Matthew Wright (Australian footballer)

This article is about the Australian rules footballer. For the rugby league player, see Matthew Wright (rugby league). For other people of the same name, see Matthew Wright.

Matthew Wright
Wright playing for Carlton in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Matthew Wright
Nickname(s) Wrighty
Date of birth (1989-12-14) 14 December 1989 (age 35)
Original team(s) Walkerville (SAAFL)
North Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft No. 33, 2009 Rookie Draft, Adelaide
No. 82 (RP), 2011 National Draft, Adelaide
Debut Round 4, 2011, Adelaide vs. Port Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / small forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2011–2015 Adelaide 94 (63)
2016–2018 Carlton 65 (73)
Total 159 (136)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2018.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Matthew Wright (born 14 December 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected with pick #33 in the 2010 Rookie Draft from North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).[1]

Early life

Two years prior to being drafted, Wright fractured his skull when he was hit by a glass bottle at a party.[2]

AFL career

Wright played his first AFL game in 2011 against Port Adelaide in Showdown XXX, replacing Richard Tambling who had injured his ankle in a collision at training.[3] He was named as the substitute player and was on the bench until the third quarter.[4] After being dropped back to North Adelaide the following week, he was recalled to the Adelaide side in round six and maintained his position in the senior team for the rest of the season.[5] At the end of 2011, he was elevated to Adelaide's senior list.[6]

In 2012 Wright worked his way into the side early in the season and was a regular in an Adelaide side that made the preliminary final, used as a midfielder/forward and occasional run-with player.[7] He averaged 20 disposals for the season, and in Round 20 against Fremantle, he amassed a career-high 37 disposals.[8]

After wearing the number 47 jumper for his first two seasons, Wright switched to the number 11 jumper for the 2013 season.[9] Wright struggled with injury and inconsistent form in 2013, but still played 17 games including crucial 4-goal efforts against Gold Coast and Geelong.[7] Wright returned to form in 2014, playing 20 games, kicking 14 goals and averaging nearly 19 possessions.[7] Wright was delisted by Adelaide in October 2015.[10]

In November, Wright was recruited by Carlton as a delisted free agent.[11] He played all 22 games for Carlton in the 2016 season, primarily as a small forward, and was the Blues' leading goalkicker for the season with 22 goals, including hauls of three goals in the first and last rounds of the year.[12] In his second season at Carlton, he bettered his goal tally by 8, kicking 30 goals in 22 games in the 2017 AFL season. Altogether, Wright played 65 of a possible 66 games in three seasons for Carlton, and kicked 73 goals. He retired from AFL football following the 2018 season to pursue a coaching career back in South Australia.

Since 2019, Wright has been a development coach at the Adelaide Crows, and captain of the club's reserves team in the SANFL, remaining in both roles as of the 2023 season.[13][14] Wright retired from SANFL football at the conclusion of the 2023 season, but returned to Adelaide to become the head coach of the team he captained only two years prior.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of the 2017 season[15]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2011 Adelaide 47 19 18 8 146 125 271 62 66 1.0 0.4 7.7 6.6 14.3 3.3 3.5
2012 Adelaide 47 22 15 10 230 215 445 91 90 0.7 0.5 10.5 9.8 20.2 4.1 4.1
2013 Adelaide 11 17 11 3 146 132 278 72 44 0.7 0.2 8.6 7.8 16.4 4.2 2.6
2014 Adelaide 11 20 14 8 224 150 374 89 68 0.7 0.4 11.2 7.5 18.7 4.5 3.4
2015 Adelaide 11 16 5 4 143 86 229 43 38 0.3 0.3 8.9 5.4 14.3 2.7 2.4
2016 Carlton 46 22 22 10 262 188 450 80 82 1.0 0.5 11.9 8.6 20.5 3.6 3.7
2017 Carlton 46 22 30 12 236 121 357 96 64 1.4 0.5 10.7 5.5 16.2 4.4 2.9
Career 138 115 55 1387 1017 2404 533 452 0.8 0.4 10.1 7.4 17.4 3.9 3.3

References

  1. ^ Milbank, Zac (16 December 2009). "Matthew made of right stuff". The Advertiser.
  2. ^ Robertson, Doug (25 October 2007). "Young AFL hopeful in limbo". The Advertiser.
  3. ^ Porter, Ashley (16 April 2011). "Old rivals in test of youth". The Age.
  4. ^ Gill, Katrina (19 April 2011). "Crows set for boost". Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Rookies earn deals and upgrades". 13 September 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Adelaide Crows delist three rookies". 7 October 2011.
  7. ^ a b c "Matthew Wright - AFC.com.au". Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Sanderson backs Talia for Rising Star". Sportal. 11 August 2012.
  9. ^ Gill, Katrina (7 November 2012). "The Wright move". Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  10. ^ Phelan, Jennifer (28 October 2015). "Another Crow departs with crafty forward Wright delisted". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  11. ^ Johns, Loretta (26 November 2015). "Wright at home at Ikon Park". CarltonFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Carlton - 2016 Game by Game Player Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Matthew Wright to return to Adelaide in 2019". afc.com.au. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  14. ^ "SANFL: 26-man development squad revealed". afc.com.au. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Matthew Wright statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
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