Paul Chapman (footballer)

For the Welsh footballer who played for Plymouth Argyle, see Paul Chapman (footballer, born 1951).
Paul Chapman

Chapman in October 2011
Personal information
Full namePaul Chapman
Date of birth5 November 1981
Original teamCalder Cannons (TAC Cup)
Draft#31, 1999 AFL Draft, Geelong
Height/Weight179 cm / 89 kg
Position(s)Forward / Midfielder
Club information
Current clubEssendon
Number3
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2000–2013
2014–
Total		Geelong
Essendon		251 (336)
23 (22)
272 (358)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
2008Victoria (Australia) Victoria1 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of Round 1, 2015 season.
Career highlights

Paul Chapman (born 5 November 1981) is a professional Australian rules footballer, currently playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Early life

Chapman played with North Coburg FC which merged with Fawkner Park FC to become Northern Saints Football Club in the EDFL. After playing with Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup, Chapman was drafted and debuted with the Geelong Football Club in 2000.

AFL career

Geelong football club

2000–2013

Chapman was selected by Geelong with pick 31 in 1999 national draft. Chapman played 4 games in his Rookie Season, making his debut in Round 12 2000 against Collingwood at the MCG, a four point win, he kicked his first goal in Geelong's Elimnation Final against Hawthorn, 9 point loss, he also finished 3rd in Geelong's Reserves Best and Fairest.

In 2002, Chapman played 16 games, including the last 15 of the season, in Round 9 2002 Chapman had 26 possessions and booted 3 goals for his first game with over 20 possessions, Chapman would go on to win Geelong's Most Improved Player Award, he also finished 8th in Geelong's Best & Fairest award.

In 2003, Chapman played all 22 games for the season, he finished the season with 22 goals including one game in Round 7 where he booted 4 goals against the West Coast Eagles in a losing effort, in Round 15 Chapman kicked a last minute goal to win Geelong the game against Richmond, Chapman played his 50th game against the Brisbane Lions in Round 21.

In 2004, Chapman played every game for the year including 3 finals, he had double figure possessions in 24 matches, Chapman finished the year with 38 goals and he had 12 games with multiple goals, He finished 9th in Geelong's Best & Fairest. In 2005, Chapman played 19 games but missed finals due to injury this was one of the first time's that Chapman missed games due to an injury, he kicked 29 goals for the season, kicking a goal in every game except one match, he also finished 6th in Geelong's Best & Fairest.

Chapman's 2006 season started good with the Geelong Football Club winning the Pre Season Cup (Nab Cup) defeating the Adelaide Crows by 8 points, Chapman played his 100th game in Round 5 2006 against the Shoney Swans, losing by 22 points, In Round 22 2006 Chapman set his career high for Possessions in a game with 35, losing by 61 points. At the end of the year Chapman polled 14 votes in the Brownlow Medal finishing 9th out of all players in the AFL, he also won the Carji Greeves Medal (Geelong's Best & Fairest) polling 462 votes, ahead of Jimmy Bartel (383) and Gary Ablett, Jr. (371). Chapman played every game for the season finishing with 31 goals and a total of 331 disposals 15th out of all players in the league, Geelong did not make the finals.

Chapman played his 100th game in Round 12 2007 against the Brisbane Lions, winning by 50 points. He had double figure possessions for every game in the 2007 season including finals, Geelong finished 1st on the ladder and got to play finals, in there first qualifying final against North Melbourne Chapman set a career high with 5 goals in 1 game, Geelong went on to record one of the biggest qualifying final win's of all time, winning by 107 points. Chapman capped his season off by kicking 4 goals in the Grand Final against Port Adelaide helping Geelong win, he also took one of the all time great Grand Final marks on the members flank, Geelong went on to win the Grand Final by 119 points one of the biggest Grand Final wins ever, Chapman was the runner up to the Norm Smith Medal Award (Best on Ground) finishing behind teammate Steve Johnson, Chapman played 19 games for the 2007 season kicking 30 goals and winning the Grand Final.

In 2008 Chapman played his 150th game in Round 18 against the Western Bulldogs, winning by 61 points. In Round 21 2008 Chapman kicked his 200th career goal against North Melbourne, winning by 33 points. Chapman played 19 games for the season and kicked 33 goals, a quarter of the way through the 2008 season Paul Chapman played for the Victoria team against the Dream Team in the AFL Hall of Fame game, the Victoria team won by 17 points. For the second year in a row Geelong finished on top of the ladder, Geelong went on to play in the Grand Final for the second year in a row, Chapman had 22 possessions and 1 goal, Geelong lost the Grand Final to Hawthorn by 26 points.

At the start of the 2009 AFL season Geelong win the Pre Season Cup (Nab Cup) defeating Collingwood by 76 points, in Round 6 2009 Chapman set a new career high for possessions with 41 against Melbourne, winning by 43 points. Chapman played 20 games for the 2009 season in 16 of those games he had over 20 disposals, he also kicked 31 goals for the year, in Round 18 2009 Chapman set a new career high for goals with 6 aganstt the Adelaide Crows, winning by 2 points, at the end of the year Chapman Poled 12 Brownlow Votes, he also made the All Australian Team for the first time in his career. Geelong finished 2nd on the ladder at the end of the 2009 season, Chapman played Brilliant in the 2009 finals series kicking 3 goals in the Grand Final and 5 in the Preliminary Final. For the third year in a row Geelong made the Grand Final and went on to defeat St Kilda by 12 points, Chapman kicked the game-winning goal in the Grand Final, He was also the winner of the Norm Smith Medal (Best on Ground) in the 2009 Grand Final.

Chapman had another brilliant season in 2010 he finished 5th in Geelong's Best and Fairest, Kicked 23 Goals from 39 shots, he also set career bests for 676 possessions, 412 kicks, 264 handballs and 99 tackles at the end of his season, Chapman ranked 9th in the league for his 676 possessions and 3rd for his 412 kicks. Geelong finished 2nd on the ladder for the 2nd year in a row, they made it to the Preliminary Final only to be eliminated by Collingwood, this was the first time in 3 years that Geelong did not make the Grand Final.

Chapman played all 23 games of the 2011 season including 3 finals, Chapman played his 200th game in Round 2 against Fremantle, winning by 11 points. He also had a career high 104 tackles at the end of the season, Geelong finished 2nd on the ladder for the 3rd year in a row, they defeated Hawthorn in there Qualifying Final by 31 points, Chapman had 18 disposal's and zero goals, after one week brake Geelong went on to face West Coast in the Preliminary Final, they won by 48 points Chapman had 21 disposal's and 1 goal in the win. For the 4th time in the last 5 years Geelong made the Grand Final where they defeated Collingwood by 38 points for there 3rd Grand Final in the last 5 years, Chapman had 24 disposals And zero goals.

In 2012 Chapman played 21 games and kicked 36 goals,he also averaged 20 disposals a game in 2012. Geelong finished 6th on the ladder and were eliminated the first week of finals after losing by 16 points to the Fremantle Dockers. In 2013 Chapman only played eight games due to a hamstring injury, Chapman only kicked 12 goals for the season. Chapman booted multiple goals in four game, he had over 20 disposal's in six games. Chapman returned from injury as the sub in Round 22 and made an impact off the bench, Geelong finshedd 2nd on the ladder and Chapman played his 250th game in the Qualifying Final against Fremantle where they lost by 15 points, the next week Geelong defeated Port Adelaide by 16 points to keep there Finals alive and move onto the next week, Chapman was a massive factor kicking 4 goals in this game and having 20 disposal's, the next week Geelong lost to Hawthorn by 5 points braking the Kennett Curse, Chapman missed this game due to suspension. Chapman was delisted by Geelong on 2 October 2013, after strongly suggesting he wanted to play on, but Geelong's final thoughts were that he couldn't compete at top level football anymore due to age.[1]

Essendon football club

2014–present

On 18 October 2013, Chapman joined the Essendon Football Club.[2]Paul Chapman was traded to Essendon in exchange for draft pick number 84. He had a phenomenal season in 2014 exceeding a lot of expectations because of his age. He played twenty games for the season and averaged twenty disposals, kicking twenty-two goals. Essendon finished seventh on the ladder, and in the Second Elimination Final Chapman had twenty-two disposals and kicked two goals. Essendon led by 33 points at the four minute mark of the third quarter only to lose the lead when North Melbourne kicked six goals straight and won the game by twelve points. Essendon was eliminated from the finals.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2014 season[3]
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)
2000 Geelong 35 4 1 0 14 7 21 4 8 0.3 0.0 3.5 1.8 5.3 1.0 2.0
2001 Geelong 35 9 4 4 56 22 78 18 23 0.4 0.4 6.2 2.4 8.7 2.0 2.6
2002 Geelong 35 16 16 5 178 79 257 46 52 1.0 0.3 11.1 4.9 16.1 2.9 3.3
2003 Geelong 35 22 22 15 239 103 342 85 58 1.0 0.7 10.9 4.7 15.5 3.9 2.6
2004 Geelong 35 25 38 19 240 113 353 96 80 1.5 0.8 9.6 4.5 14.1 3.8 3.2
2005 Geelong 35 19 29 17 222 97 319 76 49 1.5 0.9 11.7 5.1 16.8 4.0 2.6
2006 Geelong 35 22 31 19 331 153 484 134 89 1.4 0.9 15.0 7.0 22.0 6.1 4.0
2007 Geelong 35 19 30 15 289 127 416 112 75 1.6 0.8 15.2 6.7 21.9 5.9 3.9
2008 Geelong 35 19 33 13 253 131 384 102 54 1.7 0.7 13.3 6.9 20.2 5.4 2.8
2009 Geelong 35 20 37 17 342 194 536 130 53 1.9 0.9 17.1 9.7 26.8 6.5 2.7
2010 Geelong 35 24 23 16 412 264 676 133 99 1.0 0.7 17.2 11.0 28.2 5.5 4.1
2011 Geelong 35 23 24 14 312 228 540 122 104 1.0 0.6 13.6 9.9 23.5 5.3 4.5
2012 Geelong 35 21 36 15 292 136 428 107 94 1.7 0.7 13.9 6.5 20.4 5.1 4.5
2013 Geelong 35 8 12 7 91 71 162 27 34 1.5 0.9 11.4 8.9 20.3 3.4 4.3
2014 Essendon 3 20 22 16 250 148 398 112 83 1.1 0.8 12.5 7.4 19.9 5.6 4.2
Career 271 358 192 3521 1873 5394 1304 955 1.3 0.7 13.0 6.9 19.9 4.8 3.5

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Chapman delisted by Geelong". AFL.com.au. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Former Geelong champion Paul Chapman to play with Essendon". news.com.au. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Paul Chapman's player profile at AFL Tables

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Joel Corey		 Carji Greeves Medal
2006 		Succeeded by
Gary Ablett, Jr.
Preceded by
Luke Hodge		 Norm Smith Medal
2009 		Succeeded by
Lenny Hayes/Scott Pendlebury