Connor Budarick played his 56th AFL game and his first for the Western Bulldogs against the Brisbane Lions, and played a key role in probably the most satisfying win of his career.
The former Gold Coast SUNS star had a career-best 27 possessions in his first win at the Gabba as the Dogs prevailed by five points over the 2024-25 premiers.
But it was more than that. It was confirmation that the toughest decision of his life, to walk away from his football ‘home’, was the right one.
Six months to the day earlier Budarick had enjoyed the best moment of his career. He’d kicked a career-high two goals as the Gold Coast SUNS played in and won their first AFL final by a point against Fremantle in Perth.
It was the ‘all worth it’ moment for a 24-year-old who had moved to the Gold Coast aged nine and grown up in the red and yellow of the SUNS.
He’d joined the SUNS Academy at 12, went through Helensvale High School on a football-related scholarship, and was a regular in the SUNS Reserves at 17 in 2018.
In 2019, he was captain of the SUNS Academy team, and, representing the Allies at the Australian Under 18 Championships, won the Hunter Harrison Medal.
And in Round 1 2020 he was part of a terrific trivia question … who debuted for the SUNS in the first game of what became the short Covid season in which the grand final was played at the Gabba?
It was Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell and Budarick. The captain, the Brownlow Medallist and the heart and soul young man who from the crayfishing town of Robe on the Limestone Coast of south-east South Australia who had moved to the coast aged nine.
Six years on from his debut Budarick has played less than half the games of Anderson (130) and barely half that of Rowell. And he leads the knee reconstruction count for the trio. It’s 2-0-0.
He’s played 56 of a possible 133 games, having gone 15-2-9-2-8-19-1 year by year since 2000, and despite the intervention of injury he’s played in Round 1 (or Opening Round) five of a seven years – more than he’s played in any other round.
So why, after a career-high 19 games, a 12-7 win/loss record and two finals in 2025, did he trade in his favorite red and yellow of the SUNS for the red, blue and white of the Dogs?
It’s because Budarick firmly believes he plays his best football as a small defender, and after the SUNS recruited Daniel Rioli and John Noble last year he was squeezed out of the back half.
He was used by coach Damien Hardwick to good effect as a defensive small forward but couldn't see a long-term future on the coast.
"It wasn't an easy decision. Growing up on the Gold Coast I always aspired to play for the SUNS and I was lucky enough to be able to do that and go through the Academy and be a part of that whole process," Budarick said over summer.
"We had our best year yet and we were able to play finals for the first time, which was really, really special to be a part of.
“But in terms of making the move it was based on role. I think it was probably going to be a bit hard for me to be able to play in my preferred position. There ended up being an opportunity here to be able to do that, so I had to suck it up, but I think just made the make the right call for the career."
North Melbourne had made a compelling pitch to lure Budarick to Arden Street, while Essendon and Brisbane spoke with him too, but he chose a three-year deal at the Bulldogs.
Budarick joined fellow Queenslander Oscar Baker at the ‘Kennel’ to become the 13th Queenslander to play for the Dogs, following in chronological order:
Alan Hunter – 15 games (1964-67)
Richard Murrie – 68 games (1975-79)
Glenn Scanlon – 5 games (1978)
Mark West – 16 games (1996-98)
Mitch Hahn – 181 games (2000-10)
Jason Akermanis – 77 games (2007-10)
Tom Williams – 85 games (2007-14)
Jarrod Harbrow – 70 games (2007-10)
Ben Hudson – 88 games (2008-11)
Sam Reid – 10 games (2008-11)
James Mulligan – 3 games (2011)
Oskar Baker – 34 games (2023-Current)
When the 2026 fixture was released and he saw his first game for the Dogs was at the Gabba he may have had mixed feeling. It was great he was coming ‘home’, but it was a venue where he’d never won.
With that box ticked in emphatic fashion, he can now look forward to Round 19, when the Dogs are scheduled to play the SUNS – at Carrara.
Regardless, he’s left a strong first-impression on Dogs teammates as he looks to become the next big thing to emerge from the group of players to win the Hunter Harrison Medal.
It’s an award that began with the highest of pedigree when, having been instituted in 1992, it was won for the first time by Michael Voss.
Since then winners have included Brad Green (1999), Grant Birchall (2005), Toby Nankervis (2013), Isaac Heeney (2015) and Nick Blakey (2017), and nine other Queenslanders - Jake Furfaro (2003), Ricky Petterd (2005), Liam Dawson (2013), Ben Keays (2015), Jack Bowes (2016), Jaspa Fletcher (2022), Ethan Read (2023) and recent SUNS draftees Zeke Uwland (2024) and Taj Murray (2025).
Like Anderson and Rowell, who played with the Vic Metro side, Budarick was chosen in the 2019 All-Australian Under 18 side after Western Australia won the title and Deven Robertson, originally drafted by Brisbane and now at West Coast, won the Larke Medal as the best player in division one.
The All-Australian team was:
Backs: Connor Budarick (Allies), Sam DeKoning (VC), Will Gould (SA), Lachy Ash (VC), Fischer McAsey (VM), Hayden Young (VC)
Midfielders: Noah Anderson (VM), Deven Robertson (WA), Matt Rowell (VM), Luke Jackson (WA), Mitch O’Neill (Allies), Tom Green (Allies)
Forwards: Jackson Mead (SA), Elijah Taylor (WA), Sam Flanders (VC), Caleb Serong (VC), Brodie Kemp (VC), Liam Henry (WA)
I/Change: Harry Schoenberg (SA), Jeremy Sharp (WA), Cody Weightman (VC), Trent Rivers (WA), Dylan Stephens (SA).
In following his AFL passion, Budarick is living a dream that eluded his father Craig and older brother Dyson. Craig, who played 66 games for 150 goals with Glenelg in the SANFL, was drafted by Sydney in 1989 but chose to stay in the AFL. And Dyson, another product of the SUNS Academy, was overlooked in the 2015 National Draft.
"They've had a massive impact on me and making sure that I really give it a red-hot crack because they both missed an opportunity to play at the highest level. There's that part of it that I play with a bit of a chip on my shoulder, because I know that they were unlucky," Budarick told AFL.com.au ahead of his first game for the Bulldogs.
“They're both extremely supportive, as are the whole family, the partner as well."
TRIVIA QUESTION
Who was the only member of the 2019 All-Australian U19 side not to play AFL football?
It was Mitch O’Neill. A 2018-19 All-Australian from North Hobart, he was overlooked in the National Draft after a late season knee injury. He was picked up by West Coast as a rookie but was unable to play due to back problems. He returned to Hobart early in the season, as the Eagles were spent much of the year in Queensland. He was delisted at the end of the season.