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Home > Tongan AFL star becomes umpire

Tongan AFL star becomes umpire [1]

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - 13:36

David Rodan. Photo AFL.

A former Aussie Rules Football (AFL) star, David Rodan (of Tongan descent), has begun his career as an umpire for Australia’s premium AFL tournament.

The 33-year-old played 185 AFL games, including 111 games for Port Adelaide for whom he scored 86 goals. Rodan announced his retirement from AFL in 2013 after suffering a knee injury during a game.

David Rodan was born in Fiji to Tongan parents. His family moved to Australia when he just 3-years-old.

Rodan told AFL media, “Dad couldn't find any rugby clubs so I gravitated to footy,”

"Football helped us connect to Australian society. It's played a very large part in our lives."

Taking up the tough job of being an umpire, Rodan stated that refereeing was a very difficult job.

"It's harder than a lot of people think – A lot of it is about positioning and watching the ball flight.

David Rodan [2]
Tongan athletes [3]
Tongan rugby players [4]
Tongan sportsmen [5]
Tongan Australians [6]
Tongans Overseas [7]

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Source URL:https://matangitonga.to/2017/08/02/tongan-afl-star-becomes-umpire

Links
[1] https://matangitonga.to/2017/08/02/tongan-afl-star-becomes-umpire [2] https://matangitonga.to/tag/david-rodan?page=1 [3] https://matangitonga.to/tag/tongan-athletes?page=1 [4] https://matangitonga.to/tag/tongan-rugby-players?page=1 [5] https://matangitonga.to/tag/tongan-sportsmen?page=1 [6] https://matangitonga.to/tag/tongan-australians?page=1 [7] https://matangitonga.to/topic/tongans-overseas?page=1