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Full name
David P. Granger
Known as
Dave Granger
Nickname
Grave danger
Born
23 January 1955
Died
7 March 2024 (aged 69)
Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 24y 123d
Last game: 24y 137d
Height and weight
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 92 kg
Senior clubs
Port Adelaide; St. Kilda
Jumper numbers
St. Kilda: 7
Recruited from
Port Adelaide (1979)
Club | League | Career span | Games | Goals | Avg | Win % | AKI | AHB | AMK | BV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Port Adelaide | SANFL | 1975-1982 | 103 | 92 | 0.89 | — | — | — | — | — |
St. Kilda | V/AFL | 1979 | 3 | 1 | 0.33 | 0% | 7.33 | 2.67 | 3.33 | 0 |
Total | 1975-1982 | 106 | 93 | 0.88 | — | — | — | — | — |
AFL: 9,083rd player to appear, 10,996th most games played, 9,384th most goals kickedSt. Kilda: 1,220th player to appear, 1,252nd most games played, 1,058th most goals kicked
Known with memorable explicitness, in South Australia at any rate, as 'Grave Danger', Port Adelaide's David Granger was either what football needs most, or what it needs least, depending on your overall philosophy of the game. Had he played during the 1930s he would probably have been called an arch-enforcer. He shirked no challenges, took no prisoners, and was wholly content to transgress the laws of the game if he could get away with it, hopefully whilst simultaneously limiting or eliminating an opponent's contribution to the game.
He did precisely this during the 1981 SANFL Grand Final against Glenelg when he single-handedly ended the career of Neville 'Twiggy' Caldwell with a premeditated king-hit. Similarly, almost a year later, in the 1982 Preliminary Final, he broke Stephen Barratt's leg, as well as incurring a suspension of ten weeks after being found guilty of striking Graham Cornes. This suspension effectively brought the curtain down on Granger's league career. Port Adelaide fans would claim, with considerable justification, that Granger was often on the receiving end of some pretty stern treatment himself, but seldom if ever received support from the men in white.
Aside from his apparent problems of self-control and over-abundant 'white line fever', David Granger was actually a useful footballer, direct, but highly skilled, even poised, and explosively effective. He joined the Magpies in 1975, but suspensions and injuries meant that he was never really able to regard himself as a regular. Nevertheless, he was at centre half forward in both the 1977 and 1981 Grand Final teams against Glenelg, playing a key role each time in the team's eventual wins by eight and 51 points respectively.
Granger actually commenced his football career in Victoria where he played under nineteens football with St Kilda. In 1979 he returned briefly to the Saints and played three VFL senior games before resuming his SANFL career with the Magpies in 1980.
Author - John Devaney