Dan Moriarty | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Full name | Daniel Moriarty | ||
Date of birth | 20 August 1895 | ||
Place of birth | Adelaide, SA | ||
Date of death | 12 November 1982 | (aged 87)||
Place of death | Adelaide, SA | ||
Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Weight | 76 kg (168 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Centre half-back | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1919–1925 | South Adelaide | 97 (2) | |
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
1919–1925 | South Australia | 22 | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1925.
|
Dan Moriarty (20 August 1895 – 12 November 1982) was a champion Australian rules footballer in the South Australian Football League, considered to be one of the greatest centre half-backs in the history of the sport.
Moriarty played amateur football early in his career for Victoria Parks, until 1915. Frank Barry convinced Moriarty to come to the South Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian Football League. Moriarty played four reserves games at the end of the 1915 season, before the league went into recess for three years due to World War I. He played in the Patriotic League in 1917 and 1918.
The SAFL returned from recess in 1919, and Moriarty made his league debut for South Adelaide, immediately becoming one of the league's star players at centre half-back. In each of his first three seasons – 1919, 1920 and 1921 – Moriarty won the Magarey Medal as the fairest and most brilliant player in the league. He remains the only player to have won the Magarey Medal in three consecutive seasons. He initially won all three Magarey Medals outright, although the 1920 and 1921 medals are now recorded as ties, with several other players later receiving retrospective medals for those seasons. Moriarty was selected in the South Australian team in interstate matches in 1919, and represented the state regularly throughout his career. He won the inaugural South Adelaide Football Club best and fairest in 1923, and was the club captain in 1925.
Moriarty retired from league football at the age of 30, after the 1925 season. His career spanned 97 league games for South Adelaide, and 22 state games (played consecutively) for South Australia between 1919 and 1925.