During the 1996 Australian Football League (AFL) season 81 Australian rules footballers made their AFL debut with 48 others playing their first game for a new club.
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Summary
AFL debuts
Name
Club
Age at debut
Debut round
Games
Goals
Notes
1996
Career
1996
Career
Kane Johnson
Adelaide
18 years, 115 days
14 [1]
2
220
3
76
Peter Vardy
Adelaide
20 years, 163 days
14 [2]
7
137
5
206
Matthew Collins
Adelaide
19 years, 129 days
10 [3]
8
43
2
7
Ronnie Burns
Geelong
23 years, 16 days
1 [4]
21
154
31
262
Jason Snell
Geelong
18 years, 246 days
1 [5]
3
68
3
62
David Cockatoo-Collins
Melbourne
17 years, 363 days
1 [6]
1
2
0
0
Twin brother of Don
Don Cockatoo-Collins
Melbourne
17 years, 363 days
1 [7]
2
9
4
3
Twin brother of David
Brad Cassidy
Fitzroy
19 years, 249 days
1 [8]
14
16
10
10
Peter Berbakov
Essendon
22 years, 221 days
1 [9]
17
52
4
14
Scott Bamford
Fitzroy
21 years, 281 days
1 [10]
22
59
6
33
Matthew Primus
Fitzroy
21 years, 79 days
1 [11]
20
157
5
81
Round 1 1996 Rising Star nomination
Daniel Chick
Hawthorn
20 years, 50 days
1 [12]
22
252
14
210
Round 10 1996 Rising Star nomination
Craig Treleven
Hawthorn
25 years, 290 days
1 [13]
21
78
7
22
Joe McLaren
St Kilda
18 years, 110 days
1 [14]
11
69
2
39
Jason Traianidis
St Kilda
21 years, 144 days
1 [15]
13
62
9
36
Andrew McLean
St Kilda
22 years, 256 days
1 [16]
6
6
1
1
Danny Dickfos
Brisbane Bears
25 years, 182 days
1 [17]
22
65
1
0
Troy Johnson
Brisbane Bears
18 years, 248 days
1 [18]
2
2
0
0
Scott Taylor
Footscray
19 years, 160 days
1 [19]
1
1
0
0
Andrew Donnelly
West Coast
23 years, 2 days
1 [20]
20
68
28
69
Chad Morrison
West Coast
18 years, 2 days
1 [21]
18
169
24
88
Round 16 1996 Rising Star nomination
Steven Pitt
Collingwood
22 years, 253 days
1 [22]
13
18
14
16
Gavin Mitchell
Fremantle
23 years, 94 days
1 [23]
21
88
11
82
Greg Harding
Fremantle
19 years, 196 days
1 [24]
18
78
1
3
Round 4 1996 Rising Star nomination
Brendon Fewster
West Coast
22 years, 88 days
1 [25]
3
70
2
43
Mark West
Footscray
23 years, 3 days
2 [26]
4
16
2
3
Tristan Lynch
Brisbane Bears
22 years, 228 days
2 [27]
21
72
1
15
Kane Fraser
Hawthorn
18 years, 266 days
3 [28]
2
5
2
0
Ben Holland
Richmond
18 years, 339 days
3 [29]
11
191
3
179
Brother of Nick Holland
Matthew Nicks
Sydney
20 years, 337 days
3 [30]
6
175
2
125
Jason Cripps
St Kilda
19 years, 183 days
3 [31]
11
60
3
10
Clive Waterhouse
Fremantle
21 years, 296 days
3 [32]
11
106
9
178
Darren O'Brien
Melbourne
27 years, 31 days
4 [33]
13
24
7
9
Michael Brown
Fremantle
19 years, 213 days
4 [34]
10
22
6
15
Ben Cousins
West Coast
17 years, 296 days
4 [35]
20
270
34
217
Round 12 1996 Rising Star nomination & overall winner, son of Bryan Cousins
Phillip Matera
West Coast
20 years, 146 days
4 [36]
5
179
8
389
Brother of Wally & Peter Matera
Scott Lucas
Essendon
18 years, 117 days
5 [37]
14
270
11
471
Steven Koops
Fremantle
17 years, 277 days
5 [38]
6
89
6
49
David Wirrpanda
West Coast
16 years, 268 days
5 [39]
5
227
4
131
Steven King
Geelong
17 years, 157 days
5 [40]
13
240
3
83
Round 15 1996 Rising Star nomination
Stefan Carey
Sydney
20 years, 100 days
6 [41]
4
48
1
23
Clint Bizzell
Geelong
19 years, 310 days
6 [42]
4
163
1
79
Sam McFarlane
North Melbourne
20 years, 150 days
6 [43]
2
2
2
0
Shane Clayton
Fitzroy
17 years, 193 days
6 [44]
13
117
1
52
Brent Frewen
Fitzroy
18 years, 197 days
6 [45]
2
2
1
0
Nick Carter
Fitzroy
18 years, 8 days
6 [46]
17
25
4
6
Round 8 1996 Rising Star nomination
Ross Funcke
Richmond
18 years, 170 days
6 [47]
4
40
2
5
Jade Rawlings
Hawthorn
18 years, 208 days
6 [48]
2
148
1
96
Brother of Brady Rawlings
Clark Keating
Brisbane Bears
20 years, 48 days
6 [49]
14
139
9
83
Brother of Aaron Keating
Todd McHardy
Melbourne
19 years, 37 days
7 [50]
3
5
1
1
Luke Toia
Fremantle
18 years, 171 days
7 [51]
13
63
11
33
Round 20 1996 Rising Star nomination
Michael Polley
Melbourne
19 years, 254 days
9 [52]
5
5
2
0
Barry Hall
St Kilda
19 years, 109 days
9 [53]
4
289
2
746
Damien Ryan
Richmond
18 years, 297 days
9 [54]
11
60
1
9
Justin Blumfield
Essendon
18 years, 197 days
10 [55]
10
148
3
91
Ben Moore
Richmond
18 years, 347 days
11 [56]
4
24
2
11
Ben Wilson
Collingwood
19 years, 113 days
11 [57]
2
6
2
0
Simon Prestigiacomo
Collingwood
18 years, 138 days
11 [58]
12
233
6
3
James Clement
Fremantle
19 years, 286 days
11 [59]
12
230
1
51
Ben Robbins
Brisbane Bears
19 years, 178 days
12 [60]
5
92
1
21
Clinton King
Sydney
18 years, 93 days
12 [61]
5
89
3
23
Scott Welsh
North Melbourne
17 years, 199 days
12 [62]
1
205
0
363
Daniel Healy
St Kilda
22 years, 53 days
12 [63]
1
38
0
24
Jason Ramsey
Fitzroy
21 years, 158 days
13 [64]
2
2
7
0
Eric Lissenden
North Melbourne
24 years, 187 days
14 [65]
2
2
1
1
Daniel Parker
Fremantle
22 years, 45 days
14 [66]
1
25
1
18
Brother of Shane Parker
Aaron Hamill
Carlton
18 years, 328 days
15 [67]
4
190
1
239
Jason Bevan
Collingwood
18 years, 88 days
15 [68]
2
2
3
0
Robert Powell
Richmond
20 years, 118 days
15 [69]
8
66
15
60
Andrew Leoncelli
Melbourne
22 years, 3 days
16 [70]
7
146
3
66
Glenn Gorman
North Melbourne
20 years, 183 days
17 [71]
2
2
1
0
Matthew Robbins
Geelong
19 years, 82 days
17 [72]
1
146
0
135
Joel Bowden
Richmond
18 years, 38 days
17 [73]
5
265
4
174
Son of Michael Bowden , brother of Patrick Bowden
Ashley Fernee
Adelaide
19 years, 36 days
17 [74]
2
2
2
0
Angelo Lekkas
Hawthorn
20 years, 35 days
18 [75]
3
180
3
120
Daniel Bradshaw
Brisbane Bears
17 years, 257 days
18 [76]
3
231
3
524
Brother of Darren Bradshaw
Robert McMahon
Fitzroy
19 years, 9 days
18 [77]
2
2
2
1
Shane Sikora
West Coast
19 years, 148 days
18 [78]
2
3
2
0
Danny Stevens
North Melbourne
19 years, 287 days
21 [79]
1
15
1
7
Carl Steinfort
Geelong
19 years, 154 days
22 [80]
2
92
2
26
Brent Harvey
North Melbourne
18 years, 112 days
22 [81]
1
432
0
518
Record holder, most matches played by an individual in VFL/AFL history. Brother of Shane Harvey
Change of AFL club
Name
New Club
Age at debut
Debut round
Games
Goals
Previous club
1996
Career
1996
Career
Anthony Ingerson
Melbourne
26 years, 168 days
1 [82]
18
158
10
40
Adelaide
Martin McKinnon
Geelong
20 years, 268 days
1 [83]
19
86
8
50
Adelaide
David Grant
Melbourne
29 years, 235 days
1 [84]
7
198
1
75
St Kilda
Craig Turley
Melbourne
30 years, 218 days
1 [85]
16
131
8
99
West Coast
Alastair Clarkson
Melbourne
27 years, 337 days
1 [86]
22
134
13
85
North Melbourne
Mick Dwyer
Fitzroy
27 years, 135 days
1 [87]
8
88
3
64
St Kilda
Peter Bell
North Melbourne
20 years, 29 days
1 [88]
23
286
23
250
Fremantle, Round 17 1996 Rising Star nomination
Darren Kappler
Hawthorn
31 years, 68 days
1 [89]
19
187
14
152
Fitzroy & Sydney
Robert Neill
St Kilda
22 years, 86 days
1 [90]
20
44
7
16
Sydney
Brad Wira
Footscray
24 years, 14 days
1 [91]
21
96
1
18
Fremantle
Todd Curley
Footscray
23 years, 77 days
1 [92]
18
118
22
48
Collingwood
Adrian Hickmott
Carlton
24 years, 1 days
1 [93]
22
184
13
131
Geelong
Justin Murphy
Carlton
19 years, 342 days
1 [94]
16
185
19
151
Richmond
Brad Rowe
Fremantle
26 years, 129 days
1 [95]
8
73
7
80
Brisbane Bears & Collingwood
Alex McDonald
Collingwood
26 years, 48 days
1 [96]
22
107
9
44
Hawthorn
Scott Crow
Collingwood
22 years, 104 days
1 [97]
22
75
7
37
Hawthorn
David Hynes
Fremantle
29 years, 0 days
1 [98]
12
86
4
59
West Coast
Tony Godden
Fremantle
23 years, 347 days
1 [99]
7
24
5
14
West Coast
Andy Lovell
West Coast
25 years, 247 days
1 [100]
23
164
13
166
Melbourne
Shane Ellen
Adelaide
23 years, 91 days
1 [101]
17
65
2
16
Footscray
Darren Jarman
Adelaide
29 years, 64 days
1 [102]
19
230
46
386
Hawthorn
Troy Bond
Adelaide
22 years, 261 days
1 [103]
20
94
14
77
Carlton
Peter Caven
Adelaide
25 years, 320 days
1 [104]
20
139
17
55
Fitzroy & Sydney
Kym Koster
Adelaide
23 years, 60 days
1 [105]
9
133
4
44
Footscray
Kevin Dyson
Sydney
28 years, 332 days
1 [106]
22
105
1
28
Melbourne
Stuart Maxfield
Sydney
23 years, 357 days
1 [107]
24
289
14
152
Richmond
Craig O'Brien
Sydney
26 years, 28 days
1 [108]
18
114
34
191
Essendon & St Kilda
James Cook
Footscray
22 years, 91 days
2 [109]
5
77
5
139
Carlton
Luke Beveridge
St Kilda
25 years, 227 days
2 [110]
16
118
16
107
Melbourne & Footscray
Leon Higgins
Hawthorn
27 years, 284 days
2 [111]
1
122
2
80
Sydney
Darren Gaspar
Richmond
19 years, 322 days
2 [112]
20
228
1
23
Sydney
Craig Nettelbeck
Melbourne
23 years, 318 days
2 [113]
20
78
10
42
Sydney
Brendan Krummel
Hawthorn
23 years, 294 days
3 [114]
11
74
2
50
West Coast & Fremantle
Ben Sexton
Carlton
23 years, 168 days
3 [115]
4
43
1
33
Footscray
Craig Devonport
Carlton
26 years, 85 days
4 [116]
1
95
1
82
St Kilda
Matthew Francis
Collingwood
25 years, 235 days
4 [117]
10
55
2
23
Richmond
Paul Salmon
Hawthorn
31 years, 92 days
4 [118]
18
324
4
561
Essendon
Allen Jakovich
Footscray
28 years, 31 days
4 [119]
7
54
7
208
Melbourne
Matthew Young
St Kilda
23 years, 216 days
4 [120]
19
118
5
20
Hawthorn
Anthony Darcy
St Kilda
24 years, 30 days
4 [121]
3
18
3
2
Geelong & Footscray
Sean Wellman
Essendon
21 years, 213 days
4 [122]
9
212
1
34
Adelaide
Ben Harrison
Richmond
21 years, 96 days
4 [123]
8
161
2
71
Carlton
Glenn Kilpatrick
Geelong
23 years, 242 days
5 [124]
11
146
12
35
Essendon
Bradley Plain
North Melbourne
26 years, 215 days
5 [125]
1
56
1
96
Essendon & Collingwood
Robert Pyman
Collingwood
24 years, 211 days
6 [126]
5
40
1
17
North Melbourne
Paul Barnard
Essendon
23 years, 97 days
8 [127]
15
151
3
79
Hawthorn
Jamie Elliott
St Kilda
23 years, 124 days
10 [128]
9
58
1
69
Fitzroy & Essendon
Peter Turner
Carlton
22 years, 187 days
17 [129]
2
5
0
1
Adelaide
References
VFL debuts
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
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1906
1907
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AFL debuts
This page was last edited on 25 October 2023, at 19:28