Tony Symonds

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer and coach}}

{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Tony Symonds

| image =

| fullname = Anthony George Symonds

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|2|15|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| draftpick = No. 65, 1986 national draft

| height = 185 cm

| weight = 72 kg

| originalteam = Sacred Heart College

| position = Wingman

| statsend = 1987

| years1 = 1981–86, 1988–92

| club1 = {{SANFL Gle}}

| games_goals1 = 225 (230)

| years2 = 1987

| club2 = {{AFL Haw}}

| games_goals2 = {{0|00}}3 {{0|00}}(1)

| games_goalstotal = 228 (231)

| coachyears1 = 1995–96

| coachclub1 = {{SANFL Gle}}

| coachgames_wins1 = 42 (15–27–0)

| careerhighlights = * SANFL Premiership player: (1985, 1986)

}}

Anthony George Symonds (born 15 February 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).{{Ref AFL Encyc|4th|630}}

Symonds was a regular fixture of the Glenelg team of the 1980s, playing mostly as a wingman. He was a member of both Glenelg's 1985 and 1986 premiership teams. Using the last pick of the 1986 VFL draft, Hawthorn acquired his services for the 1987 VFL season where he played three games before returning to South Australia.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G35VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4063,5707079&dq=tony-symonds+hawthorn&hl=en|title=Poor harvest from last year's recruit crop|work=The Age|date=9 November 1987}} He made his league debut in the opening round, with four disposals against Carlton. His next appearance came two weeks later, in a win over Collingwood, where he had 9 disposals and kicked two behinds. At the Sydney Cricket Ground in round seven, he played his third and final game, kicking a goal and managing 10 disposals.

After leaving Hawthorn, Symonds continued his career at Glenelg and in 1995 was appointed senior coach, as a replacement for Mark Williams,{{cite web|url=http://glenelgfc.com.au/history|title=Glenelg History}} who had joined Essendon as an assistant. His coaching career started well with a 92-point win over Port Adelaide in the season opener but Glenelg could only finish the year in seventh. Again in 1996, the club finished in seventh position and he lost his job to former team-mate Wayne Stringer.