Dane Rampe (/ˈræmpi/ RAM-pee;[1] born 2 June 1990) is an Australian rules football player who plays for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL).[2] He previously served as co-captain of the Swans from 2019 until the end of the 2023 season.

Dane Rampe
Rampe playing for Sydney in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Dane Rampe
Nickname(s) Ramps
Date of birth (1990-06-02) 2 June 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales
Original team(s) UNSW-Easts (Sydney AFL)
Draft No. 37, 2013 rookie draft
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 91 kg (201 lb)
Position(s) Key defender
Club information
Current club Sydney
Number 24
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2013– Sydney 240 (7)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of Round 14, 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

edit

Rampe was born in Sydney and grew up in Clovelly, New South Wales. His grandparents and father had migrated to Sydney from Estonia.[3] Rampe grew up near to the SCG and attended the Sydney Swans vs. Collingwood match in which Tony Lockett kicked his record-breaking 1,300th AFL goal as one of the hundreds who flooded the field when it occurred.[4] He credits this event as converting him in to a passionate Swans fan,[4] following this he became a regular at matches and idolised Brett Kirk, Adam Goodes and Jude Bolton.[5] The Swans-West Coast Eagles rivalry also inspired an intense passion for AFL.[5][6]

Rampe was educated at Newington College in Stanmore where he played basketball and soccer. An obvious athletic talent, his school asked him to switch from soccer to rugby union at age 17.[5] However being an AFL fan, in 2012 he decided to try the sport at club level with the UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs.[7] He was soon noticed by AFL talent scouts and signed on to the Sydney Swans Academy.[5] Determined to make a career out of the sport Rampe nominated for the AFL draft, but after being overlooked, moved to Melbourne to attempt to gain entry to the league through pursue a career in the sport.[5] He spent three seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with Williamstown helping them win the inaugural Foxtel Cup and playing in the 2011 VFL Grand Final. He was twice invited to train with the Western Bulldogs in the preseason. The Bulldogs, however, snubbed him in the 2010 AFL Draft.[8] Feeling he had missed his chance to break into the AFL he returned to Sydney.[5] In 2012 he played for UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs in the Sydney AFL and won the Phelan medal as the best player in the league for the season. His performance earned the notice of the Swans and as a Swans Academy product he was offered a spot on Sydney's rookie list in the 2012 AFL Draft.

AFL career

edit

Rampe made his debut for the Swans in 2013 and went on to play 23 games in that season.[8] His standout game was in Round 11 against the Adelaide Crows where he had 18 disposals (11 kicks, 7 handballs) along with 4 marks and 4 tackles in his sides impressive 127 to 50 victory.[citation needed] In 2016, he was named All-Australian.[8]

In March 2017, Rampe injured himself while out jogging. He fell and broke his arm.[9] On 24 May 2017, it was announced that he would wear number 50 on his guernsey, rather than his usual 24, for the round 10 Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round game against Hawthorn. This was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which allowed Indigenous Australians to be counted with the general population in the census.[10]

Rampe had an outstanding 2019 season, albeit not without some controversy. He was appointed co-captain alongside Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker prior to the season,[11] and he won his first best-and-fairest award for the Swans after playing all but one match for the year.[12] He gained notoriety during the year when he jumped onto a goalpost after the Round 8 match against Essendon to stop David Myers from trying to kick a goal after the siren. He was fined A$1,000 for his stunt, and A$10,000 for saying "You talk like a little girl" to the umpire.[13]

In 2020, Rampe had another excellent year in defence, although impeded significantly with a broken hand sustained in Rd 8 against Hawthorn. Remarkably he had continued to play another four games with the injury, before further damage led to a premature end to his season.[14] His courage over continuing to play with the injury lead to him being awarded the Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player at the end of the season.[15]

Statistics

edit

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[16]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2013 Sydney 43 23 1 2 205 95 300 67 60 0.0 0.1 8.9 4.1 13.0 2.9 2.6 0
2014 Sydney 24 25 3 2 245 152 397 93 76 0.1 0.1 9.8 6.1 15.9 3.7 3.0 0
2015 Sydney 24 24 1 3 284 172 456 137 60 0.0 0.1 11.8 7.2 19.0 5.7 2.5 0
2016 Sydney 24 26 1 2 303 175 478 141 63 0.0 0.1 11.7 6.7 18.4 5.4 2.4 2
2017 Sydney 24, 50 17 0 1 165 117 282 99 32 0.0 0.1 9.7 6.9 16.6 5.8 1.9 2
2018 Sydney 24 23 0 1 231 155 386 123 55 0.0 0.1 10.0 6.7 16.8 5.4 2.4 1
2019 Sydney 24 21 0 1 165 156 421 123 60 0.0 0.1 12.6 7.4 18.4 5.9 2.9 0
2020[a] Sydney 24 11 0 0 105 55 160 42 15 0.0 0.0 9.5 5.0 14.5 3.8 1.4 1
2021 Sydney 24 20 0 1 248 113 361 123 34 0.0 0.0 12.4 5.6 18.0 6.1 1.7 0
2022 Sydney 24 25 1 0 223 99 322 118 49 0.0 0.0 8.9 4.0 12.9 4.7 2.0 0
Career 215 7 13 2274 1289 3563 1066 504 0.0 0.1 10.6 6.0 16.6 5.0 2.3 6
  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

edit

Team

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ "SwansTV: Volkswagen Ask a Swan with Dane Rampe". Sydney Swans. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2023 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Dane Rampe of Sydney Swans
  3. ^ 5 July 2016 from Herald Sun. 5 July 2016
  4. ^ a b Forsaith, Rob (7 June 2019). "'I'm sick of seeing myself in the news': Rampe on gaffes". Australian Football League. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Swan Rampe living his dream from sbs.com.au 15 July 2013
  6. ^ Mad fan to milestone man: Rampe's rise to 150th By Zachary Gates for Sydney Swans 6 June, 2019
  7. ^ Herald Sun
  8. ^ a b c Dogs' AFL draft snub was right call: Rampe from SBS News 28 September 2016
  9. ^ "Swans coach 'couldn't believe' how Rampe broke his arm at training". Australia: ABC News. 27 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Players' number tribute to indigenous breakthrough". Australian Football League. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Sydney Swans appoint co-captains". sydneyswans.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  12. ^ Curley, Adam. "Swans co-captain wins first Bob Skilton Medal in a landslide". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. ^ Dane Rampe hit with two fines in staggering AFL carve-up (news.com.au)
  14. ^ "INJURY CRISIS: Gun defender, mid done as Sydney wipes out eight".
  15. ^ "Rampe named most courageous".
  16. ^ "Dane Rampe stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
edit