Steele Sidebottom

Steele Sidebottom
Sidebottom playing for Collingwood in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Steele Sidebottom
Nickname(s) Rusty,[1] Bluescope[2]
Date of birth (1991-01-02) 2 January 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Victoria
Original team(s) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 11, 2008 National Draft, Collingwood
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Collingwood
Number 22
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2009– Collingwood 331 (194)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2024 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Steele Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the 2008 AFL Draft. Sidebottom had a 10-goal best-on-ground performance in the 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final.[3] He is strong overhead and in one-on-one contests. An AIS/AFL Academy graduate and Vic Country representative in 2008, Sidebottom also was selected in the All-Australian team following the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships.[4]

A midfielder, Sidebottom became a star player for Collingwood. He has won the Copeland Trophy twice as the club's best and fairest (2017, 2018) and also played in premierships in 2010 and 2023. Sidebottom has been named in the All-Australian team in 2018 on a wing in addition to finishing second in the 2018 Brownlow Medal. He has been the co-vice captain of Collingwood since the 2015 season to 2022.

Career

Sidebottom made his AFL debut vs St Kilda in Round 7, 2009, where St Kilda defeated Collingwood by 88 points.

In the semi-final against Adelaide of the 2009 AFL Season, Sidebottom had his first major breakthrough, where he notched up 25 disposals in a come-from-behind win.

In 2010, Sidebottom played in all but one game for the Magpies, including both the drawn Grand Final and Grand Final replay. At 19 years of age, he was the youngest member of Collingwood's 2010 Premiership side.

On 6 October 2017, Sidebottom won the Copeland Trophy.[5]

In the 2018 Brownlow Medal count, Sidebottom finished in second place (his career best).[6]

In 2020, Sidebottom was handed a four match suspension for breaching the AFL's COVID-19 protocols, after he and teammate Lynden Dunn had shared an Uber together and visited several homes, with the night concluding with Sidebottom being driven home by police.[7]

In 2023, Sidebottom played his 300th AFL game, becoming the 4th Collingwood player to ever do so. He injured his MCL and did not play until Round 18. Sidebottom later kicked a 60-meter bomb in the final to give Collingwood the premiership.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.[8]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2009 Collingwood 22 11 3 3 82 85 167 42 44 0.3 0.3 7.5 7.7 15.2 3.8 4.0 0
2010# Collingwood 22 25 24 13 253 209 462 105 101 1.0 0.5 10.1 8.4 18.5 4.2 4.0 1
2011 Collingwood 22 25 25 13 275 214 489 128 107 1.0 0.5 11.0 8.6 19.6 5.1 4.3 4
2012 Collingwood 22 24 14 13 377 258 635 133 89 0.6 0.5 15.7 10.8 26.5 5.5 3.7 7
2013 Collingwood 22 23 19 10 361 194 555 120 77 0.8 0.4 15.7 8.4 24.1 5.2 3.3 7
2014 Collingwood 22 19 14 14 327 181 508 109 78 0.7 0.7 17.2 9.5 26.7 5.7 4.1 9
2015 Collingwood 22 16 7 8 251 186 437 85 53 0.4 0.5 15.7 11.6 27.3 5.3 3.3 9
2016 Collingwood 22 20 17 7 273 241 514 108 90 0.9 0.4 13.7 12.1 25.7 5.4 4.5 7
2017 Collingwood 22 22 16 9 344 256 600 115 93 0.7 0.4 15.6 11.6 27.3 5.2 4.2 14
2018 Collingwood 22 26 12 14 361 403 764 133 96 0.5 0.5 13.9 15.5 29.4 5.1 3.7 24
2019 Collingwood 22 23 10 7 339 253 592 141 84 0.4 0.3 14.7 11.0 25.7 6.1 3.7 7
2020[a] Collingwood 22 9 5 3 112 101 213 33 38 0.6 0.3 12.4 11.2 23.7 3.7 4.2 6
2021 Collingwood 22 21 8 5 272 228 500 114 62 0.4 0.2 13.0 10.9 23.8 5.4 3.0 0
2022 Collingwood 22 25 12 7 274 175 449 110 74 0.5 0.3 11.0 7.0 18.0 4.4 3.0 3
2023# Collingwood 22 20 4 2 257 160 417 85 72 0.2 0.1 12.9 8.0 20.9 4.3 3.6 3
2024 Collingwood 22 22 4 8 270 133 403 90 69 0.2 0.4 12.3 6.0 18.3 4.1 3.1 0
Career 331 194 136 4428 3276 7704 1651 1227 0.6 0.4 13.4 9.9 23.3 5.0 3.7 101

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Collingwood

Individual

Personal life

His older brother Ryan plays cricket for the Victorian Bushrangers.

References

  1. ^ McFarlane, Glenn (9 July 2011). "Collingwood's Steele Sidebottom reveals why he loves to return to his band of brothers". Herald Sun.
  2. ^ Timms, Daryl; de Kretser, Chris (13 May 2010). "Beg, borrow or Steele". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ Edmund, Sam (2 October 2008) Steele Sidebottom dominates under-18 final; Herald Sun
  4. ^ Sheehan, Kevin (19 July 2008) Shifter's wrap: Under-18 All-Australian team
  5. ^ McFarlane, Glenn (6 October 2017). "Steele Sidebottom pips Taylor Adams to claim his first Collingwood Copeland Trophy". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia.
  6. ^ "Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell wins 2018 Brownlow Medal". ABC News. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  7. ^ Marc McGowan (1 July 2020). "Pies fume at 'excessive' COVID ban for Steele". Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Steele Sidebottom's player profile". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
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