Nathan Fyfe

Nathan Fyfe

Nathan Fyfe, May 2014
Personal information
Full nameNathan Fyfe
Nickname(s)Nat
Date of birth18 September 1991
Original teamClaremont (WAFL)
Draft#20, 2009 National Draft
Height/Weight190 cm / 88 kg
Position(s)Midfielder
Club information
Current clubFremantle
Number7
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2010–Fremantle94 (82)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 2015 season.
Career highlights

Nathan "Nat" Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is an Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League. Fyfe is a very natural player with a good mark and leap.[1]

Early life

Fyfe grew up at Lake Grace, and went to school at Aquinas College. He played WAFL Colts for Claremont, his highlight of the season being his eight goal, 34 possession effort in the Colts Grand Final.[2]

Fyfe was also selected in the WA Under 18's Championship squad and played four of the five games, kicking nine goals. His best return came in the game against Vic Metro in which he scored four goals.[3] He was selected by the Dockers with the twentieth pick in the 2009 AFL Draft.

AFL career

Fyfe made his debut in Fremantle's 39 point win over the Richmond Tigers in the annual Len Hall ANZAC Day game at Subiaco Oval.[4] In doing so, Nathan became the 150th player to represent the Fremantle Dockers at AFL level.[5]

He was awarded the AFL Rising Star nomination for Round 9 of the 2010 AFL season after performing very well in Fremantle's first victory over Sydney in Sydney since 1996.[6] Fyfe collected 23 possessions, four clearances, five tackles and seven marks and played on senior Sydney player Ryan O'Keefe for most of the game.[7]

In 2011 he improved further and in July signed a contract extension to remain at Fremantle until the end of the 2014 season. His outstanding form led him to be considered as a potential All-Australian team selection, Doig Medal chance and gained comparisons to past champion James Hird. Fyfe polled an equal team high 13 Brownlow Medal votes, finished runner-up in the Doig Medal and was selected in the initial All-Australian squad of 40, but didn't make the final team.[8][9]

Fyfe made a strong start to the 2012 season with a best-on-ground performance against Geelong in the Round 1 match at Patersons Stadium, collecting 30 disposals and 2 goals in the 4-point win over the Cats.[10] In April he suffered a recurrence to his shoulder injury, and after attempting to play for a few weeks underwent surgery in May after dislocating it at training.[11] Fyfe returned to Fremantle in Round 18 against Port Adelaide—despite temporarily missing a game against Adelaide in Round 20 due to an ankle injury incurred on the morning of the match in his hotel room.[12] Otherwise, his effort has returned to consistency as Fyfe enters the 2012 finals series with the Dockers. Despite only playing eight games in 2012, Fyfe finished 12th in the Brownlow Medal.

He continued to play well throughout the 2013 season and was awarded Fremantle's club champion award, the Doig Medal.[13]

Fyfe announced early in 2014 that he wouldn't consider extending his contract until later in the year, leading to speculation that he would move clubs when his contract with Fremantle expired at the end of the 2014 season.[14] However, he agreed to extend his contract with Fremantle for a further three years in late June.[15]

Fyfe started the 2014 season strongly, but was controversially suspended for 2 weeks in round 2 for a bump on Gold Coast player Michael Rischitelli. He was one of the first players to be suspended under a new rule that penalised the player for any head contact as a result of choosing to bump instead of tackle. Throughout the year he was considered to be one of the favourites to win the Brownlow Medal but is ineligible due to the suspension.[16] Fyfe continued his strong form for the remainder of the season averaging 27 disposals a game and is considered to be one of the elite midfielders in the league.[17] He was suspended again late in the season for a behind the play strike on Jordan Lewis, missing the final two matches before returning for the finals.

At the 2014 AFL Players' Association Awards, Fyfe was awarded the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the league's most valuable player (MVP). Fyfe polled 945 votes, ahead of five-time winner Gary Ablett with 787 votes.[18]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2014 season [19]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2010 Fremantle 13 18 14 14 173 117 290 82 54 0.8 0.8 9.6 6.5 16.1 4.6 3.0
2011 Fremantle 7 21 18 14 253 274 527 111 85 0.9 0.7 12.0 13.0 25.1 5.3 4.0
2012 Fremantle 7 11 4 3 157 100 257 44 41 0.4 0.3 14.3 9.1 23.4 4.0 3.7
2013 Fremantle 7 22 18 13 339 230 569 98 74 0.8 0.6 15.4 10.4 25.9 4.4 3.4
2014 Fremantle 7 20 24 10 260 279 539 79 94 1.2 0.5 13.0 14.0 27.0 4.0 4.7
Career 92 78 54 1182 1000 2182 414 348 0.8 0.6 12.8 10.9 23.7 4.5 3.8

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2010 5
2011 13
2012 14
2013 18
2014 25
Total 75
Key:
Green / Bold = Won
* = joint winner
Red / Italics = Ineligible

Individual

References

  1. ↑ afldraftinfo.com, Nat Fyfe Profile
  2. ↑ Casellas, Ken; High Marking Fyfe Steals The Show
  3. ↑ Clarke, Tim; Next Big Thing Stands Up As Metro Falls
  4. ↑ Schmook, Nathan; Fremantle Cruises back into Top 4
  5. ↑ Clarke, Tim; High Fyfe For Another Dockers Debutant
  6. ↑ Flying Fyfe lands Rising Star nod
  7. ↑ Fyfe star rising as veteran shut out
  8. ↑ Fyfe inks new deal
  9. ↑ Fyfe inks new Freo deal
  10. ↑ Miller, Dale (31 March 2012). "Lyon's pride! Dockers win thriller as Cats lose cool". The West Australian. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  11. ↑ White, Simon (1 May 2012). "Dockers schedule knife for Fyfe".
  12. ↑ Porter, Ashley (12 August 2012). "Mystery of a rolled ankle".
  13. ↑ Kastanis, Costa (17 November 2013). "Fyfe wins the Doig Medal".
  14. ↑ Pierik, Jon (19 May 2014). "Off-contract Nat Fyfe open to leaving Dockers".
  15. ↑ Quartermaine, Braden; Robinson, Chris (26 June 2014). "Fremantle Dockers midfielder Nat Fyfe signs three-year extension".
  16. ↑ Murnane, Matt (15 June 2014). "AFL has gone soft on bump: Fyfe".
  17. ↑ Robinson, Mark (11 June 2014). "Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson names his mid-year All-Australian team".
  18. ↑ Clark, Jay (10 September 2014). "Nat Fyfe crowned AFL’s most valuable player after brilliant season with Fremantle Dockers".
  19. ↑ Nathan Fyfe's player profile at AFL Tables

External links