Barnaby French (born 25 November 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. French attended Pembroke School in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. A champion junior

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

, French was a member of the Australian under 23s rowing team. He gave up rowing when his studies interfered.Connolly, R.
The Age
"French plans to stand tall", 23 November 2003, Retrieved 23 April 2011. After rowing, French played local football for Ironbank in the Adelaide regional

Hills Football League The Hills Football League (HFL) is an Australian rules football league, situated in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia, to the south east of the state capital Adelaide. The League has over 3000 players belonging to 20 member Clubs. ...

from 1996 to 1997. Despite having relatively little junior experience as a footballer, French won the club best and fairest both years, and was impressive enough to be drafted by Port Adelaide Football Club as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

at the 1997 AFL Draft. French spent the

1998 AFL season The 1998 AFL season was the 102nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

playing for

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL) club Sturt. He was also selected in the SANFL representative team that season. Port Adelaide elevated French to its senior list for

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and he made his AFL debut as a 23-year-old, playing 62 games and kick 20 goals for the club. However, French was generally the club's number three or four ruckman behind

Matthew Primus Matthew Richard Primus (born 12 January 1975) is a former coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and Australian rules footballer, captain and All-Australian ruckman. He was also previously an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Football Club. ...

Dean Brogan Dean Scott Brogan (born 14 December 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently servi ...

and

Brendon Lade Brendon Lade (born 10 July 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently a senior assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs Football Club. AFL care ...

, at the time, and this limited his opportunities with Port. French continued to play SANFL football with Sturt when not selected for Port Adelaide, winning a SANFL premiership in 2002. At the end of the

2002 AFL season The 2002 AFL season was the 106th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

, French was traded to the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

in exchange for a second-round draft selection (#16 overall). There, he took the position of number one ruckman, and proved weekly to be one of Carlton's most important players. French spent four seasons at Carlton, but as time went on he began to struggle to keep his place in the team. French announced his retirement at three quarter time of the Blues' Round 22, 2006 match against the Sydney Swans, which they lost by 92 points.

References

External links

Barnaby French at the Carlton Football Club website
*
Barnaby French profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Barnaby Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) 1975 births Living people Carlton Football Club players Sturt Football Club players People educated at Pembroke School, Adelaide Australian rules footballers from South Australia