Aaron Sandilands

Aaron Sandilands
Aaron Sandilands
	Sandilands with the Fremantle Dockers in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Aaron Wade Sandilands
Nickname(s)	Sandi
Date of birth	6 December 1982 (age 42)
Original team(s)	East Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft	No. 33, 2002 rookie draft
Height	211 cm (6 ft 11 in)
Weight	119 kg (262 lb)
Position(s)	Ruckman
Playing career1
Years	Club
2003–2019	Fremantle
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019.
Career highlights
	2× Doig Medallist: 2009, 2015; 4× All-Australian team: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014; Geoff Christian Medal: 2009; 2× Ross Glendinning Medal: 2009 (rd. 17), 2010 (rd. 18); AFL Rising Star nominee: 2003; Fremantle Life Member: 2010; Fremantle 25 since '95 Team; Western Australian Football Hall of Fame: 2024;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Aaron Wade Sandilands (born 6 December 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). At 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) tall, and with a peak weight of 120 kg (265 lb), he is the second heaviest (behind Mick Nolan) and equal tallest player to ever play in the AFL.

Originally from Mount Barker, Western Australia, Sandilands played with the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), before being rookie listed by Fremantle in the 2002 Rookie Draft. Upgraded from the rookie list at the end of the 2002 season, he made his senior debut for the club in round one of the 2003 season. Due to his height, Sandilands played almost exclusively as a ruckman, occasionally resting in the forward line. He was named in the All-Australian team for three consecutive years between 2008 and 2010, and again in 2014. He is also a dual Doig Medallist as Fremantle's best and fairest player, won in 2009 and 2015. Sandilands was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2024.

Early career

Originally from the small town of Mount Barker in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Sandilands originally played at Under 17s level for the Mount Barker Football Club. He moved to Perth, joined Willetton Junior Football Club^[2] and was selected by Fremantle in the rookie draft prior to the 2002 season. He spent the entire 2002 year playing for East Fremantle in the WAFL, before being elevated to the senior list prior to the 2003 season.

AFL Career

Playing in 19 games in his first season, the highlights were being nominated for the AFL Rising Star and earning a Brownlow Medal vote for a dominant display against the reigning premiers, Brisbane Lions in Round 14^[3] and playing in Fremantle's first ever finals match. Despite Essendon being convincing winners, Sandilands was one of the few to perform well, with 41 hitouts.^[4]

As ruckmen are generally considered to peak in their late 20s,^[5] Sandilands had impressed many to rank 6th or 5th in total hitouts in each of his first three seasons in the AFL, improving to 2nd (with the highest average) in 2006.^[6] Despite this dominance in hitouts, it did not always result in Fremantle winning the clearances.^[7]

In 2006 Sandilands suffered a broken jaw in the round 6 Western Derby in a clash with then West Coast Eagles ruckman Mark Seaby.^[8] Following an investigation by the AFL, no charges were laid over the incident.^[9]

Sandilands has been named in the All-Australian Team four times: on the interchange bench in 2008,^[10] as the only ruckman in the 2009 team,^[11] and as the key ruckman in 2010 and 2014.

In 2010, Sandilands polled a team-high 20 votes in the Brownlow Medal, placing equal sixth overall alongside Matthew Boyd. This represents one of the highest vote tallies and best finishes by a ruckman in the recent history of the medal, which has been dominated by midfielders.^[12]

Sandilands suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung after being kneed in the back by Nic Naitanui in the Western Derby in round 3, 2016. He did not return to football until round 20, playing two of the final three games of the season.^[13]

Sandilands retired at the end of the 2019 AFL season.^[14]

Following his retirement, Sandilands was appointed as Fremantle's specialist ruck coach for the 2020 AFL season.^[15] During the 2021 AFL season, there were brief rumours that either Carlton or Geelong would attempt to draft Sandilands in the mid-season draft, but Sandilands stated that he had no interest in becoming a player again.^[16]

Statistics

^[17]

**Legend**
G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks	H/O	Hit-outs

	Led the league after finals only
	Led the league after season and finals


Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals								Averages (per game)
Season	Team	No.	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O
2003	Fremantle	31	19	5	1	61	76	137	56	15	353	0.3	0.1	3.2	4.0	7.2	2.9	0.8	18.6
2004	Fremantle	31	20	3	1	74	98	172	61	21	473	0.2	0.1	3.7	4.9	8.6	3.1	1.1	23.7
2005	Fremantle	31	18	5	1	81	106	187	74	19	414	0.3	0.1	4.5	5.9	10.4	4.1	1.1	23.0
2006	Fremantle	31	21	7	6	123	145	268	96	15	516	0.3	0.3	5.9	6.9	12.8	4.6	0.7	24.6
2007	Fremantle	31	15	6	4	82	108	190	55	13	404	0.4	0.3	5.5	7.2	12.7	3.7	0.9	26.9
2008	Fremantle	31	22	8	11	122	208	330	77	29	646	0.4	0.5	5.5	9.5	15.0	3.5	1.3	29.4
2009	Fremantle	31	20	13	8	143	205	348	80	34	659	0.7	0.4	7.2	10.3	17.4	4.0	1.7	33.0
2010	Fremantle	31	21	13	6	123	220	343	88	34	732	0.6	0.3	5.9	10.5	16.3	4.2	1.6	34.9
2011	Fremantle	31	13	6	2	82	143	225	54	24	432	0.5	0.2	6.3	11.0	17.3	4.2	1.8	33.2
2012	Fremantle	31	14	6	0	71	135	206	48	16	528	0.4	0.0	5.1	9.6	14.7	3.4	1.1	37.7
2013	Fremantle	31	10	3	1	18	74	92	22	7	278	0.3	0.1	1.8	7.4	9.2	2.2	0.7	27.8
2014	Fremantle	31	23	8	6	75	218	293	85	44	890	0.3	0.3	3.3	9.5	12.7	3.7	1.9	38.7
2015	Fremantle	31	23	9	4	51	241	292	79	34	998	0.4	0.2	2.2	10.5	12.7	3.4	1.5	43.4
2016	Fremantle	31	5	0	1	9	32	41	10	8	145	0.0	0.2	1.8	6.4	8.2	2.0	1.6	29.0
2017	Fremantle	31	10	0	1	27	83	110	22	18	411	0.0	0.1	2.7	8.3	11.0	2.2	1.8	41.1
2018	Fremantle	31	11	6	1	39	85	124	26	12	446	0.5	0.1	3.5	7.7	11.3	2.4	1.1	40.5
2019	Fremantle	31	6	0	1	20	53	73	13	14	177	0.0	0.2	3.3	8.8	12.2	2.2	2.3	29.5
Career			271	98	55	1201	2230	3431	946	357	8502	0.4	0.2	4.4	8.2	12.7	3.5	1.3	31.4