Two Cats to become AFL Life Members

A PAIR of Cats will be among this year’s inductees as Life Members of the Australian Football League next month.

Announced this morning, Life Membership was conferred under the provision of “Special Service to the Game” to Geelong Football Club recruiter Stephen Wells.

Cats star Patrick Dangerfield is among eight players, coaches or umpires who qualified automatically after having reached 300 total AFL games during the 2021 season.

Wells started work with the Cats in 1984, first as the Echuca-based Country Zone Development Officer, then as a Development Officer and as Assistant Football Manager and Role in Recruiting.

He has been Geelong’s Recruiting and List Manager since 1994, and his plaudits since include being made a Life Member of the Geelong Football Club in 2004, the RJ Hickey award for outstanding service to football in 2009 and the AFL Coaches Association Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Through the roles held at Cats, Wells has sat on various committees. In his time, the club has reached eight Grand Finals, including three Premierships, and has seen three Brownlow Medallists, three Norm Smith Medallists, a NAB AFL Rising Star and multiple All Australian players.

The 2016 Brownlow Medallist, Dangerfield has played 85 premiership games and 19 pre-season games played for Adelaide Crows and Geelong Cats, kicking a total of 324 goals.

He has been named an All Australian eight times (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 as Vice Captain, 2019, 2020 as Captain) played six
International Rules games (2010, 2014, 2015, 2017), won four Club Best and Fairest awards (2015 with the Crows and 2016, 2017 and 2019 with the Cats), was the Adelaide captain in 2014 and played in the 2020 State of Origin game.

Former Western Bulldogs President Peter Gordon, former Norwood Football Club player and SANFL administrator Phil Gallagher also qualified for Life Membership through their service.

The seven other players, coaches or umpires to qualify are Luke Beveridge, Grant Birchall, Stuart Dew, Shane Edwards, Josh Kennedy, Jacob Mollison and Robert Findlay.

All 11 had their awards confirmed by the AFL Commission and will be inducted at the AFL’s 2022 annual general meeting in March.

Paul Briggs was also awarded the Jack Titus Service Award for outstanding service to football as the founding President of the Rumbalara Football Netball Club.

AFL chief executive officer Gillon McLachlan said the commission congratulated each individual on their award and the game looked forward to thanking each personally again at the season launch in March for their contribution to football.