View source for Alan Didak

{{short description|Australian rules footballer, born 1983}}
{{puffery|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Alan Didak
| image = Alan Didak.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Didak playing for {{AFL Col}} in 2006
| fullname = Alan Didak
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|2|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Whyalla]], [[South Australia]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| originalteam = [[Port Adelaide Football Club|Port Adelaide]] ([[South Australian National Football League|SANFL]])
| draftpick = No. 3, [[2000 AFL Draft|2000 National Draft]], {{AFL Col}}
| height = 184&nbsp;cm
| weight = 85&nbsp;kg
| position = [[Australian rules football positions|Forward / Midfielder]]
| statsend = [[2013 AFL season|2013]]
| years1 = 2001–2013
| club1 = {{AFL Col}}
| games_goals1 = 218 (274)
| nationalyears1 = 2004
| nationalteam1 = [[Australian International rules football team|Australia]]
| nationalgames_goals1 = 2
| careerhighlights = *{{AFL Col}} premiership player [[2010 AFL Grand Final|2010]]
*[[Copeland Trophy]] 2006
*2x [[All-Australian Team]] 2006, 2010
*{{AFL Col}} [[List of Collingwood Football Club leading goalkickers|leading goalkicker]] 2010
*International Rules Series 2004
* Collingwood Football Club Hall of Fame
*Collingwood Football Club Life Member
*Jock McHale Medal 2010 (for 4th in Collingwood B&F)
}}

'''Alan Didak''' (born 15 February 1983) is a former professional [[Australian rules football]]er of Croatian descent<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/17/1063625092642.html?from=storyrhs|title=Didak gives Pie fans plenty|author=Saltau, Chloe|date=18 September 2003|publisher=The Age}}</ref> who played for the [[Collingwood Football Club]] in the [[Australian Football League]].

== Early life ==
Originally from [[Whyalla, South Australia]], Didak played his junior football at Pooraka Football Club (Home of the mighty Bulls). Didak made his [[South Australian National Football League]] (SANFL) senior debut for [[Port Adelaide Football Club]] aged 17 years. He was the captain of the Under-18 Australian [[International rules football]] team in the junior [[International Rules Series]] against [[Ireland international rules football team|Ireland]].

== AFL career ==
Didak was drafted by the [[Collingwood Football Club]] with the 3rd pick in the [[2000 AFL Draft]], and in [[2001 AFL season|2001]] he made his AFL debut against the [[North Melbourne Football Club|Kangaroos]] at the [[Telstra Dome]] in Round 7, gathering 10 possessions. He became a member of the exclusive club of players to [[List of VFL/AFL players to have scored a goal with their first kick|kick a goal with both his first kick and first disposal]]. He played five games in total in 2001.

In 2002, Didak earned an [[AFL Rising Star]] nomination.<ref>Francis Leach, 23 July 2002.  [http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/3316/default.aspx "Didak: black, white and a Rising Star"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929222503/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/3316/default.aspx |date=29 September 2012 }} AFL.com.au, Retrieved on 2 August 2009</ref>
Didak was an extremely talented small forward and was also very capable in the midfield. He was known for his accurate goal kicking and clutch ability which often saw him likened to club legend [[Peter Daicos]].

In 2003, Didak enjoyed his best season to date. In the Qualifying Final against Premiership favourites the Brisbane Lions, Didak came on in the last quarter and kicked two legendary{{peacock term|date=July 2021}} goals to win the match which remain Collingwood folklore to this day.

In 2005, Didak's season was disrupted by injuries and problems. He had knee surgery during the pre-season, setting him up for his first game on [[ANZAC Day]] against [[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]]. His injury had an effect upon his performances. Having had minor issues since the mid-year break, he was suspended in Round 14 for two matches and after returning from that, he injured an ankle. When he returned in the next week, he lasted only 20 minutes, before suddenly fainting on the ground with an irregular heart beat.<ref>9 August 2005. [http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Didak-set-to-miss-rest-of-AFL-season/2005/08/09/1123353312325.html "Didak set to miss rest of AFL season"]</ref>

In 2006 Didak was awarded the [[Copeland Trophy]] as the best and fairest [[Collingwood Football Club roster 2006|Collingwood player for 2006]].<ref>Kate Uebergang, 9 November 2006. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20725511-2862,00.html "Alan Didak charge dropped"]. Herald Sun, Retrieved on 2 August 2009</ref> Didak was awarded All-Australian selection for the first time in his career.

In 2010, Didak enjoyed his career best season, winning the club goalkicking with 41 goals and earning All-Australian selection. Didak placed 4th in the club's Best & Fairest, and was a hero of Collingwood's 15th premiership.

Didak started off 2011 strongly in a dominant Collingwood side; however, he began to succumb to injuries, which became a common theme until he was delisted at the end of the 2013 season after 13 seasons.<ref>[http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2013-09-10/collingwood-makes-six-list-changes Collingwood makes six list changes]</ref>

== Post-AFL career ==
Didak played one game for the [[Glenorchy Football Club]] in the [[Tasmanian Football League|TSL]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/alan-didak-hoping-to-turn-on-show-for-glenorchy-fans/news-story/12028bf6699d45a7933f1233402faa88|title=Didak hoping to turn on show|newspaper=The Mercury|date=18 July 2014}}</ref>

Didak finished his AFL Career with 218 games and 274 goals, placing him 8th on the all-time Collingwood goalkicking list. He played in an incredible 5 grand finals

Since his retirement, Didak has been awarded life membership for the club in 2015, and was inducted into the Collingwood Hall of Fame in 2017.

He currently is a logistics consultant and owns his own wine company, INDI Wines.

== Personal life ==
In late June 2007, it was revealed that Didak had met with Christopher Hudson, the self-confessed shooter in the [[2007 Melbourne CBD shootings]] days before the shootings took place. According to police, Didak left the [[Spearmint Rhino]] with Hudson, where Hudson then allegedly fired random shots before travelling to the Hells Angels' East County Chapter headquarters in [[Campbellfield]]. Police believe that Didak was later dropped off near Southbank after the shooting incidents about 6.00am.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pies-star-quizzed-on-shooting/2007/06/28/1182624084999.html Magpie star regrets night out with accused CBD killer – National – theage.com.au]</ref>

On 3 August 2008, Didak was a passenger in a car being driven by intoxicated teammate [[Heath Shaw]] which collided with another parked car. Both men initially denied that Didak was in any way involved. However, [[witness]] accounts to the incident identified him and, on 4 August 2008, both men were fined and suspended for the remainder of the season over the deception.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://footystats.freeservers.com/Archive/D-08-R18.html |title=Collingwood suspends trio over drink-driving lies |date=6 August 2008 |publisher=Kevin Taylor |access-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517091354/http://footystats.freeservers.com/Archive/D-08-R18.html |archive-date=17 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 6 September 2012, Alan became a first time dad to daughter Indiana Willow Didak with his long-term partner Jacinta Jellett.

==Statistics==
:<ref>[http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/A/Alan_Didak.html Alan Didak's player profile at AFL Tables]</ref>

{{AFL player statistics legend}}
{{AFL player statistics start with votes}}
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2001 AFL season|2001]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 5 || 3 || 0 || 19 || 9 || 28 || 10 || 2 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 3.8 || 1.8 || 5.6 || 2.0 || 0.4 || 0
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2002 AFL season|2002]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 19 || 24 || 10 || 147 || 46 || 193 || 51 || 24 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 7.7 || 2.4 || 10.2 || 2.7 || 1.3 || 0
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2003 AFL season|2003]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 25 || 36 || 22 || 177 || 77 || 254 || 83 || 33 || 1.4 || 0.9 || 7.1 || 3.1 || 10.2 || 3.3 || 1.3 || 0
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2004 AFL season|2004]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 18 || 21 || 26 || 186 || 42 || 228 || 76 || 22 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 10.3 || 2.3 || 12.7 || 4.2 || 1.2 || 2
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2005 AFL season|2005]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 12 || 21 || 9 || 105 || 30 || 135 || 42 || 17 || 1.8 || 0.8 || 8.8 || 2.5 || 11.3 || 3.5 || 1.4 || 1
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2006 AFL season|2006]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 23 || 41 || 23 || 280 || 116 || 396 || 136 || 46 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 12.2 || 5.0 || 17.2 || 5.9 || 2.0 || 4
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2007 AFL season|2007]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 18 || 25 || 6 || 191 || 77 || 268 || 68 || 46 || 1.4 || 0.3 || 10.6 || 4.3 || 14.9 || 3.8 || 2.6 || 0
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2008 AFL season|2008]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 18 || 24 || 15 || 325 || 77 || 402 || 102 || 38 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 18.1 || 4.3 || 22.3 || 5.7 || 2.1 || 3
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2009 AFL season|2009]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 20 || 20 || 12 || 358 || 152 || 510 || 101 || 37 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 17.9 || 7.6 || 25.5 || 5.1 || 1.9 || 12
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2010 AFL season|2010]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 24 || 41 || 21 || 350 || 240 || 590 || 101 || 65 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 14.6 || 10.0 || 24.6 || 4.2 || 2.7 || 11
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2011 AFL season|2011]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 20 || 9 || 9 || 238 || 117 || 355 || 63 || 43 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 11.9 || 5.9 || 17.8 || 3.2 || 2.2 || 0
|- 
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2012 AFL season|2012]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 11 || 6 || 7 || 130 || 51 || 181 || 39 || 11 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 11.8 || 4.6 || 16.5 || 3.5 || 1.0 || 0
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2013 AFL season|2013]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Col}}
| 4 || 5 || 3 || 4 || 48 || 37 || 85 || 18 || 4 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 9.6 || 7.4 || 17.0 || 3.6 || 0.8 || 0
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3| Career
! 218
! 274
! 164
! 2554
! 1071
! 3625
! 890
! 388
! 1.3
! 0.8
! 11.7
! 4.9
! 16.6
! 4.1
! 1.8
! 33
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Collplayer}}
*{{AFL Tables|A/Alan_Didak}}

{{2010 Collingwood premiership players}}
{{Copeland Trophy}}
{{Collingwood leading goalkickers}}
{{2002 AFL Rising Star nominees}}
{{2006 All-Australian team}}
{{2010 All-Australian team}}
{{2004 Australian international rules team}}
{{2000 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didak, Alan}}
[[Category:1983 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club premiership players]]
[[Category:Copeland Trophy winners]]
[[Category:All-Australians (AFL)]]
[[Category:Australian people of Croatian descent]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from South Australia]]
[[Category:Port Adelaide Magpies players]]
[[Category:Glenorchy Football Club players]]
[[Category:Australia international rules football team players]]
[[Category:VFL/AFL premiership players]]
[[Category:People from Whyalla]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen]]