29 Facts About Darren Bartsch

Darren Andrew Bartsch was born on 26 April 1969 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a ruckman for West Adelaide and Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League.

Darren Bartsch grew up in Loxton, a town in South Australia's Riverland region, and attended Loxton High School.

Darren Bartsch showed enough to be recruited by West Adelaide for the 1986 SANFL season.

Darren Bartsch moved to a house across from Richmond Oval, the club's home ground, where he lived with four other players, including Modra and Kieran Sporn.

Ahead of the draft, multiple clubs called Darren Bartsch to inquire about whether he was open to playing for them, including West Coast.

Darren Bartsch told them he had just re-signed with West Adelaide and did not intend to leave.

West Coast nevertheless selected Darren Bartsch with pick 52 in the draft.

True to his word, Darren Bartsch remained with his club in Adelaide.

In 1990, Geelong was interested enough to arrange for Darren Bartsch to fly out to Melbourne to play in a non-senior game against Hawthorn.

Darren Bartsch seriously contemplated moving across to Geelong, but was swayed by the news an Adelaide team would enter the AFL for the 1991 season.

Darren Bartsch reasoned holding out to join this new club instead would allow him to play AFL and stay in Adelaide at the same time.

Darren Bartsch attended the club's pre-season, including their first-ever training session, but stress fractures in his shins prevented him from playing early in the season.

Darren Bartsch returned with West Adelaide, playing in the 1991 SANFL Grand Final on the losing side, but did not regain form in time for the end of Adelaide's AFL season.

Darren Bartsch consulted a specialist about his injuries, who advised him to either have an operation or take a year off from football.

Darren Bartsch choose the latter option, since he had just bought a landscaping company and could not afford to miss time for surgery.

Darren Bartsch continued to garner attention from AFL clubs; this time, the Brisbane Bears were interested.

Darren Bartsch explained he intended neither to play football that year nor move to Brisbane, but the club nevertheless drafted him with pick 29 in the 1992 pre-season draft, their third selection.

Darren Bartsch urged the club to select Bartsch in the upcoming pre-season draft, though he faced ridicule from some who did not believe Bartsch would ever leave Adelaide.

Morris's push ultimately succeeded, with Essendon hoping his personal connection to Darren Bartsch would be enough to persuade the player to make an interstate move.

Two weeks after Darren Bartsch returned to training, Morris called to inform him Essendon were intending to select him in the next day's preseason draft.

Darren Bartsch's recruitment was considered a "bonus" for the club, since another Port ruckman, Brett Chalmers, was set to leave for Adelaide in the AFL.

Darren Bartsch played ten games for Port Adelaide, but suffered back injuries and ultimately retired aged 25.

For Jon Anderson, writing for the Herald Sun, Darren Bartsch exemplified how the AFL draft had been "a case of pick and hope" in its early stages.

Shane O'Sullivan, Brisbane's general manager when the club drafted Darren Bartsch, defended Brisbane's decision almost two years later, arguing teams could "get something" even from long-shot players, so long as the club was "prepared to work".

Darren Bartsch cited two weaknesses in Bartsch as a player: he had not "matured early enough, size-wise" and he "needed to learn to play the game".

However, Morris remained absolutely confident Darren Bartsch could have played well in the AFL.

Darren Bartsch himself admitted he had not always committed his full efforts to football.

Darren Bartsch felt he had not achieved what his talent suggested he could, which he put down to youthful blindness towards the abilities he possessed.

Darren Bartsch regretted his unorthodox travel arrangement while at Essendon, believing it cost him opportunities, and endorsed requiring players to nominate themselves for the draft before they could be selected.