Sam Day (Australian footballer)
Australian rules footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sam Day (born 6 September 1992) is a professional Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Southport Sharks in the Victorian Football League (VFL), having previously played for the Gold Coast Suns and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Adelaide, South Australia
No. 2, 2023 pre-season draft (Gold Coast)
No. 2, 2024 pre-season draft (Brisbane Lions)
| Sam Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Day playing for Gold Coast in May 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Sam Day | ||
| Born |
6 September 1992 Adelaide, South Australia | ||
| Original team | Sturt (SANFL) | ||
| Draft |
No. 3, 2010 National draft, Gold Coast No. 2, 2023 pre-season draft (Gold Coast) No. 2, 2024 pre-season draft (Brisbane Lions) | ||
| Debut | Round 7, 2011, Gold Coast vs. Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba | ||
| Height | 197 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | ||
| Position | Key Forward / Ruckman | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Southport | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2011–2024 | Gold Coast | 155 (117) | |
| 2025 | Brisbane Lions | 13 (3) | |
| Total | 168 (120) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2025 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Early life
Day was born in Adelaide, South Australia. His grandfather Ian Day and great-uncle Robert Day both had long SANFL careers, while his uncle Tim Day represented the Australian national baseball team. Sam Day grew up playing a variety of sports and by high school he continued to play football, baseball and basketball at a high level. He attended Prince Alfred College throughout his schooling years and was forced to choose between baseball and basketball college offers in the United States or nominating for the AFL's national draft.[1][2] After a strong final year with Sturt in the SANFL and an All-Australian selection at the Under 18 national championships, Day settled on football. He was selected by the Gold Coast with the third pick in the 2010 national draft. Day is cousins with Hawthorn player Will Day.
AFL career
Day made his AFL debut for the Gold Coast Suns against the Brisbane Lions[3] in round 7 of the 2011 season. He kicked a career-high four goals against Collingwood in 2014.
In 2016, with the Suns' list severely impacted by injury, coach Rodney Eade moved Day into defence where he proved to be an effective tall defender.[4] He was expected to return to the forward line in 2017, but he suffered a serious hip injury in the pre-season clash against the Brisbane Lions,[5] which ultimately resulted in him missing the entire 2017 season.[6]
Day was not offered a contract by the Gold Coast suns for the 2025 season.[7] It was later reported that the Brisbane Lions were considering signing Day as a potential replacement for the recently retired Joe Daniher.[8] This was confirmed when the Lions picked up Day in the Pre-Season draft.[9]
Day played 13 games for his new club in 2025. He was omitted from the team following his first final, which was the qualifying final against Geelong.[10] Unfortunately, Day did not return to the team before Brisbane won the premiership a few weeks later over the same opponent. He retired from the AFL following the conclusion of the season.[11]
Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2025 season.[12]
G |
Goals | K |
Kicks | D |
Disposals | T |
Tackles |
B |
Behinds | H |
Handballs | M |
Marks | H/O |
Hit-outs |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | |||||
| 2011 | Gold Coast | 39 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 32 | 52 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 7.4 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0 |
| 2012 | Gold Coast | 12 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 56 | 65 | 121 | 46 | 16 | 16 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 2013 | Gold Coast | 12 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 112 | 93 | 205 | 72 | 35 | 36 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 10.3 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2014 | Gold Coast | 12 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 133 | 93 | 226 | 74 | 38 | 120 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 10.3 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 5.5 | 2 |
| 2015 | Gold Coast | 12 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 64 | 52 | 116 | 45 | 25 | 26 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 8.3 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 2016 | Gold Coast | 12 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 127 | 103 | 230 | 88 | 55 | 26 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 6.4 | 5.2 | 11.5 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Gold Coast | 12 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 61 | 57 | 118 | 40 | 28 | 51 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 9.8 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 0 |
| 2019 | Gold Coast | 12 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 61 | 55 | 116 | 50 | 21 | 44 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 11.6 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Gold Coast | 12 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 68 | 79 | 147 | 47 | 21 | 52 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 8.6 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 2 |
| 2021 | Gold Coast | 12 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 27 | 53 | 23 | 17 | 23 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 8.8 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 2022 | Gold Coast | 12 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 6.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Gold Coast | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2024 | Gold Coast | 12 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 27 | 18 | 45 | 27 | 9 | 25 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 9.0 | 5.4 | 1.8 | 5.0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Brisbane Lions | 14 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 61 | 43 | 104 | 41 | 23 | 93 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 7.2 | 0 |
| Career[13] | 168 | 120 | 76 | 848 | 730 | 1578 | 591 | 302 | 524 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 9.4 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 5 | ||
Notes
- 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.
