David Mundy (born 20 July 1985) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played as a half back flanker or midfielder and was the captain of Fremantle during the 2016 AFL season. Mundy sits ninth in the VFL/AFL games records for most games played.

David Mundy
Mundy playing his 300th game in April 2019
Personal information
Full name David Mundy
Nickname(s) Barra
Date of birth (1985-07-20) 20 July 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Seymour, Victoria
Original team(s) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 19, 2003 national draft
Debut 30 April 2005, Fremantle vs. Melbourne, at MCG
Height 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 94 kg (207 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Fremantle
Number 16
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2004–2022 Fremantle 376 (161)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2006–2015 Australia 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2022.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2006.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

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Mundy began his football career at the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup. He was drafted by Fremantle at selection 19 in the 2003 AFL Draft.[1] This selection was traded to Fremantle by the Western Bulldogs in return for Steven Koops. Upon moving to Western Australia in 2004 he was allocated to the Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He spent the entire 2004 season playing with Subiaco and was a part of their premiership team.

 
Mundy playing for Fremantle in May 2014

AFL Career

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Impressive WAFL form continued into 2005 and he was selected by Fremantle to make his AFL debut at the MCG against Melbourne in Round 6. His poise and composure in defence saw Mundy maintain his position in the side for all 17 remaining games for the season. In round 14 he was recognised by the AFL by being nominated for the AFL Rising Star award. In the final voting, he came 3rd behind Brett Deledio and Ryan Griffen with 15 votes. He also was awarded the 2005 Beacon Award as the best young talent on the Fremantle list.

Mundy started the 2008 season in good form, and was shifted to a midfield role late in the season in order to use his kicking ability.[2] In 2009, he played his 100th game and was only the eighth player in league history to play them consecutively from debut.[3] He played 124 consecutive games from his debut until he was a late withdrawal due to stomach cramps before the Round 17, 2010 match against the Western Bulldogs.[4]

2010 was his best season to date, and he was recognised by being named in the 40-man squad for the 2010 All-Australian team[5] and also won the Doig Medal as Fremantle's best player for the year.[6] At the end of the 2010 season, there was much speculation that Mundy would not renew his contract with Fremantle and would instead either return to play in Melbourne, or be recruited by the new Gold Coast Football Club.[7] However, he rejected all other offers and re-signed with Fremantle in September 2010 for an additional four years.[8] He then later re-signed at the end of 2014 for another 3 years.[9]

Mundy received his first All Australian selection in 2015 named in the 2015 All-Australian team on the interchange bench. A highlight in 2015 was during the Round 17 clash with the Richmond Football Club at the MCG. In the final minutes of the game, a Richmond kick out after a Fremantle behind was marked by Garrick Ibbotson who passed to Mundy approximately 45 metres out from goal. Mundy kicked a goal with 40 seconds left, leading Fremantle to a 4-point victory. He would repeat a very similar play again against Richmond at the MCG in 2017, when he marked the ball 25m out from goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game. He kicked a goal after the siren leading Fremantle to win by just 2 points.[10]

In 2016, he was named the captain of Fremantle, however, the team headed into one of their worst seasons to date, with only four wins that year. In 2017, the captaincy was passed to Nathan Fyfe.[11] He extended his contract for a further year early in the 2017 season.[12]

Mundy was the second Fremantle player to reach 300 games, after Matthew Pavlich. His 300th game was during Fremantle's 19 point win over the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in round 6 2019.[13] In early 2021, Mundy's longevity became the subject of discussion, as he was widely considered to be in career-best form despite his advanced age for an Australian rules footballer.

On 21 July 2021, Mundy signed a one-year deal to remain with the Fremantle for the 2022 season.[14] Four days later, he made his 350th appearance in a match against the Sydney Swans.[15]

On 1 August 2022, Mundy announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2022 season.[16] Mundy's last game was during Fremantle's semi-final against Collingwood at the MCG.[17] Mundy finished his career at Fremantle having played the eighth most games in VFL/AFL history.[18]

Personal life

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Mundy completed a Bachelor of Marine Science at Murdoch University in 2019, after 7 years of study.[19][20] He went on to complete an honours degree in the same field in 2021,[21] where he studied the growth of the greenlip abalone in Augusta, and estimated the variability in growth across the Ocean Grown Abalone sea ranch.[22]

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of 2022[23]
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
2005 Fremantle 16 17 1 3 136 128 264 78 23 0.1 0.2 8.0 7.5 15.5 4.6 1.4 0
2006 Fremantle 16 25 1 5 253 165 418 141 44 0.0 0.2 10.1 6.6 16.7 5.6 1.8 0
2007 Fremantle 16 22 10 2 218 135 353 123 49 0.4 0.1 9.9 6.1 16.0 5.6 2.2 0
2008 Fremantle 16 22 10 7 209 164 373 106 63 0.4 0.3 9.5 7.4 17.0 4.8 2.9 0
2009 Fremantle 16 22 15 14 217 194 411 110 69 0.7 0.6 9.9 8.8 18.7 5.0 3.1 0
2010 Fremantle 16 22 12 8 244 263 507 80 105 0.6 0.4 11.1 12.0 23.0 3.6 4.8 9
2011 Fremantle 16 12 7 5 137 148 285 44 68 0.6 0.4 11.4 12.3 23.8 3.7 5.7 1
2012 Fremantle 16 22 8 12 306 181 487 94 88 0.4 0.6 13.9 8.2 22.1 4.3 4.0 12
2013 Fremantle 16 22 7 9 318 214 532 90 120 0.3 0.4 14.5 9.7 24.2 4.1 5.4 16
2014 Fremantle 16 24 11 12 342 246 588 87 109 0.5 0.5 14.2 10.2 24.5 3.6 4.5 13
2015 Fremantle 16 23 10 4 301 317 618 94 119 0.4 0.2 13.1 13.8 26.9 4.1 5.2 19
2016 Fremantle 16 18 5 2 223 203 426 58 83 0.3 0.1 12.4 11.3 23.7 3.2 4.6 2
2017 Fremantle 16 21 13 9 215 233 448 80 87 0.6 0.4 10.2 11.1 21.3 3.8 4.1 5
2018 Fremantle 16 22 19 13 249 245 494 97 91 0.9 0.6 11.3 11.1 22.5 4.4 4.1 8
2019 Fremantle 16 22 8 7 230 272 502 60 86 0.4 0.3 10.5 12.4 22.8 2.7 3.9 8
2020 Fremantle 16 16 4 1 131 159 290 33 59 0.3 0.1 8.2 9.9 18.1 2.1 3.7 3
2021 Fremantle 16 22 15 7 248 305 553 68 87 0.7 0.3 11.3 13.9 25.1 3.1 4.0 20
2022 Fremantle 16 22 5 7 214 279 493 61 74 0.2 0.4 9.1 12.3 21.4 2.6 3.8 4
Career 376 161 127 4191 3851 8042 1504 1494 0.4 0.3 11.1 10.2 21.3 4.0 3.8 120

References

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  1. ^ "How Fremantle 300-gamer David Mundy went from willing full-back to midfield gun". thewest.com.au. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. ^ Schmook, Nathan (14 February 2009) Midfield role for Mundy as Freo finds a leader Archived 16 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Milestone fair reward for Docker Mundy
  4. ^ Denham, Greg (29 July 2010). "Tarrant to make derby return". The Australian. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012.
  5. ^ All-Australian team to have up to 17 first-time players
  6. ^ It's David's Doig Archived 14 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ David Mundy counts down to big call
  8. ^ "Mundy signs with Fremantle". Archived from the original on 23 September 2010.
  9. ^ Bowen, Nick (1 July 2014). "David Mundy a Docker for life after signing new deal".
  10. ^ Gleeson, Michael (14 May 2017). "Richmond Tigers lose to Fremantle Dockers with after-the-siren goal from David Mundy". The Age. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  11. ^ Waterworth, Ben (15 February 2017). "Garry Lyon surprised Fremantle chose Nat Fyfe over David Mundy as skipper after just one year". Fox Sports. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  12. ^ Miller, Dale (26 April 2017). "Star veteran extends time at Freo". PerthNow. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  13. ^ Little, Craig (29 April 2019). "David Mundy leads Fremantle Dockers to glory in 300th AFL game". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  14. ^ Prestipino, David (29 April 2021). "Mundy finally gets his moment in the east coast sun". The Age. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Fremantle's David Mundy will play his 350th AFL game this weekend, and there's no reason why he can't carry on". ABC. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  16. ^ "David Mundy set to retire from AFL after 19 seasons with the Fremantle Dockers". ABC. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  17. ^ "WATCH: Mundy's son centre stage in EMOTIONAL farewell". PerthNow. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  18. ^ O'Donoghue, Craig (21 June 2023). "AFL finals 2022: David Mundy says goodbye to Fremantle Dockers in moving post-game moments". PerthNow. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  19. ^ Prestipino, David (13 March 2019). "Indefatigable Docker David Mundy looks seaward as 300th game looms". The Age. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  20. ^ "New milestone for Docker Dave Mundy". Murdoch University. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  21. ^ Schmook, Nathan (24 June 2022). "Evergreen Docker relishes on-field role". Fremantle Football Club. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Hats off to Murdoch's newest graduates". Murdoch University. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  23. ^ David Mundy's player profile at AFL Tables
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