Nicky Winmar - Career

Career

Born in Kellerberrin, a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, to Neil and Meryle Winmar, Winmar grew up in the neighbouring town of Pingelly. A member of the Noongar people, he played for the Brookton/Pingelly Football Club in the Upper Great Southern Football League (UGSFL) from an early age, and was later recruited by the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) after the club's coach at the time, Mal Brown, saw Winmar playing. He made his senior debut for South Fremantle in 1983, at the age of 17. In total, Winmar played 58 games for South Fremantle between 1983 and 1986, kicking 98 goals.

Winmar transferred to the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for the 1987 season, making his debut for the club in round one, against Geelong at Moorabbin Oval. Having played 20 games in his debut season, kicking 37 goals, Winmar finished second in the club's best and fairest count, behind Tony Lockett, and also polled ten votes in the Brownlow Medal. In 1988, he kicked 43 goals from 21 games to be the club's leading goalkicker, and again finished runner-up in the best and fairest count, this time to Danny Frawley. After an outstanding season in 1989, Winmar won St Kilda's best and fairest award, and was also named in the VFL's Team of the Year, on a half-forward flank. He also finished equal third in the 1989 Brownlow Medal, polling 16 votes from his 22 games.

After a match against Hawthorn in round 19 of the 1990 season, Winmar was suspended for ten matches for kicking and eye-gouging Dermott Brereton. Brereton later apologised to Winmar for racially abusing him during the game. He returned to football in round seven of the 1991 season, recording 33 disposals and one goal against Adelaide at Moorabbin. Winmar's performances throughout the rest of the season led to him being named in the inaugural AFL All-Australian team. Winmar played a further 23 games in the 1992 season, including the club's semi-final loss to Footscray. At the conclusion of the season, Winmar was named the winner of the Mark of the Year competition, for a spectacular mark taken at Subiaco Oval against West Coast. In round four of the 1993 season, indigenous players Winmar and Gilbert McAdam were racially abused by Collingwood supporters, eventually being awarded two and three Brownlow Medal votes in a game St Kilda won by 22 points. The week after the game, Winmar was involved in a dispute with St Kilda over his level of pay, in particular, injury payments, and did not play for the next two weeks.

Playing a total of 17 games in 1994, Winmar missed three weeks late in the season after being suspended for striking. At the end of the season, Winmar was also refused clearance by St Kilda to play in the Aboriginal All-Stars game, held at Marrara Oval in Darwin. In 1995, Winmar played in each of St Kilda's 22 games, winning the club's best and fairest award for a second time and also being named in the All-Australian team. In the pre-season competition held prior to the start of the 1996 season, the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup, Winmar played in St Kilda's team that defeated Carlton by 58 points in the grand final held at Waverley Park, and was awarded the Michael Tuck Medal as best on ground. Having damaged the medial collateral ligament of his knee in the round three game against Melbourne, Winmar missed nine matches in the early part of the 1996 season before returning in the latter part of the season. Winmar played his 200th game for the club in round 17 of the 1997 season, against the Brisbane Lions at Waverley Park, becoming the first indigenous player to reach the milestone in the AFL. He also played in St Kilda's loss to Adelaide in the 1997 Grand Final, having kicked three goals against North Melbourne in the preliminary final the previous week.

Tribunal record
Year	Charge	Penalty
1988	Striking	No penalty
1990	Charging	No penalty
1990	Kicking, eye-gouging	Suspended ten matches
1992	Charging	No penalty
1994	Striking	Suspended three matches
1994	Striking	No penalty
1995	Disputing umpire's decision	Fined A$1,500

In 1998, in what was to be his last season for St Kilda, Winmar played 23 games and kicked 16 goals. He was heavily criticised during the club's match against Carlton in round 20 after spending much of the game fighting with opponents, finishing with only eight disposals. Winmar was suspended by the club for the following match, but returned to play for the club in the finals series. After the match, Winmar's manager, Peter Jess, was criticised for making comments in an interview with radio station 3AW suggesting that Aboriginal players were unable to cope with the pressures introduced by "white society":

What we have in terms of our, you know, white society, we have certain ways that we deal with things and unfortunately, you know, Nicky doesn't have those same level of skills. And as a sort of consequence he has...and he deals with it in a sort of different way and that way is, you know, dysfunctional to us, but unfortunately that is what has gone on and, you know, it's sad. So, you know, it's a problem that he needs to work through. It's very, very difficult for him, I mean...you know the reality of the situation is, is that how we deal with it in white society is we fill our jails full of these people, you know, because we can't understand how they think. —Peter Jess, Winmar's manager, on his game against Carlton

Winmar was "dismissed" from St Kilda at the end of the 1998 season after Tim Watson replaced Stan Alves as coach of the club. Despite being contracted for another year, the club terminated Winmar's contract as a result of his behaviour and lack of discipline over the previous season. He was then selected by the Western Bulldogs with the 30th pick overall in the 1998 National Draft, having been considered a change to be drafted by Collingwood, North Melbourne, and Carlton. Winmar played a total of 21 games for the club, kicking 34 goals, before retiring from the Western Bulldogs at the end of the 1999 season, halfway through a two-year contract, citing issues with commitment to training and injuries. Winmar was named National Aboriginal Sportsman of the Year at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Awards held in Hobart, Tasmania, sharing the award with rugby league player Cliff Lyons.

Following his retirement from the AFL, Winmar played with various clubs in regional and country leagues in Victoria and the Northern Territory, including in the Northern Territory Football League, for the Seville Football Club in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League, and for the Rutherglen Football Club and the Wodonga Football Club in the Tallangatta & District Football League. Having previously worked with Denfam, a Melbourne-based construction business and as a shearer, Winmar is currently employed with the mining industry, and lives in Brookton, Western Australia. On a visit to Perth in September 2012, Winmar had a heart attack, and was hospitalised at Royal Perth Hospital.