Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Walter Donald

Known as
Wally Donald

Born
27 May 1927

Died
8 November 2003 (aged 76)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 68d
Last game: 30y 327d

Height and weight
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 80 kg

Senior clubs
Footscray

Jumper numbers
Footscray: 22

Wally Donald

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
FootscrayV/AFL1946-195820510.0053%13.601.6727
Total1946-195820510.0053%13.601.6727

Pre 1965 stats are for selected matches only

AFL: 5,618th player to appear, 601st most games played, 9,032nd most goals kickedFootscray: 328th player to appear, 25th most games played, 713th most goals kicked

Footscray recruited Wally Donald locally, from Braybrook, and he went on to enjoy a long and successful VFL career comprising 205 games played between 1946 and 1958. Most of that career saw him lining up in a back pocket alongside renowned full back Herb Henderson and their partnership was a key factor in the Bulldogs' rise to prominence in the early 1950s. When the Western Bulldogs named their 'Team of the Century' in May 2002 both Donald and Henderson were included, although Donald was selected in the somewhat unfamiliar position, to him, of a half back flank.

Donald won Footscray's best and fairest award in 1949 and played for the VFL at the 1950 Brisbane carnival. He was widely acknowledged as one of the most difficult defenders to beat in the VFL. In 1954 he was named in a back pocket in the prestigious "Sporting Life" Team of the Year.

When Footscray went top in the VFL for the first time in 1954 stout, resolute defence was a key to their success. with Wally Donald's tough, wily, close-checking approach an important ingredient. Never the type of defender to go on adventurous forays into the forward lines he managed just a single goal in his entire league career.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications; Wikipedia article

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.