Known with memorable explicitness, in South Australia at any rate, as 'Grave Danger', Port Adelaide's David Granger was either what football needs most, or what it needs least, depending on your overall philosophy of the game. Had he played during the 1930s he would probably have been called an arch-enforcer. He shirked no challenges, took no prisoners, and was wholly content to transgress the laws of the game if he could get away with it, hopefully whilst simultaneously limiting or eliminating an opponent's contribution to the game. He did precisely this during the 1981 SANFL grand final against Glenelg when he single-handedly ended the career of Neville 'Twiggy' Caldwell with a premeditated king-hit. Similarly, almost a year later, in the 1982 preliminary final, he broke Stephen Barratt's leg, as well as incurring a suspension of ten weeks, which in effect put an end to his own league football career, after being found guilty of striking Graham Cornes. Port Adelaide fans would claim, with considerable justification, that Granger was often on the receiving end of some pretty stern treatment himself, but seldom if ever received support from the men in white.
Aside from his apparent problems of self-control and over-abundant white line fever, David Granger was actually a fine footballer, direct, but highly skilled, even poised, and explosively effective. He joined the Magpies in 1975, but suspensions and injuries meant that he was never really able to regard himself as a regular. Nevertheless, was at centre half forward in both the 1977 and 1981 grand final teams against Glenelg, playing a key role each time in the team's eventual wins by 8 and 51 points respectively.
Granger actually commenced his football career in Victoria where he played under 19s football with St Kilda. In 1979 he returned briefly to the Saints and played 3 VFL senior games before resuming his SANFL career with the Magpies in 1980.
c/o fullpoints footy.......
