Todd Viney

DOB: 30 March, 1966
Debut: Round 1, 1987 against Fitzroy at MCG
Last Game: Round 22, 1999 against Essendon at MCG

Games: 233
Goals: 92
Career Statistics

Wins	Draws	Losses	Winning %
110	1	122	47.21

From: Sturt

Number: 12 1987-1999

Honours:
Captain - 1998 - 1999
Best and Fairest - 1993, 1998
Grand Final team - 1988
Night Premiership player - 1987, 1989
All Australian - 1998
South Australia state player - 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999
Australian International Rules team - 1998, 1999

A decorated junior tennis player, Viney decided on a football career instead of tennis at 18 after having abandoned the sport as a 13-year-old to concentrate on his tennis career. He'd risen to the number 2 junior player in Australia, and urban myth often (falsely) claims that Viney beat Boris Becker in a junior tennis tournament, but he decided to throw it away on a European trip.

Boarding a plane home he returned from Europe on a Friday, and after a five year break from the game walked straight into an Under 19's match the next day. The next year he was in the SANFL seniors and was signed by the Demons.

The though as nails midfielder arrived in 1987, and the start of his career co-incided with Melbourne's glory era (relatively speaking) of the late 80's and early 90's. He impressed so much that as a 21-year-old Viney was elevated to vice-captain for 1988.

Having been out of form towards the end of 1988, and dropped for the Preliminary Final after not registering a stat in the Semi Final, Viney was handed a reprieve when Steve O'Dwyer was suspended for the Grand Final. He got just five touches on the day but joined most of his teammates in having a dirty day.

1989 was a disappointing year for Viney, he lost his Deputy Vice Captain role to Garry Lyon and only played nine games after suffering two hamstring injuries but he was back as a regular the next year. In 1991 he turned out for 24 games, including both finals, and picked up seven Brownlow votes.

1993 was a career year for Viney, playing 20 games and winning his first Best and Fairest award. 1994 was another great year for Todd and he played 25 of 26 matches as the side went all the way to a Preliminary Final.

Viney missed the last three games of 1995 with a broken arm, and for a time the next year it seemed it would be the end of his career. He briefly retired to join the coaching staff for Mark Phillipousis on a salary of $200,000 plus, but the arrangement didn't work out and he was back for the Demons round 2 clash with Collingwood.

The side crashed to the bottom of the ladder in 1997, but after being appointed captain for 1998 Viney had a magnificent year as leader in a team that shot to the finals - ultimately ending just one match away from the Grand Final.

Before Round 20, 1999 Viney announced that he would retire at the end of the season. He had suffered sciatic nerve problems which had affected his hamstrings, and he'd required a mid-season epidural to get him through the end of the year. A degenerative knee condition troubled him as well.

He joined the coaching panel as a midfield coach in 2000 and sat on the match committee while also doing time as a Channel Seven analyst on the Game Day program. He didn't continue in the role in 2001.

After coaching Moama, Viney's former teammate Alastair Clarkson recruited Viney to be a Assistant coach at Hawthorn in 2005. He worked with the Hawks during their 2008 Premiership season before moving to Adelaide in 2009.

At the end of the 2010 season Viney returned to the club as the Demons General Manager of Player Development.

Viney's brother Jay briefly played for the Demons in the early 90's. The youngest brother Ryan trained with the Demons at the end of the 2000 season but was not drafted. His son Jack announced in November 2010 that he would sign with the Demons at the 2012 national draft.

Year	Games	Goals	Brownlow
1987	16	9	3
1988	12	1	0
1989	9	6	0
1990	15	12	1
1991	24	13	7
1992	22	7	1
1993	20	6	2
1994	25	3	2
1995	17	4	3
1996	12	1	2
1997	22	7	9
1998	22	15	20
1999	17	8	5

Tribunal Record

Match	Charge	Sanction
Round 3, 1995	Striking	2 matches
Round 19, 1996	Striking	1 match
Round 6, 1997	Wrestling	1 match payment
Round 16, 1998	Striking	Not Guilty
Round 21, 1999	Melee	$1000 fine

Coaching

First Game as Coach: Round 20, 2011 vs Carlton at MCG
Last Game as Coach: Round 24, 2011 vs Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval

Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	%
5	1	0	4	20.00

Viney was appointed caretaker coach after the dismissal of Dean Bailey in the wake of the disastrous 186 point loss to Geelong. He stated upon his appointment that he wasn't interested in the role full time, but hinted after his first win as a coach against Gold Coast in Round 23 that he was considering putting himself forward for the job.

He ended his coaching career with one win from five games.

Lists
Coaches
Interstate recruits
Interstate representatives
SANFL

Media
"Tennis ace full of Demon spirit" - The Age 25/08/1987
"Viney returns to Melbourne" - melbournefc.com.au 12/10/10

Links
Wikipedia profile
Full Points Footy profile

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