title: Darren Mead
text: # Darren Mead
  
  Darren Mead (born 29 March 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Australian Football League (AFL).
  
  ## Football career
  
  After being a strong part of the Port Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL, he was retained as part of Port's entry into the Australian Football League competition in 1997. However, he was initially drafted by Essendon during the 1988 VFL draft at selection 107: Mead, to turn 18 soon after for the 1989 season, did not take up the offer from Windy Hill.
  
  Mead was awarded Port Adelaide's best and fairest in the club's first year participating in the AFL. He was a strong competitor at centre half-back and also occasionally played in the ruck. He became the first Port Adelaide Power player to play 100 games in 2001, and was one of the leaders of the club throughout his AFL career, which lasted from 1997 through to 2002.
  
  