Matthew Pavlich

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Matthew Pavlich
File:Matthew Pavlich book signing.JPG
Pavlich at a book signing of his autobiography in 2015
Personal information
Full name Matthew Pavlich
Nickname(s) Pav
Date of birth (1981-12-31) 31 December 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) Woodville-West Torrens (SANFL)
Draft No. 4, 1999 National Draft, Fremantle
Height/Weight 192cm / 99kg
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Fremantle
Number 29
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2000– Fremantle 335 (669)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Dream Team 1 (0)
International team honours
2002–2003 Australia 4
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2015 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2003.
Career highlights

Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premier AFL centre half-forwards of the modern era, achieving All-Australian selection six times in the years between 2002 and 2008, twice representing Australia in the International Rules Series and representing the Dream Team in the 2008 Hall of Fame Tribute Match.

Pavlich has played his AFL entire career at Fremantle where he is a six time best and fairest winner, eight time leading goal kicker and was the club captain between 2007 and 2015. He is the first and only player from a Western Australian-based club to play over 300 AFL games. Born in South Australia, he made his AFL debut in 2000 and wears guernsey number 29.

Early life

Pavlich was born in Adelaide, South Australia, grew up supporting his home town AFL team Adelaide Football Club and is a fifth generation Australian. His mother is of Scottish and German descent and father Steve is of Scottish, Irish and Croatian descent. Steve played along with Matthew's two uncles at the West Torrens Football Club, coached at junior and reserve level,[1] and was made a life member of the club in 1980.[2]

Pavlich played school football at Sacred Heart College in Adelaide and followed the footsteps of his father, playing senior football for the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles before he was drafted into the AFL.[3] In 1999 he was the club's leading goal-kicker.[4]

AFL career

Drafting

Pavlich was recruited by Fremantle with the fourth selection in the 1999 AFL national draft. Pavlich had nominated for the 1998 draft, but was overlooked by all clubs. Most notably the Adelaide Crows instead drafted 17-year-old Ken McGregor who went on to play 158 games between 1999 to 2008, and cross town rival Port Adelaide who instead chose 17-year-old Adam Morgan who played only 3 games between 2002 to 2003 for Port.

Early career (2000–2001)

File:Matthew Pavlich warming up.jpg
Pavlich warming up prior to a game during the 2006 AFL Season

With the 2001 AFL season and the WAFL starting earlier than normal due to the 2000 Summer Olympics later that year in Sydney, Pavlich only played one game for South Fremantle in the Westar Rules before making his AFL debut in round 5 2000 against Melbourne.[5] Pavlich achieved the rare feat of kicking 2 goals with his first 2 kicks in the AFL.[6] He went on to play the remaining 18 games for the season, earning himself a Rising star nomination in Round 17[5] while contributing consistently and finished ninth in the club's best and fairest award.[7]

The 2001 Season saw Pavlich spend more time in the Forward line. He managed to underline his potential with some eye catching performances including two 4-goal hauls against the Brisbane Lions which earned him 2 brownlow votes, the first of his career. Pavlich went on to play 21 games for the season, finishing with a respectable 28 goals. In an otherwise disappointing season for Fremantle, Pavlich was the shining light as he started to realise his true potential.

Rising career (2002–2004)

2002 was the season that would set up Matthew Pavlich for the rest of his career. In a widely unexpected move, new Fremantle coach Chris Connolly moved Pavlich into a defensive role. Playing against some of the power forwards of the competition, Pavlich underlined his versatility and talent as a footballer, as he displayed a smooth transition into the role. He showed the uncanny ability of shutting down opponents, while gathering plenty of possession and setting up play further up the ground. This saw him earn his first All-Australian selection at fullback at the age of 20.

Pavlich flies high for a mark against Melbourne in 2008

In the 2003 season he was again called upon to play a different role, Pavlich was this time thrust into a midfield role, while also pushing up to half forward. This allowed him to gather multiple possessions forward of centre and develop into a strong goal-kicking midfielder. Playing all 23 games for the season, including the club's first final, Pavlich finished off averaging 18.7 possessions per game, and executed his damaging midfield role perfectly with 37 goals.[8] He was rewarded with a second selection in the All-Australian team for the 2003 season, this time named on the Half Forward Flank.

Career high (2005–2008)

The 2005 season saw Pavlich moved to centre half forward, with Fremantle focusing on a taller forward structure. The move paid massive dividends for the team, as Pavlich topped Fremantle's list of goalkickers, with 61 goals for the season. He also took more marks than any other Docker and won his second Doig Medal as Fremantle's best and fairest player. In the 2005 Brownlow Medal count, Pavlich was tipped as a contender, but like Tredrea in 2004, the power forwards did not get the votes of the umpires and Pavlich finished equal ninth; receiving more votes than any other Fremantle player.

He has been selected in the All-Australian Teams six times: in 2002 (fullback), 2003 (half forward flank), 2005 (centre half forward), 2006 (interchange), 2007 (full forward) and 2008 (interchange). He was a member of the Australian International rules team in 2002 and 2003, and was a Rising Star nominee in 2000. On 13 December 2006 Pavlich was named the captain of the Fremantle Football Club, succeeding Peter Bell.

File:Matthew Pavlich kicks for goal during the AFL game between Fremantle Dockers and Geelong - Round 3, 2010.jpg
Matthew Pavlich kicks for goal during the AFL game between Fremantle Dockers and Geelong in 2010, which Fremantle won

Despite the additional burden of captaincy, Pavlich performed well throughout the 2007 season, leading an otherwise disappointing Fremantle side. He kicked a club record 72 goals, came second in the Coleman Medal and was named full-forward in the All-Australian team for 2007.

On 14 August 2007 Pavlich signed a new, 3-year contract with the Fremantle Football club, which ended speculation that he may join the Adelaide Crows or Port Adelaide. The contract is rumoured to be worth $2.5 million.[9]

In 2008, despite Fremantle again missing the finals, Pavlich won his fifth Doig Medal, as well as being Fremantle's leading goalkicker, the Ross Glendinning Medal in both Western Derbies and his sixth All-Australian selection.[10]

2009 – 2011

2009 saw Pavlich, under coach Mark Harvey, move into the midfield. He had a strong year averaging 21.7 disposals and leading the goal kicking for Fremantle with 28 goals from 19 games.

Pavlich spent 2010 rotating between the midfield and forward line, averaging 18.9 disposals and leading the goal kicking for the Dockers with 61 goals, helping his team make the finals for the first time since 2006.

Pavlich was forced back into the midfield for the 2011 season following a number of significant injuries to the Dockers. He had another successful year averaging 23.5 disposals and kicking 21 goals from 20 games. This saw Pav end the year with 9 Brownlow medal votes, the second highest for the Dockers and win his 6th club best & fairest, narrowly beating Nathan Fyfe.[11]

2012 season and 500th goal

In round 7 of the 2012 AFL season, Pavlich kicked his 500th career goal in a four-goal effort which lead his team to victory against Port Adelaide, becoming the first Fremantle player and the 51st player in VFL/AFL history to kick 500 goals. Following a permanent move to the forward line in the second half of the year, Pavlich kicked 55 goals in his final 13 games. Fremantle's late season resurgence was mirrored by his own form, the highlights being an 8-goal haul in the Round 19 Western Derby and 6 goals in an Elimination Final victory against reigning premiers Geelong at the MCG.[12]

2013 season

Pavlich had a frustrating start to 2013, playing the early games with injury, which eventually kept him out for 12 weeks.[13]

However upon return Pavlich returned to good form, helping his team reach their first Grand Final in which he was the top scorer for Fremantle. Though poor kicking at goal from Pavlich and his team mates left Fremantle 15 points short of victory in what was their most successful year to date.

2014 season

Pavlich played his 300th game in round 9 against the Geelong Cats. He reached another milestone in the same match, with his 600th career goal.

2016 season

On 13 January 2016, Pavlich relinquished the captaincy of the Fremantle Football Club after nine seasons.[14]

Statistics

File:Pavlich.jpg
Pavlich kicking for goal in 2006
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2015 season [15]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league for the season only*
Led the league after finals only*
Led the league after season and finals*

*10 games required to be eligible.

Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2000 Fremantle 29 18 14 9 138 79 217 78 17 0.8 0.5 7.7 4.4 12.1 4.3 0.9
2001 Fremantle 29 21 28 17 217 72 289 114 27 1.3 0.8 10.3 3.4 13.8 5.4 1.3
2002 Fremantle 29 22 10 10 308 104 412 124 49 0.5 0.5 14.0 4.7 18.7 5.6 2.2
2003 Fremantle 29 23 37 30 330 119 449 112 58 1.6 1.3 14.3 5.2 19.5 4.9 2.5
2004 Fremantle 29 22 19 23 306 160 466 118 67 0.9 1.0 13.9 7.3 21.2 5.4 3.0
2005 Fremantle 29 22 61 25 271 101 372 178 25 2.8 1.1 12.3 4.6 16.9 8.1 1.1
2006 Fremantle 29 25 71 37 306 89 395 196 36 2.8 1.5 12.2 3.6 15.8 7.8 1.4
2007 Fremantle 29 22 72 48 298 83 381 203 32 3.3 2.2 13.5 3.8 17.3 9.2 1.5
2008 Fremantle 29 19 67 35 263 83 346 138 32 3.5 1.8 13.8 4.4 18.2 7.3 1.7
2009 Fremantle 29 19 28 16 237 176 413 79 72 1.5 0.8 12.5 9.3 21.7 4.2 3.8
2010 Fremantle 29 23 61 35 277 158 435 111 77 2.7 1.5 12.0 6.9 18.9 4.8 3.3
2011 Fremantle 29 20 21 20 272 199 471 73 86 1.1 1.0 13.6 10.0 23.6 3.7 4.3
2012 Fremantle 29 23 69 32 257 143 400 145 66 3.0 1.4 11.2 6.2 17.4 6.3 2.9
2013 Fremantle 29 12 25 19 108 62 170 69 24 2.1 1.6 9.0 5.2 14.2 5.8 2.0
2014 Fremantle 29 22 46 26 204 123 327 123 30 2.1 1.2 9.3 5.6 14.9 5.6 1.4
2015 Fremantle 29 22 40 28 188 132 320 99 43 1.8 1.3 8.6 6.0 14.6 4.5 2.0
Career 335 669 410 3980 1883 5863 1960 741 2.0 1.2 11.9 5.6 17.5 5.9 2.2

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2000 —
2001 2
2002 3
2003 5
2004 8
2005 14
2006 15
2007 15
2008 17
2009 10
2010 9
2011 9
2012 15
2013 —
2014 —
2015 2
Total 124
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Personal life

Pavlich married his long-time girlfriend Lauren O'Shannassy in December 2010.[3][16] In March 2013, their daughter was born.[17] During their arrival at the 2014 Brownlow Medal they announced that they were expecting a second child in February 2015.[18]

Pavlich attended Sacred Heart College (Adelaide) [19] and the University of Western Australia.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Matthew Pavlich statistics
  9. ↑ O'Donoghue, Craig. Freo's $2.5 million man reveals: Why I'm staying, The West Australian p.124, 14 August 2007.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Huge blow for Freo as skipper sidelined
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Matthew Pavlich's player profile at AFL Tables
  16. ↑ It's lonely being a WAG for Pav's princess
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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