Stephen Michael

Last updated

Stephen Michael
Personal information
Full name Stephen Albert Michael
Date of birth (1956-03-15) 15 March 1956 (age 68)
Place of birth Wagin, Western Australia
Original team(s) Kojonup
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1975–1985 South Fremantle 243 (231)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1985.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Stephen Albert Michael (born 15 March 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer. More recently, Stephen is the patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation, supporting disengaged, at-risk and disadvantaged youth across Western Australia.

Contents

Playing career

A Noongar Aboriginal man, Michael played in the WAFL between 1975 and 1985 with the South Fremantle Football Club, playing 243 games and kicking 231 goals. He played in South's 1980 premiership side and was appointed captain in 1983. He holds the WAFL record for the most consecutive league games with 217. Throughout his career, Michael resisted numerous advances by VFL clubs to move east and is often listed as one of the best players to never play in the VFL. [1]

He was a strong, high leaping ruckman who won the Sandover Medal in 1980 and 1981. His 37 votes in 1981 (with nine best-on-grounds and receiving votes in 15 of the 21 games played) was a record tally under the 3-2-1 voting system in place at the time. He represented Western Australia in State or State of Origin football on 17 occasions, captaining the side 3 times. In 1983 he won the Simpson Medal for the best player in the WA vs SA game and the Tassie Medal as the best player in Australia in State of Origin football and was named captain in the 1983 All-Australian Team. [2] He won the South Fremantle's fairest and best in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1983.

Recognition

In 1995 he was named as an inaugural member of the Fremantle Football Hall of Legends. In 1999, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. [3] In 2005 he was named at Centre Half Forward in the Australian Football Indigenous Team of the Century [4] [5] and in 2009 he was named in the ruck and captain of the South Fremantle Football Club's Indigenous Team of the Century. [6] In 2008, as part of the annual NAIDOC game between South Fremantle and Claremont, the Chris Lewis/Stephen Michael Award was presented to Andrew Browne for being the best player in the match. [7]

Media

Michael was a regular guest of the Marngrook Footy Show , broadcast on Melbourne Radio. [8]

Personal life

Stephen has 7 children; Clem, Stephen Jr., Vanessa, Cindy, Matt, Talan, Corey. Stephen's son, Clem Michael, also played Australian rules football for South Fremantle Football Club (including the 1997 premiership side) and Fremantle Football Club. Clem's career was cut short by a knee injury. Michael also has two daughters and another four sons. [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ "WA Football Hall of Fame Inductee: Stephen Albert Michael".
  2. ↑ East, A (2006); p 315
  3. ↑ Australian Football Hall of Fame - Players
  4. ↑ Timms, Aaron (2 August 2005) Honours for O'Loughlin, Goodes give the Swans timely boost
  5. ↑ Team for the Ages
  6. ↑ Wilson, Ray (3 July 2009) Bulldogs top of the talent tree Archived 29 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ WAFL Wrap
  8. ↑ "About Marngrook Footy Show". Marngrook Footy Show. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  9. ↑ East, A (2006); p 318

Related Research Articles

Haydn Austin Bunton is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. The son of the legendary Haydn Bunton Sr., Bunton Jr. played for North Adelaide and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as well as Swan Districts and Subiaco in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claremont Football Club</span> WAFL Australian rules football club

The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are navy blue and gold. Formed as the "Cottesloe Beach Football Club" in 1906, the club entering the WAFL in 1925 as the "Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club"', changing its name to the present in 1935. Claremont have won 12 senior men's premierships since entering the competition, including most recently the 2011 and 2012 premierships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Fremantle Football Club</span> Australian rules football club in Western Australia

The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks and colloquially referred to as East Freo, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle is the most successful club in WAFL history, winning 30 premierships since their entry into the competition in 1898. East Fremantle's last premiership was in 2023, when they defeated Peel Thunder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Perth Football Club</span> Australian rules football club in the WAFL

The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Formed in 1902 as the Union Football Club, the club entered the WAFL in 1906, changing its name to East Perth. It won its first premiership in 1919, part of a streak of five consecutive premierships. Overall, the club has won 17 premierships, most recently in 2002. The club is currently based at Leederville Oval, which it shares with the Subiaco Football Club, having previously played home games at Wellington Square and Perth Oval from 1910 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan Districts Football Club</span> Australian rules football club in Perth

The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The club was formed in 1933, and joined the then-Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) in 1934, acting as a successor to the Midland Junction Football Club, which had disbanded during World War I, in the Perth Hills region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fremantle Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the Bulldogs. Since its founding, the club has won 14 WAFL premierships, the most recent of them in 2020.

John Herbert Todd was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL). He also coached with success at East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Swan Districts, West Coast, and Western Australia. The only coach that comes close to John Todd in games coached is Jock McHale, who coached Collingwood. Mick Malthouse later broke McHale’s coaching record for games coached, but McHale still has won the most VFL/AFL premierships (8). Malthouse won 3 Premierships. A State Memorial service was held on 21 August 2024 for John Todd.

Stephen Malaxos is a former Australian rules footballer and coach from Western Australia. While playing for Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), he won the 1984 Sandover Medal. Malaxos was an All-Australian with Claremont in 1986 and while he was with the West Coast Eagles in 1988. He was the inaugural fairest and best player at West Coast (1987), holds the Eagles' record for the most possessions in a game (48) and captained the club in 1990.

Brian Francis Peake OAM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for East Fremantle and Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also played State of Origin football for Western Australia from 1978 to 1987, captaining the side in 1979, 1980, 1986 and 1987. Peake was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1990 and was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Malcolm Gregory "Mal" Brown is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and West Australian National Football League. He is described as "one of the most colourful and controversial characters" of the game.

Mark William Bairstow is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).

The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Australian National Football Council until 1919. The first clubs to play Australian football were formed within the region, and the league helped popularise the sport in the region, helping to establish the sport and supplant Rugby in popularity. The GFL was known as the Goldfields Football Association (GFA) from 1901–07 and 1920–25, and as the Goldfields National Football League (GNFL) from 1926–87.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Marsh (footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer (1924–2024)

Stephen William Marsh was an Australian rules footballer who represented South Fremantle and East Fremantle in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) during the 1940s and 1950s.

John Cameron Sheedy was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for East Fremantle and East Perth in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Sheedy is considered one of the greatest ever footballers from Western Australia, being the first player from that state to play 300 games in elite Australian rules football, and was a member of both the Australian Football Hall of Fame and the West Australian Football Halls of Fame.

John Kildahl "Stork" Clarke was an Australian rules footballer in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).

Graham Thomas Melrose is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as for the East Fremantle Football Club and the Swan Districts Football Club in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Jenkins (footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer

Frank William Thomas "Scranno" Jenkins was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Fremantle in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL). He is a member of the Fremantle Team of Legends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Conway (footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

James Francis Conway was an Australian rules football player and coach. The winner of the 1950 Sandover Medal, Conway played 180 games for East Fremantle in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) between 1943 and 1956, also representing Western Australia in 15 interstate matches. In 1964, he was appointed coach of Claremont, a position which he held for five years, until 1968. He was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

Allan Melvyn "Mel" Whinnen MBE is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Perth Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) from 1960 to 1977. Whinnen played 367 premiership games for West Perth, a WAFL record, playing in four premiership sides and finishing runner-up in the Sandover Medal on two occasions, as well as winning West Perth's best and fairest award, the Breckler Medal, on a record nine occasions.

Craig Edwards is a former Australian rules footballer who played for East Perth and South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Edwards won the 1989 Sandover Medal as the best player in the competition and was named as one of the top 25 WAFL players of the 25 years from 1987 to 2012.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.