‘Devastating’ loss of former Port Adelaide forward Daniel Stewart felt across AFL community

The Australian Football League is mourning the sudden death of former Port Adelaide forward Daniel Stewart, whose passing at the age of 37 has prompted an outpouring of tributes from past teammates, coaches and colleagues across the game.

Port Adelaide confirmed Stewart’s death and described the news as “devastating”, as friends and former colleagues remembered him as a “brilliant, caring” figure who built a respected second career in the fitness industry after his time in the elite game.

From rookie list to the AFL stage

Stewart, a 200-centimetre key forward, played four AFL seasons for Port Adelaide between 2010 and 2013.

• Games: 36
• Goals: 31
• Club: Port Adelaide (AFL)
• Drafted: Pick No. 35, 2009 Rookie Draft

Recruited from SANFL club North Adelaide after earlier stints with Eastern Ranges and Queensland side Labrador, Stewart earned elevation from Port Adelaide’s rookie list to its senior list at the end of 2009. He made his AFL debut in 2010 and quickly became a tall forward option in a side undergoing significant transition.

His most notable performance came in the final round of the 2010 season at Docklands, where he kicked four goals in a narrow 10‑point win over Richmond. That performance underlined the role he could play as a marking target in an era when tall forwards remained central to attacking structures in the AFL competition.

Port Adelaide to honour Stewart in 2027

Port Adelaide has announced it will honour Stewart by wearing black armbands at its first home game of the 2027 season at Adelaide Oval.

The gesture places Stewart alongside a small group of former players formally recognised in front of home supporters following their deaths, reinforcing the club’s view that once players leave the elite list they remain part of the “football family” centred at Alberton.

For a current Port playing group that includes no direct on-field teammates of Stewart, the tribute also serves as a reminder of the continuity of club identity over different eras and lists. In practical terms, matchday preparations in 2027 will incorporate formal recognition of Stewart’s contribution, with current players and coaches invited to publicly share in the club’s condolences.

Tributes from across Australian rules football

Messages of support have flowed from Stewart’s family, friends and football connections, including those who knew him from Port Adelaide, North Adelaide, Labrador and the junior pathways that first brought him into the talent system.

Former teammates have publicly reflected on his character and his impact off the field, describing him as a caring presence who maintained close friendships well after departing the AFL system. Those relationships extended into his post-playing work in the gym and fitness sector, where he was closely involved with the BFT training network.

Within Port Adelaide, club leaders have stressed that support will be available for Stewart’s former teammates, coaches and staff who shared time with him during his four years on the AFL list. That approach is consistent with a wider trend in elite sport of providing structured welfare support to current and former players affected by sudden bereavement.

AFL structures and the toll of sudden loss

While Stewart had been out of the AFL system for several years, his death at 37 has renewed focus on how professional clubs and the league respond when former players die unexpectedly.

Australian rules football has experience with high-profile losses in recent decades, and the formal response is now shaped by both club-level measures and frameworks embedded in the broader competition structure, including mental health and wellbeing programs overseen by the national governing body.

In practice, that typically involves:

• Direct support services offered to former teammates and staff
• Coordinated communication with the player’s family around public tributes
• Matchday recognition, such as black armbands or moments of silence

At club level, these steps are more than symbolic. They acknowledge the reality that modern AFL lists can turn over quickly, yet the emotional connections between generations of players persist long after careers end.

From AFL forward to fitness industry leader

After leaving Port Adelaide at the end of his AFL career, Stewart moved into the fitness sector, becoming a key figure in the growth of the BFT (Body Fit Training) network. In that role he was known for mentoring trainers and clients, using his experience as a professional athlete to shape training programs and build gym communities.

For many in the fitness and business communities, his death has been felt as acutely as it has been within football. Those two spheres – elite sport and commercial fitness – have increasingly overlapped in Australia, with former AFL players regularly moving into gym ownership, coaching and performance consultancy roles when their playing days end.

Stewart’s trajectory from rookie-listed key forward to business operator is characteristic of a modern AFL system where players often prepare for second careers while still on club lists, supported by education and transition programs run under the national framework for player development.

Global resonance of an Australian rules tragedy

For international readers, Stewart’s death speaks to the broader reality of professional sport: careers can be brief, the bonds between teammates are enduring, and the shock of a sudden loss reverberates far beyond one city or club.

Port Adelaide competes in Australia’s national professional Australian rules football competition, a league whose clubs now draw recruits from multiple states and development pathways. Stewart’s journey – spanning Victoria, Queensland and South Australia – reflects the national footprint of the talent system that feeds the top level.

In that context, tributes from multiple states and from both football and fitness communities underline how far the impact of one player’s life can reach, even when his top-flight career comprised just a handful of seasons.

A club and code in mourning

Port Adelaide has asked that the privacy of Stewart’s family be respected. Publicly, the club’s focus is on supporting those closest to him while planning a collective tribute that will extend into the 2027 season.

For the AFL community, Stewart is being remembered both for his on-field contribution – including that four-goal performance in 2010 – and for the relationships he built long after he left the elite arena. His death at 37 has underscored, once more, that the human stories at the heart of professional sport endure long after the siren sounds.