Miguel Sanchez
Snide Shooter
Phil Read
DOB: 20/10/1979
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 83 kg
Playing number: 36 (1997 – 2002), 24 (2003)
Arrived: Drafted at pick 60 in the 1997 national draft, from East Fremantle
Debut: Round 1, 1998 vs North Melbourne – 111th Eagles player
Games: 74
Goals: 24
Won: Rookie of the Year in 1998.
Departed: Delisted at the end of the 2003 season.
The feisty Read burst onto the scene in 1998, playing 21 games in his rookie year including the qualifying final against the Bulldogs and taking home the club’s Rookie of the Year award.
Capable of playing in defence or the midfield, Read was a regular in the senior side in his first three seasons, playing 63 of a possible 69 games. His 63rd game was undoubtedly his most spectacular, the diminutive Read engaging in several toe-to-toe stoushes with Dale Kickett during the infamous Demolition Derby.
Read attacks the knuckles of Fremantle’s Brad Dodd with his chin during the Demolition Derby.
That was Read’s last AFL match for a while – not because of suspension (though he did cop two matches following the derby) but rather back to back knee injuries. Read sat out 2001 due to a reconstruction following a pre-season ACL, then blew out the other knee the following pre-season and missed another year.
On his return, Read was given the number 24 that had been vacant since the retirement of another enforcer, John Worsfold. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, Read failed to match his pre-injury form. Although he managed 11 games for the year, including the final six rounds and the elimination final against the Crows, he was delisted at the end of the season.
Thrown a lifeline by Melbourne in the pre-season draft, Read played 34 games in three seasons for the Dees. After being delisted at the end of 2006, Read had a stint with Geelong in the VFL before returning west to play for Subiaco in the WAFL.
