Tyson Edwards

Tyson Edwards began playing junior football with the Wynarka Football Club when he was just five years old. His first game was on the Peake oval and when it began to rain that day, Tyson left the field and hopped into the car with his mother Jan. When she asked him what he was doing, Tyson said to his mother that she had always told him not to play in the rain.

Tyson was the youngest member of a very sport minded family, parents Barry and Jan were very good tennis player’s, respectively number one gent and lady for the Wynarka Tennis Club. Barry played centre half back for the Wynarka A grade and Jan centre for the Wynarka Netball team. Tyson’s two older brothers both had outstanding junior careers. Duane progressed through the ranks of the West Adelaide’s junior grades to play 14 league games from 1988 to 1990. Kym played under 17 and under 19s with West Adelaide but was unable to progress much further due to persistent knee injuries.

Because of their ages the three Edwards brothers rarely played in the same team. Therefore the 1984 Wynarka colts premiership was indeed a highlight for the Edwards family. Wynarka 10-4 defeated Karoonda Borrika 4-6 with Duane, aged fifteen kicking four goals, twelve year old Kym kicked two goals and Tyson aged just eight years old also kicking a goal.

Tyson won the Murdoch Medal in 1988 as the under 12 best and fairest in the Murray Lands Football League. He was then invited to join the West Adelaide special squads, which meant two round trips to Adelaide every week from the age of 11 until he turned 15. Tyson played for the South Australian under 16s in the Australian Championships in Canberra in 1991. By now he had progressed to playing under 17s with West Adelaide but had continued to play with Wynarka as well. Tyson made his A grade debut for Wynarka at the age of 15, most of his under 17 games for West Adelaide were now followed by a quick dash back to the Mallee to play A grade for Wynarka in the afternoons.

When Tyson was selected as part of the SA under 17 team, the weekly trips to Adelaide increased to three a week and sometimes four. Tyson found the constant travelling difficult and he sacrificed a lot during his teenage years due to his unyielding commitment to become an AFL footballer. This resolute attitude possibly explains why country lads who are determined to persevere against the odds often succeed at AFL level and become great players.

Tyson made his league debut for West Adelaide in 1993 as a seventeen year old and was selected by the Adelaide Crows at pick 21 in the 1995 pre season draft. Tyson made his AFL debut later that year and went on to play 321 games for Adelaide before retiring in May 2010 with a 32 possession best on ground performance.

The Edwards name is very likely to feature again in AFL and SANFL football with Tyson’s three boys all showing above average ability. Eldest son Jackson has already made a promising league debut with Glenelg this season after representing South Australia at the NAB AFL Under 18 Championships. Luke captained the SA team in the recent under 16s national carnival in Perth and youngest son Brodie has already represented Glenelg at under 14 level.