Toby Bedford

During his junior career, Bedford played for the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup and was part of Melbourne's Next Generation Academy, which allowed Melbourne to match any other club's bid on Bedford during a draft. He also represented Vic Country at the 2018 AFL Under 18 Championships.{{cite news |last1=Balmer |first1=Matt |title=AFL Draft 2018: Pick 1 and top 10 prospects, Jack Lukosius, Tarryn Thomas, Toby Bedford |url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-draft-2018-pick-1-and-top-10-prospects-jack-lukosius-tarryn-thomas-toby-bedford/news-story/363734a1d6926d552655a090fe35bbe7 |accessdate=27 March 2020 |work=Fox Sports |publisher=News Corp Australia |date=16 September 2018}} He also played for his school side Melbourne Grammar School in the APS competition. Bedford's strong performance in a TAC Cup preliminary final victory over the Sandringham Dragons, in which he amassed three goals, six tackles and 13 disposals, was highlighted by Fox Sports and ESPN. His speed and tackling were noted as strengths; ESPN likened his play to West Coast defender Lewis Jetta. Bedford was expected to attract a second-round bid in the 2018 AFL draft.{{cite news |last1=Doerre |first1=Chris |title=AFL Draft Wrap: Toby Bedford stands out against Sandringham |url=https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/24719704/afl-draft-wrap-toby-bedford-stands-sandringham |accessdate=27 March 2020 |work=ESPN |date=18 September 2018}}

Bedford was drafted by Melbourne as an academy selection with pick 75 in the 2018 draft. He spent his first year at the club playing for Casey, Melbourne's Victorian Football League (VFL) affiliate; he played 21 matches in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Gibson |first1=Ben |title=Bedford's fast start to pre-season |url=https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/308365/bedford-s-fast-start-to-pre-season |accessdate=27 March 2020 |work=melbournefc.com.au |publisher=Telstra Media |date=21 November 2019}} He made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2020 season.{{cite news |last1=McGowan |first1=Marc |title=Two to debut as Dees eye 'silver lining' to no-crowd game |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/386543/two-to-debut-as-dees-eye-silver-lining-to-no-crowd-game |accessdate=27 March 2020 |work=AFL.com.au |publisher=Telstra Media |date=19 March 2020}}

Bedford was traded to {{AFL GWS}} at the conclusion of the 2022 AFL season.{{Cite tweet |user=AFL_House|number=1579307024554553345 |date=10 October 2022 |title=Trade paperwork lodged.}}

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.{{cite web|url=https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/T/Toby_Bedford.html|title=Toby Bedford|work=AFL Tables|accessdate=5 April 2020}}

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start with votes}}

|-

| 2019 || {{AFL Mel}} || 12

| 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

|-

| 2020{{efn|The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.}} || {{AFL Mel}} || 12

| 2 || 0 || 1 || 6 || 10 || 16 || 3 || 4 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 3.0 || 5.0 || 8.0 || 1.5 || 2.0 || 0

|-

| 2021 || {{AFL Mel}} || 12

| 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

|-

| 2022^#{{efn|2022 statistics include two games in which Bedford was a used medical substitute (rounds 1 and 10) and eight games in which he was an unused medical substitute (rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 19).}} || {{AFL Mel}} || 12

| 16 || 9 || 3 || 33 || 32 || 65 || 13 || 21 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 2.1 || 2.0 || 4.1 || 0.8 || 1.3 || 0

|-

| 2023 || {{AFL GWS}} || 14

| 19 || 12 || 16 || 105 || 145 || 250 || 44 || 97 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 5.5 || 7.6 || 13.1 || 2.3 || 5.1 || 0

|-

| 2024 || {{AFL GWS}} || 14

| 23 || 10 || 7 || 103 || 165 || 268 || 41 || 141 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 4.5 || 7.2 || 11.7 || 1.8 || 6.1 || 2

|- class=sortbottom

! colspan=3 | Career

! 60 !! 31 !! 27 !! 247 !! 352 !! 599 !! 101 !! 263 !! 0.5 !! 0.5 !! 4.1 !! 5.9 !! 10.0 !! 1.7 !! 4.4 !! 2

|}

Notes

{{notelist}}

Bedford has Bunuba Indigenous Australian ancestry[https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2024/05/Indigenous-Player-Map-Update-2024-scaled.jpg AFL Players Indigenous Player Map 2024] and is a cousin of Melbourne footballer Krstel Petrevski, who plays in the AFL Women's.{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Sarah |title=Cousin of AFL duo paves path for Indigenous girls |url=https://womens.afl/news/18649/cousin-of-afl-duo-paves-path-for-indigenous-girls |accessdate=27 March 2020 |work=womens.afl |publisher=Telstra Media |date=13 November 2019}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons cat}}

• {{GWSplayer}}
• {{AFL Tables}}
• {{AustralianFootball}}

{{Greater Western Sydney player squad}}

{{2018 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Toby}}

Category:Living people

Category:2000 births

Category:Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football

Category:21st-century Indigenous Australian people

Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)

Category:Dandenong Stingrays players

Category:Melbourne Football Club players

Category:Casey Demons players

Category:Greater Western Sydney Giants players

Category:People educated at Melbourne Grammar School