Gavin Wanganeen

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Gavin Wanganeen (born 16 June 1973) is an Australian rules footballer, currently playing with the Port Adelaide Football Club. He has played in two Australian Football League premierships with Essendon and Port Adelaide.

Wanganeen began his career aged 16 with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) (prior to that club joining the AFL), winning the SANFL Rookie of the Year award and gaining the attention of AFL side Essendon. Wanganeen debuted for Essendon in 1991, immediately finding a niche as an attacking defender. His quality was recognised in 1993 when he won the Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the league, the first part-Aboriginal Australian to do so, as well as being a key player in Essendon's premiership win that year. In 2002, he was voted the 19th best Essendon player of all time in the "Champions of Essendon" list.

Wanganeen returned to Port Adelaide in 1997 to captain Port Adelaide in its first year in the AFL, but injuries conspired to minimise his impact. It was not until he relinquished the Port Adelaide captaincy at the end of the 1999 season that his form returned and he finished the 2003 season as a favourite to once again win the Brownlow (although he finished fourth). In 2004 he played in Port's first premiership side.

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