Alan Didak
Alan Didak (born
February 15,
1983) is an
Australian rules footballer in the
Australian Football League.
Didak has always been a gifted football player, playing in the
SANFL seniors with
Port Adelaide at 17 years of age, and was the captain of the junior side in a series against
Ireland. He was drafted by
Collingwood in the
2000 AFL Draft with their first pick at number 3. 'Dids' made his
AFL debut in his first season at the club against the
Kangaroos at the
Telstra Dome.
In 2001 he only played the 5 games, but it was his second year at the club where he made his stand. A decent midfielder in his junior levels, he was made into a half-forward at Collingwood. He played his first game for the season in Round 4 and had an impact, but the next week he was statless, and his form had a same trend of inconsistency being dropped weeks later, but his peformances for
Williamstown earned him another go in Round 10, where he played every match but one for the season. He was used sparingly in the forward line and chipped in with 3 goals in each of the Round 13 and 14 clashes, but his match against
Hawthorn saw him kick 5 goals. He played in all 3 finals for the club, but didn't have a major impact in those matches, only kicking 2 goals, and didn't kick a goal in the Grand Final against the
Brisbane Lions. He earned a
AFL Rising Star nomination during the season.
During the 2002 season when the
Basement Jaxx song
Where's Your Head At? was released, many Collingwood fans sung the song "Where's Your Didak?" at games, which became one of the most popular chants at football matches.
Didak played every game in 2003, and kicked 36 goals as a goal-sneak. He kicked 3 goals in a game four times, including in the Grand Final against Brisbane for consecutive years, this time it was in a match when Collingwood were convincingly beaten. He continued to be inconsistent as his career has proven to be. At times he went missing and scoreless which was a concern to himself and fans. As a small-forward it was expected, and believed to be a wasted talent sitting in the forward line when he was so dominant as a midfielder in junior years, and when played in the centre.
2004 wasn't as convincing as 2003, but he showed more maturity and continued to show glimpses as a senior player. His main problem in the season was his inaccuracy, kicking 21.26 over the year, but he still averaged more than a goal a game, playing 18 games. On
ANZAC Day against
Essendon he took one of the marks of the year over Essendon player
Andrew Welsh.
In his 2005 season, it was quite interupted with several injuries and problems. He had knee surgery during the pre-season, setting him up for his first game on
ANZAC Day against
Essendon. His injury had a trend on his performance's, with him only kicking 3 goals in his first 4 matches back, but it was not to worry too long, before having a good run of form, kicking 14 goals in his next 4 games, including 5 goals against
Geelong and 4 goals against Hawthorn. Having niggles since the mid-year break, He was suspended in round 14 for 2 matches, and returning from that he injured an ankle. It wasn't too serious the ankle injury, but his next week return lasted only 20 minutes, when Didak suddenly fainted on the ground with an irregular heart beat, and missed the rest of the season through the illness, but was just a precautionary act, and there was no damage done.
Didak is of
Croatian descent.
*
List of VFL/AFL players by ethnicity*
Alan Didak's personal website
