full name | Travis Varcoe | ||
Date of birth | 10 April 1988 | ||
Place of birth | South Australia | ||
Original team(s) |
Smithfield (SAAFL) Central District (SANFL) | ||
Draft |
15th overall, 2005 Geelong | ||
Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Collingwood | ||
Number | 18 | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2006–2014 | Geelong | 138 (130) | |
2015– | Collingwood | 88 (41) | |
Total | 226 (171) | ||
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
2009 | Indigenous All-Stars | 1 | |
International team honours | |||
2010 | Australia | 2 | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 11, 2020. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2010. | |||
Career highlights | |||
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Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Career
Varcoe debuted in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) for the Central District Football Club in 2005 at the age of 17. A foot injury early in the season held him back from performing in front of prospective recruiters, before Geelong selected him at the end of the first round with the 15th overall pick in the 2005 National Draft.
Geelong
Varcoe was given the honour of wearing Geelong's number five guernsey, previously worn by club legends Gary Ablett and Polly Farmer. Varcoe plays as a forward pocket but can also play as a midfielder if required, drawing comparisons to Melbourne speedster Aaron Davey, with his consistent forwardline pressure and high-speed chase downs on the field. Varcoe is often referred to as "The Magician" with his quick, at times invisible handballs and tricky skills.
Varcoe played a key utility role for Geelong in 2009, which included a valuable contribution in the Grand Final as Geelong defeated the St Kilda Football Club. Varcoe played a critical role in delivering a handball to Paul Chapman late in the game which resulted in a brilliant Chapman goal, giving Geelong a six-point lead. Shortly after, team mate Max Rooke scored a goal after the final siren to give Geelong a 12-point win.
Going into the 2010 AFL season, Varcoe put in the most promising preseason of his career, only to succumb to a thumb injury that put him out for the first few weeks of the season.[1] However, on his return to the senior side, Varcoe played well enough to finish ninth in Geelong's 2010 best and fairest count.[2]
Varcoe kicked the first goal of the 2011 AFL Grand Final inside the first 10 seconds of the match. He also kicked the second goal of the match, however his goal at the eight-minute mark in the 4th quarter was possibly goal of the season. Before kicking the goal Varcoe took a mark in Geelong's backline whilst he was almost simultaneously bumped, forcing the ball free and the mark going unpaid. However Varcoe then ran forward with the play, gathering possessions and ultimately converting a goal from inside 50 moments later. He would pick up his 2nd premiership medallion, as Geelong won by 36 points. As of Round 11, 2015, Varcoe had played in 149 games and, of those 149 games, had won 122 of those games. He was also the quickest player to reach 100 wins, playing in his 100th win in his 113th game.
Collingwood
On 15 October 2014, Varcoe was traded to the Collingwood Football Club in a three-way trade between Collingwood, Geelong and Melbourne which also saw Mitch Clark and Heritier Lumumba find new clubs.[3] Despite being considered past his best during his last year at Geelong, Varcoe has enjoyed a renaissance of form since moving to Collingwood, playing arguably the best football of his career. Varcoe was considered one of the best recruits of the 2015 season.[4]
Personal life
In August 2007, Varcoe caused controversy after concerns were raised about the racial and sexual content featured on his MySpace page.[5].[5] The Geelong Football Club acted swiftly, removing the content immediately after it came to its attention.[5]
Statistics
- Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season[6]
G | Goals | B | Behinds | K | Kicks | H | Handballs | D | Disposals | M | Marks | T | Tackles |
Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
2006 | Geelong | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2007 | Geelong | 5 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 72 | 72 | 144 | 35 | 57 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
2008 | Geelong | 5 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 98 | 87 | 185 | 45 | 72 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 11.6 | 2.8 | 4.5 |
2009 | Geelong | 5 | 22 | 22 | 14 | 140 | 173 | 313 | 65 | 75 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 14.2 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
2010 | Geelong | 5 | 20 | 31 | 13 | 146 | 174 | 320 | 72 | 82 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 7.3 | 8.7 | 16.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
2011 | Geelong | 5 | 24 | 31 | 17 | 187 | 202 | 389 | 57 | 51 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 16.2 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
2012 | Geelong | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
2013 | Geelong | 5 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 74 | 95 | 169 | 25 | 59 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 12.1 | 1.8 | 4.2 |
2014 | Geelong | 5 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 113 | 152 | 265 | 52 | 68 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 6.3 | 8.4 | 14.7 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
2015 | Collingwood | 18 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 185 | 193 | 378 | 90 | 89 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 17.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
2016 | Collingwood | 18 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 128 | 124 | 252 | 69 | 73 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 14.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
2017 | Collingwood | 18 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 60 | 109 | 25 | 19 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 13.6 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
2018 | Collingwood | 18 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 127 | 110 | 237 | 42 | 62 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 11.9 | 2.1 | 3.1 |
2019 | Collingwood | 18 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 94 | 105 | 199 | 59 | 42 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 5.9 | 6.6 | 12.4 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
Career | 221 | 170 | 107 | 1452 | 1599 | 3051 | 653 | 770 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 13.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
References
- Varcoe to miss early rounds, The Age, Retrieved on 18 March 2010.
- "Selwood wins Geelong's Best and Fairest". Geelong Advertiser. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- Clark a cat, three-way deal sees Varcoe join Magpies, AFL.com.au official website, 15 October 2014
- Jon Ralph (21 July 2015). "The Buzz: Trading hits and misses of 2015". Herald Sun. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- Deery, Shannon (19 August 2007). "AFL club axes star's 'offensive' MySpace blog". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
- "Travis Varcoe's player profile". AFL Tables. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Travis Varcoe. |
- Travis Varcoe's profile on the official website of the Collingwood Football Club
- Travis Varcoe's playing statistics from AFL Tables