Drew Banfield

Who is Drew Banfield?

Drew Banfield is a former AFL football player.

Selected as the number 1 pick in the 1992 AFL Draft, Banfield was recruited to the West Coast Eagles, where he became one of their best clubmen and hardest-working defenders and utility players.

He won the Eagles' Club Champion Award in 1996, as well as playing in the Eagles' 1994 premiership side. He was not the flashiest of players, but his hard-working attributes and constant presence in the team for over a decade qualifies him as a more than worthy number one draft pick. In 2006 the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 20th anniversary, and a best team from the club's history was chosen. Consideration was based on playing 100 games for the West Coast Eagles, career longevity, finishes in the Club Champion Award, impact and other individual accolades. Drew Banfield was named on the interchange bench in this side and will go down as one of the Eagles' greats.

In 2006, Banfield was struggling for selection and fought his way into the side in Round 9, but remained on the fringes of selection throughout the season. He missed out on the semi-final against the Bulldogs but was recalled for the preliminary final against Adelaide, and retained for the Grand Final against Sydney due to his experience. It was his second AFL premiership, twelve years after his first, and made him the only player to appear in both West Coast's 1994 and 2006 premiership teams. On Friday the 6th of October 2006, Banfield announced his retirement from AFL football at the West Coast Eagles Club Champion awards, having played 265 games.