Australian Football

A ruckman who marked strongly, and quite often spectacularly, besides displaying copious amounts of courage, David Honybun overcame a stuttering start to his league career at Carlton to blossom into a fine player at his second VFL club, Richmond. The problem at the Blues was that ruckmen like Justin Madden and Warren Jones were ahead of him in the pecking order. With the Tigers there were no such problems, and he was an impressive performer for the club over 55 V/AFL games from 1988 to 1992 in which he scored 32 goals. At Carlton he had managed just five appearances and nine goals in 1984.

The 1986 season found Honybun at North Melbourne but he only played a couple of reserves matches for the club. In 1987 he bolstered his confidence by playing 25 games and kicking 36 goals for East Devonport, after which he was ready to play top level footy again with the Tigers, where it is arguable that only injuries sustained during his last three seasons prevented his having a truly pronounced and prolonged impact.

Author - John Devaney