Adrian Fletcher

For the fictional character, see Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher.

Adrian Fletcher
Personal information
Full name	Adrian Fletcher
Date of birth	(1969-10-10) 10 October 1969 (age 53)
Original team(s)	Glenorchy (TFL)
Draft	No. 20, 1988 national draft
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1989–1991	Geelong	023 (10)
1992	St Kilda	022 (10)
1993–1996	Brisbane Bears	086 (49)
1997	Brisbane Lions	021 0(4)
1998–2001	Fremantle	079 (24)
Total		231 (97)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2001.
Career highlights
Fremantle co-captain: 2000–2001 Doig Medal: 1999 Norm Goss Memorial Medal: 2003 Geoff Christian Medal: 1999 VFL premiership player: 2003 William Leitch Medal: 1988
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Adrian Fletcher (born 10 October 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer and current assistant coach. He is regarded as one of football's nomads, having played for five Australian Football League clubs in his 13-year career. Fletcher's play relied on being an excellent play reader which resulted in him being a prolific possession gatherer, especially by handball. ^[1]

Early career

Fletcher was recruited from the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) club Glenorchy with the 20th selection in the 1988 VFL draft by the Geelong Football Club after winning the William Leitch Medal as the best player in the TFL. ^[2] He played 23 games for Geelong between 1989 and 1991, kicking 10 goals. Fletcher was traded to St Kilda in 1992, where he played 22 games, kicking 10 goals. Due to a contract dispute, he left the Saints and was selected by the Brisbane Bears with the 4th selection in the 1993 Pre-season draft.

Brisbane career

Fletcher made his name as a tough, ball-winning midfielder at Brisbane. Between 1993 and 1996, Fletcher played 86 of a possible 90 games, finishing in the top five of the club champion award in each year. ^[3] He was a significant player in the Bears' 1996 preliminary final loss to North Melbourne playing on the half back line.

In 1997, however, his form slumped after the lack of a solid pre-season. He fought back, however, and ended up with a season average of 19 possessions per game in 21 games. However, despite a season that, although starting badly, was not considered by Fletcher to be his worst, he was traded to the Fremantle Dockers.

Fremantle career

Fletcher had an immediate impact at Fremantle, finishing second in the club's Best and Fairest award in 1998 and winning it in 1999. He was then named co-captain along with Shaun McManus in 2000 and 2001. At the end of the 2001 season he was asked to retire by the Fremantle club despite being ranked in the AFL's top 20 for overall disposals ^[2] and also was in the AFL's top five for handballs. He played 79 games for the Dockers ending up with 25 goals.

While at Fremantle, Fletcher is remembered for being the player who kicked the ball to field umpire Peter Carey, when Carey famously and humorously took a chest mark in general play. ^[4]

After Fremantle, Fletcher played for Williamstown in the VFL in 2002 and 2003, appearing in 41 games and booting 17 goals. He was best-on-ground in the 2003 VFL grand final victory by Williamstown over Box Hill at Princes Park and received the Norm Goss Medal, as well as winning the best and fairest award during his two years with the VFL Seagulls. He was assistant coach under Brad Gotch in 2002.

Statistics

^[5]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1989	Geelong	4	8	5	1	76	53	129	22	4	0.6	0.1	9.5	6.6	16.1	2.8	0.5	0
1990	Geelong	4	9	3	2	106	93	199	23	11	0.3	0.2	11.8	10.3	22.1	2.6	1.2	1
1991	Geelong	4	6	2	0	68	62	130	19	10	0.3	0.0	11.3	10.3	21.7	3.2	1.7	0
1992	St Kilda	16	22	10	7	231	223	454	73	38	0.5	0.3	10.5	10.1	20.6	3.3	1.7	5
1993	Brisbane Bears	6	20	15	6	236	235	471	87	41	0.8	0.3	11.8	11.8	23.6	4.4	2.1	4
1994	Brisbane Bears	6	19	5	5	236	213	449	68	35	0.3	0.3	12.4	11.2	23.6	3.6	1.8	6
1995	Brisbane Bears	6	23	14	11	319	294	613	96	49	0.6	0.5	13.9	12.8	26.7	4.2	2.1	7
1996	Brisbane Bears	6	24	15	17	341	239	580	90	61	0.6	0.7	14.2	10.0	24.2	3.8	2.5	14
1997	Brisbane Lions	6	21	4	10	238	172	410	84	59	0.2	0.5	11.3	8.2	19.5	4.0	2.8	8
1998	Fremantle	2	16	8	6	225	142	367	68	40	0.5	0.4	14.1	8.9	22.9	4.3	2.5	3
1999	Fremantle	2	22	9	5	298	283	581	105	38	0.4	0.2	13.5	12.9	26.4	4.8	1.7	15
2000	Fremantle	2	20	4	2	215	220	435	67	53	0.2	0.1	10.8	11.0	21.8	3.4	2.7	10
2001	Fremantle	2	21	3	5	230	250	480	97	54	0.1	0.2	11.0	11.9	22.9	4.6	2.6	3
Career			231	97	77	2819	2479	5298	899	493	0.4	0.3	12.2	10.7	22.9	3.9	2.1	76

Post AFL and coaching career

After being delisted by Fremantle after the 2001 season and not being drafted by another AFL club, Fletcher retired from the AFL, and played for Williamstown Football Club in the VFL for two years. He won the Williamstown best and fairest award in both these seasons and also won the Norm Goss Medal for best on ground in the 2003 VFL grand final, Fletcher's last game of senior football. He also was a development coach for the Collingwood Football Club (Williamstown's AFL-affiliate) during this time.

In 2004, Fletcher joined the Geelong Football Club as an assistant coach, before returning to Collingwood in 2005 as their midfield coach. After the 2007 season he left Collingwood and returned to the Brisbane Lions as an assistant coach, where he remains as of 2011. ^[6]

He has made several appearances in AFL Legends Matches. His wife, Narelle Fletcher, played 295 games in the Women's National Basketball League. ^[7]

Fletcher's son, Jaspa, was taken at Pick 12 in the 2022 AFL draft by the Brisbane Lions under the father-son rule.

References

1. Top Handballs 1984–2009
2. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 201. ISBN   1-74095-001-1 .
3. Fletch lives at Lions; The Brisbane Times (3 December 2007)
4. "Moment #59: Umpire Carey's big mark". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
5. "Adrian Fletcher". AFL Tables. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
6. AAP (3 December 2007) Fletcher returns to Lions; The Age
7. Howell, Stephen (30 January 2003) Veteran Fletcher ices a stunning career

External links

• Adrian Fletcher's playing statistics from AFL Tables