Peter Bell (Australian footballer, born 1976)

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For information about the former St Kilda player named Peter Bell, see Peter R. Bell.
Peter Bell
Peter Bell.jpg
Personal information
Full name Peter Francis Bell
Date of birth (1976-03-01) 1 March 1976 (age 43)
Place of birth South Korea
Original team(s) South Fremantle Football Club
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 81 kg (179 lb)
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1995 Fremantle 002 00(2)
1996–2000 North Melbourne 123 (120)
2001–2008 Fremantle 161 (128)
Total286 (250)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008.
Career highlights

Club

Representative

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Peter Francis Bell (born 1 March 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club and the North Melbourne Football Club. He played as a rover (or follower). A former captain of the Fremantle Football Club, Bell was twice named as a member of the All-Australian Team. He was an acclaimed ball-winner and had more than 30 possessions in a game on 39 occasions in his career.

Australian rules football Contact sport invented in Melbourne

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, or simply called Aussie rules, football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval-shaped ball between goal posts or between behind posts.

Fremantle Football Club Australian rules football club

The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club represents and was previously based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia and now has their training and headquarters at Cockburn ARC in Cockburn Central. In 1995 it became the second team from Western Australia after the West Coast Eagles to be admitted to the AFL, honouring the rich footballing tradition and history associated with Fremantle.

North Melbourne Football Club Australian rules football club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or less formally the Roos, the Kangas or North, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world. It is based at the Arden Street Oval in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne, Victoria, but plays its home matches at the nearby Docklands Stadium. It also plays matches at Blundstone Arena, in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Contents

Early life

Bell was born in Cheju Island, South Korea, the son of a Korean mother, Kyung Ae, and an American father. In 1979 he was adopted by an Australian couple who were in South Korea as Christian missionaries. Bell spent his formative years in Kojonup, Western Australia. He was educated at Aquinas College, Perth [1] and the University of Western Australia, where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws. [2]

South Korea Republic in East Asia

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Its capital, Seoul, is a major global city and half of South Korea's over 51 million people live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

A Christian mission is an organized effort to spread Christianity to new converts. Missions involve sending individuals and groups, called missionaries, across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as educational or hospital work. There are a few different kinds of mission trips: short-term, long-term, relational and ones meant simply for helping people in need. Some might choose to dedicate their whole lives to missions as well. Missionaries have the authority to preach the Christian faith, and provide humanitarian aid. Christian doctrines permit the provision of aid without requiring religious conversion.

AFL career

Fremantle (1995)

In late 1994, Bell, who was at that time playing with the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League, became one of the first two players signed by the Fremantle Dockers, which made its debut in the Australian Football League the following year. He won the best and fairest award at South Fremantle in 1994.

South Fremantle Football Club

The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). It was formed in 1900 and plays its home games at Fremantle Oval.

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the third-most popular league in the nation, behind the nationwide Australian Football League (AFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The league currently consists of nine teams, which play each other in a 24-round season usually lasting from March to September, with the top five teams playing off in a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserves and colts (under-19) competitions.

Australian Football League Australian rules football competition

The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.

Despite kicking two goals with his first two kicks in AFL football, Bell failed to make an impression on Dockers' coach Gerard Neesham, who regarded him as too slow a runner to be a successful AFL player. Bell was selected for only two games in 1995.

Gerard Joseph Neesham is a former Australian rules footballer in the WAFL and VFL as well as coach in the WAFL and AFL. Today he is the chief executive of the Clontarf Foundation.

North Melbourne (1996–2000)

He was delisted at the end of that season, worked hard to improve his leg speed, and was picked up in the 1996 Pre-season draft, by North Melbourne, where he achieved regular selection and acclaim for his courageous, energetic and skilled performances under coach Denis Pagan. Bell was a premiership player with the Kangaroos in 1996 and 1999, and was named an All-Australian on the bench in 1999. He scored four goals and had 31 possessions in the 1999 Grand Final to be one of the Roos best on the day. In 2000, he won the North Melbourne best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal.

Denis Pagan is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL.

AFL Grand Final Australian rules football match to decide the premier of a Victorian Football League or Australian Football League season

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, to determine the Australian Football League (AFL) premiers for that year. The game has become significant to Australian culture, spawning a number of traditions and surrounding activities which have grown in popularity since the interstate expansion of the Victorian Football League in the 1980s and the subsequent creation of the national AFL competition in the 1990s. The 2006 Sweeney Sports Report concluded that the AFL Grand Final has become Australia's most important sporting event, with the largest attendance, metropolitan television audience and overall interest of any annual Australian sporting event.

The Syd Barker Medal is awarded to the North Melbourne Football Club player who has been judged the best and fairest of the footy season. The award has been given out continuously since 1937. Before then it was known as the Syd Barker Memorial Trophy.

Fremantle (2001–2008)

Bell leading Fremantle from the ground in 2005 Peter Bell Fremantle.jpg
Bell leading Fremantle from the ground in 2005

At the end of 2000, Fremantle sought his return and Bell was traded back to his original club. As it happened, 2001 was a disastrous season for the Dockers, culminating in the dismissal of coach Damian Drum. Bell won the Doig Medal for the Dockers' best and fairest player that year, and was one of the very few shining lights in a season where the Dockers recorded just two victories. These two wins were in part due to outstanding performances from Bell, who gathered thirty-eight possessions and two goals against Hawthorn in round 18, and forty-four disposals and three goals against Adelaide in round 22. The following year he was appointed captain and in 2003 the club made the finals for the first time. Bell was once again an All-Australian, this time as a follower.

Damian Kevin Drum is an Australian politician who has represented Murray in the Australian House of Representatives since the 2016 federal election as a member of The Nationals. Drum served as the Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Second Turnbull Ministry between 20 December 2017 and 5 March 2018.

The Doig Medal is the best and fairest award given out to the player considered best and fairest during a season for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL.

In Australian sport, the best and fairest, or fairest and best in some competitions e.g. West Australian Football League, recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.

He continued his good form into 2004, winning another Doig Medal. However, Fremantle's team performances were not as good, and in both 2004 and 2005 they narrowly missed making the finals. 2006 started poorly, but Bell was a leading player in Freo's record setting 9-game winning streak to finish in the top four for the first time, and also a member of the team that beat Melbourne in the second semi final to record Fremantle's first ever finals game win.

Despite offering to hand over the captaincy to Matthew Pavlich in 2003, [3] he remained captain for five seasons until the end of the 2006 season.

At Subiaco Oval, enthusiastic supporters rung a bell (a play on his name) whenever Bell got a possession. He was president of the AFL Players Association from 2003 until the beginning of 2007.

Bell (#32 at left) Fremantle running through banner.jpg
Bell (#32 at left)

Bell announced his immediate retirement on 7 July 2008, [4] having played his last game in the club's Round 14 loss to Essendon. He played 286 games with North Melbourne and Fremantle.

Playing statistics

SeasonTeamNo.Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
TotalsAverages (per game)
1995 Fremantle 32220549011.00.02.52.04.50.00.5
1996 North Melbourne 2623231118712831536211.00.58.15.613.71.60.9
1997 North Melbourne 2625241628118246369361.00.611.27.318.52.81.4
1998 North Melbourne 2625171432721554267430.70.613.18.621.72.71.7
1999 Kangaroos 2625322042719562296481.30.817.17.824.93.81.9
2000 Kangaroos 26252419387262649107751.00.815.510.526.04.33.0
2001 Fremantle 3219141031321452783520.70.516.511.327.74.42.7
2002 Fremantle 3222111030826457277470.50.514.012.026.03.52.1
2003 Fremantle 3223209354242596111720.90.415.410.525.94.83.1
2004 Fremantle 3221221227921549481561.00.613.310.223.53.92.7
2005 Fremantle 321812825117142291690.70.413.99.523.45.13.8
2006 Fremantle 32231412306236542116760.60.513.310.323.65.03.3
2007 Fremantle 32222812266218484102631.30.512.19.922.04.62.9
2008 Fremantle 32137412715728454410.50.39.812.121.84.23.2
Career28625015738182703652110907000.90.513.39.522.83.82.4

[5]

Post player career

In 2013, Bell joined radio broadcaster 6PR as host of the afternoon slot, alongside his match day special comments for AFL games on the station. In 2016, he moved to ABC Radio Perth to host the weekday breakfast program. [6] He also did some AFL coverage for the Seven Network. [7]

In September 2018, Bell was appointed general manager of the Fremantle Football Club, and resigned from his radio and television roles. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Crikey - Famous alumni on Latham's hit list Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Wilson, Caroline (30 March 2003). "Bell tolls in Fremantle and beyond". The Sunday Age . p. 14.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Caroline (30 March 2003). "Bell calls for new captain". The Age . Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  4. ↑ Pike, Chris (7 July 2008). "Bell calls an end to a glittering career". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  5. ↑ "Peter Bell". AFL Tables. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Breakfast with Peter Bell and Paula Kruger". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 Annabel Stewart (25 September 2018). "Peter Bell takes up Fremantle Dockers football role in AFL, exits ABC Radio Perth". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
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