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Travis Varcoe

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Travis Varcoe
Varcoe playing for Collingwood in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Travis Varcoe
Date of birth (1988-04-10) 10 April 1988 (age 36)
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) Utility
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
2006–2014 Geelong 138 (130)
2015–2020 Collingwood 92 (41)
Total 230 (171)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2009 Indigenous All-Stars 1
International team honours
2010 Australia 2
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2010.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Travis Varcoe (born 10 April 1988) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the Geelong Football Club from 2006 to 2014, and for the Collingwood Football Club from 2015 to 2020. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Western Bulldogs. He also appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[1]

Career

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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 as the 15th overall pick in the 2005 National Draft.

Geelong

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Varcoe playing for Geelong in 2008

Varcoe was given the honour of wearing Geelong's number five guernsey, previously worn by club legends Gary Ablett and Polly Farmer. Varcoe played as a forward pocket but could also play as a midfielder if required, drawing comparisons to Melbourne speedster Aaron Davey, with his consistent forward line pressure and high-speed chases downs on the field. Varcoe was often referred to as "The Magician", given 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, when 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 pre-season of his career, only to succumb to a thumb injury that put him out for the first few weeks of the season.[2] However, on his return to the senior side, Varcoe played well enough to finish ninth in Geelong's 2010 best and fairest count.[3]

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, but his goal at the eight-minute mark in the fourth 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. Varcoe then ran forward with the play, gathering possessions and ultimately converting a goal from inside 50 metres moments later. He picked up his second premiership medallion, after Geelong won by 38 points. As of Round 11, 2015, Varcoe had played in 149 games and, of those 149 games, had been on the winning side in won 122 of them. He also reached 100 wins more quickly than any other player, achieving that feat in his 113th game.

Collingwood

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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.[4] 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.[5]

After Collingwood had been eliminated from the 2020 AFL finals series, Varcoe announced his retirement from football.[6][7]

Personal life

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In August 2007, Varcoe caused controversy after concerns were raised about the racial and sexual content featured on his MySpace page.[8] The Geelong Football Club acted swiftly, removing the content immediately after it came to the club's attention.[8]

Varcoe's sister Maggie died in August 2018, following an on-field collision whilst playing for Angle Vale Football Club in the Adelaide Footy League Grand Final.[9] Travis continued to play for Collingwood in the weeks after her death as a tribute to her. The design of Collingwood's 2019 Indigenous guernsey was inspired by Maggie and was designed by Travis' sister-in-law.[10]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season[11]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
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
2020 Collingwood 18 9 1 2 54 42 96 21 15 0.1 0.2 6.0 4.7 10.7 2.3 1.7
Career 230 171 109 1506 1641 3147 674 785 0.7 0.5 6.5 7.1 13.7 2.9 3.4

References

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  1. ^ "Travis Varcoe. I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! - Network Ten". Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  2. ^ Petrie, Andrea (18 March 2010). "Varcoe to miss early rounds". The Age. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Selwood wins Geelong's Best and Fairest". Geelong Advertiser. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  4. ^ Clark a cat, three-way deal sees Varcoe join Magpies, AFL.com.au official website, 15 October 2014
  5. ^ Jon Ralph (21 July 2015). "The Buzz: Trading hits and misses of 2015". Herald Sun. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Varcoe to retire". Collingwood. Telstra Media. 11 October 2020.
  7. ^ Colangelo, Anthony (11 October 2020). "Travis Varcoe announces retirement". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ^ a b 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.
  9. ^ "AFL 2018: Travis Varcoe sister Maggie Varcoe dies". Fox Sports. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  10. ^ "The heartfelt meaning behind Pies' Indigenous jersey". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Travis Varcoe's player profile". AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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