| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 18 March 1962 , Loxton, South Australia |
| Recruited from | West Adelaide |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 1, 28 March 1987, Collingwood v. Sydney, at Victoria Park |
| Team(s) |
West Adelaide (1999-2008, 88-90, 92-97) 364 games, 255 goals Collingwood (1987) 16 games, 15 goals Adelaide (1991-92) 24 games, 6 goals[1] |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Grantley Craig Fielke (born 18 March 1962 in Loxton, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for West Adelaide in the SANFL and for both Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows in the VFL-AFL between 1979 and 1997.
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Fielke was recruited by the West Adelaide Football Club from their SA country zone of the Riverland in 1977 at the age of 15. After taking time to adjust to life in Adelaide (he has never been to the city before), he made his league debut for the Bloods on April 7, 1979,[2] going on to play in 20 games. The Bloods though had a season to forget winning just 7 of 23 games and finished in last place. In his debut season for Westies, Fielke would win the Sam Suckling Memorial Medal as the best first year player.
Fielke's speed and ball handling ability saw him become a valued member of West's senior team. From his debut in 1979 until the end of the 1986 season, he played 186 games and kicked 150 goals.
The arrival of Neil Kerley as coach in 1981 saw The Bloods go from being one of the worst to one of the best teams in the SANFL, although at times their famous inconsistency showed through. Fielke's game blossomed under "Knuckles" hard coaching although he suffered a setback in 1983 when he twice broke his arm. He battled back and regained his place in the side shortly before the finals, for which West had easily qualified as the minor premier, winning 18 of their 22 regular season games. Fielke then went on to be a member of West Adelaide's first premiership win since 1961 when he came off the reserves bench in their 21 16 (142) to 16 12 (108) win over Surt in the Grand Final in front of over 47,000 fans at Football Park.
West Adelaide obtained the services of former Port Adelaide premiership coach John Cahill in 1985 and Fielke continued to blossom. That season he experienced the individual highlight of his career when he won the Magarey Medal, polling 54 votes to defeat pre-count favourite Peter Motley of Sturt who finished with 51 votes.[3] During the 1985 season Fielke led the league in disposals (kicks and handballs), and used the ball very effectively against tough opposition in leading West Adelaide to the preliminary final.
Fielke was recruited by the famous Collingwood Football Club for the 1987 VFL season, after the Magpies looked for new talent across the border. He impressed at Victoria Park, playing 16 games for the team in the season on the wing.
After just a single season in the VFL, Fielke returned to Adelaide for family reasons in 1988, playing again for West Adelaide. There he would play another three more seasons, winning the clubs Trabilsle Medal as the best and fairest player in 1990.
With the forming of the Adelaide Crows in late 1990 to play in the, Fielke was won of the first players signed and played in all 22 games of the 1991 AFL season which saw the Crows finish in ninth place with a 10-12 win-loss record. After being one of the only players to play in all games during the Crows first season, the 30 year old Fielke suddenly found himself on the outer with coach Graham Cornes and he played only 2 games in 1992. At the end of the season he was informed his services were no longer required, ending his AFL career with a record of 40 games and 21 goals.[4]
Fielke returned to West Adelaide once more in 1993 and became club captain in 1994, a position he would hold until he announced his retirement at the end of the 1997 season. He finished his SANFL career having played a club record 364 games for West Adelaide. He is the only West Adelaide player to ever play over 300 senior games for the club.[5] He kicked 255 goals in his 364 games.
During his career, Grantley Fielke also played 8 state games for South Australia. He was inducted into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[6]
Grantley Fielke was formally married to former Australian Netball team captain Michelle Fielke. He used to own a Sporting Goods store (Grantley Fielke's Sports Locker) at the Arndale Shopping Centre in Adelaide but is now a real estate agent.[7] His brother Craig also played league football for Sturt in the SANFL while his 2nd cousin Aaron Fielke plays with West Adelaide and in Round 17 of the 2011 season notched up his 50th game for the Bloods.
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