Dwayne Russell

Dwayne John Russell (born 4 March 1965) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and currently a commentator of the sport.

Born in Adelaide, Russell made his senior football debut as a sixteen-year-old in 1981 for Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), eventually becoming Port Adelaide's vice-captain, before crossing over to Victorian Football League (VFL) club Geelong in 1987. Russell played 50 games, kicking 51 goals for Geelong until he left the club at the end of the 1991 AFL season.

Russell initially considered returning to Port Adelaide to finish his career but instead coached in country Victoria for a few years before retiring from football.

Sports journalism

Russell unsuccessfully applied for a journalism cadetship in Adelaide in 1984 before starting a journalism career in Geelong in 1989. Russell became a full-time sports journalist with The Age in 1997. Covering the major sporting events of Melbourne, Russell built up a serviceable record as the number four sports writer at The Age. Following this success he was moved full-time to the paper's coverage of the AFL in 1999, including a stint as the writer for The Sunday Age Sport section in the mid-2000s.