John Barker (footballer)

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For other persons named John Barker, see John Barker (disambiguation).
John Barker
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Personal information
Birth February 19, 1975,
Recruited from Northern Knights (VSFL Under 18s)
Height and weight 194cm / 93kg[1]
Playing career¹
Debut Round 2, April 2, 1994, Fitzroy vs. Essendon, at Princes Park
Team(s) Fitzroy (1994-1996)

47 games, 12 goals

Brisbane Lions (1997)

8 games, 1 goal

Hawthorn (1998-2006)

112 games, 113 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season
Career highlights

  • AFL Rising Star nominee 1994
  • Hawthorn leading goalkicker 2001
  • Hawthorn equal 3rd best and fairest 2001

John Barker (born February 19, 1975) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

Contents

[edit] Early life

John Barker was born on February 19, 1975. He played junior football for Pascoe Vale in the Essendon District League, playing in their under 16 age group premiership winning team in 1991. In 1992 Barker played for the Northern Knights in the first season of the VSFL under 18 competition, he also represented Metropolitan Victoria in the Teal Cup and was named at centre half forward for the under 18 Victorian All-Star team. Barker attracted interest from AFL scouts during the year and was selected by Fitzroy with the 25th pick in the 1992 AFL Draft.

[edit] AFL playing career

[edit] Fitzroy

Barker did not play a senior game for Fitzroy in 1993 and missed most of the season due to a back and hamstring injury. Barker's first senior game was in round 2 of the 1994 season against Essendon at Princes Park. He played 47 games at Fitzroy over 3 seasons before moving to the Brisbane Lions with seven other Fitzroy players as part of the Brisbane-Fitzroy merger.[2]

[edit] Brisbane

Barker played 8 games with Brisbane in 1997 and was traded to Hawthorn at the end of the year.

[edit] Hawthorn

In his time at the Hawks, he has been a very good forward option, and hit his peak during the 2001 season, where Hawthorn made the preliminary finals. In that year he was the Hawks' leading goalkicker and was best remembered for his goal from the boundary line at Football Park, which gave Hawthorn the lead and helped secure a preliminary finals berth for the Hawks.

For the remainder of his career since then, he had suffered numerous injuries and struggled to get on the park, mainly playing with the Box Hill Hawks.

Barker played only 7 games for Hawthorn in 2006,[3][4] shoulder and hamstring injuries kept him out of the side until round 11.[5] In the week leading up to round 20 Barker announced he would retire once the season had ended, saying his body could no longer stand up to AFL football.[1][6][7] Barker's final game was in round 22, he had not played for Hawthorn since being dropped from the side after round 17. He was recalled into the side after several teammates offered to give up their spot in the game so Barker could play a farewell game. Barker kicked 1 goal in a 61 point win against Geelong.

[edit] AFL coaching career

After Barker announced his retirement, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said the club was keen to retain Barker in 2007, possibly in a coaching role. Weeks later Barker was appointed as the forward line coach for St Kilda in 2007. He had previously played with Saints head coach Ross Lyon at Fitzroy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Walls, Robert & Rohan Connolly (2006-03-11), "Hawthorn", The Age: 28
  2. ^ Brown, Jonathan (2006-05-05), "Blokes like Johnno come along rarely ", The Courier-Mail: 69
  3. ^ Timms, Daryl (2006-08-31), "Hawks offer their spots for Barker farewell; WE'LL STAND ASIDE", Herald Sun: 93, 96
  4. ^ Gullan, Scott (2006-09-04), "Hawks take inside running; Future bright for fast learners", Herald Sun: 43
  5. ^ Stevens, Michael (2006-08-10), "Barker banned for bye", Herald Sun: 104
  6. ^ Robinson, Mark (2006-08-19), "Baby on board as Barker says goodbye", Herald Sun: 37, 44
  7. ^ Boulton, Martin (2006-09-01), "Hawks to give Barker farewell game", The Age: 5

[edit] External links