Tom Papley
Papley playing for Sydney in 2019
Personal information
Full name Tom Papley
Date of birth (1996-07-13) 13 July 1996
Place of birth Melbourne
Original team(s) Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)
Draft 14th selection 2016 Rookie Draft
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) forward
Club information
Current club Sydney
Number 11
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016– Sydney 164 (258)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (5)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Tom Papley (born 13 July 1996) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted with pick 14 in the 2016 rookie draft.[1]

AFL career

Papley made his AFL debut in round 1 of the 2016 AFL season against the Collingwood Football Club, kicking three goals. He earned the Rising Star nomination for round 5 following an impressive display against the West Coast Eagles in which he kicked two goals, earned 20 possessions, had six inside-50s and took eight marks in a match played in wet weather. Arguably his best season was in 2019, impressing many after the absence of Lance Franklin when he tied in 14th for goalkickers, with 37 goals. He kicked 4 goals against North Melbourne and 5 goals against the West Coast Eagles, proving to be two of his best performances. [2] But throughout the year, Papley had a desire to return home back to Victoria despite being contracted to the Swans until 2023 and was heavily linked to both Carlton and North Melbourne. During the trade period, he requested a trade to Carlton, but Papley wasn't given his wish as the trade didn't go through. Papley was selected to play for Victoria in the State Of Origin Bushfire Relief game, where he kicked 5 goals.

Papley played all 17 games of the 2020 AFL season, kicking 26 goals and leading the Swans' goalkicking tally for the second year in a row. His standout performance came against Hawthorn in Round 8, kicking 4 goals and sparking Sydney to a 7 point victory.

Papley rose to new heights in the 2021 AFL season, with a career-high 41 goals. This included four-goal performances against Richmond, GWS and Essendon, and the match-winning goal against Geelong in round 7. Papley was rewarded with his first ever All-Australian jumper in the 2021 All-Australian team, confirming his status as one of the competition's premier small forwards.

Papley missed the first six rounds of the 2022 season due to a preseason hamstring injury he suffered in a practice match with GWS.[3] Despite the late start to the season he was awarded with being a member of the All-Australian Squad in 2022.

Family

His grandfathers, Jeff Bray and Max Papley, were teammates with the South Melbourne Swans from 1964 to 1966, before the team's move to Sydney. Tom Papley wore number 41 for his first two seasons, but following the retirement of Jeremy Laidler after the 2017 season Papley was able to take on number 11, the number Max Papley wore for 45 of his 59 matches with the South Melbourne Swans.[4]

Two of Papley's cousins, Ben Ross and Michael Ross, have also recently played in the AFL.[5]

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[6]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
† Led the league for the home-and-away season only
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016Sydney41 20291514110224357721.50.87.15.112.22.93.60
2017Sydney41 20301919311931267861.50.99.76.015.63.44.30
2018Sydney11 20242316910427365581.21.18.45.213.73.22.90
2019Sydney11 22372824199340106621.71.310.94.515.44.82.84
2020[lower-alpha 1]Sydney11 172627†1485220057291.51.68.73.111.83.41.76
2021Sydney11 2343272308331389341.91.210.03.613.63.91.54
2022Sydney11 1932262038729079371.71.410.74.615.34.21.95
Career 141221165132564619715203781.61.29.44.614.03.72.719
  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

Team

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Rookie Players List". Sydney Swans. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Schmook, Nathan (25 April 2016). "Small Swan continues trend with Rising Star nomination". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Hamstring injury to sideline Swans star Papley for early AFL rounds". ESPN. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Swan's nod to grandad with number change". Sydney Swans. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Jon (5 April 2016). "Tom Papley ties to Sydney run deep with both grandfathers South Melbourne guns". Herald Sun.
  6. ↑ "Tom Papley". FootyWire.com. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
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