Byron Pickett (born 11 August 1977) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with three clubs in the AFL. He was known as a big game player as well as for his strength, hard

bumps A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and ‘bump’ the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. The form is mainly used in intercollegia ...

and tough approach to the game. Pickett is one of 12 players with two premiership medallions, a Norm Smith Medal and over 200 AFL games. In 2005 Pickett was acknowledged as one of the finest Aboriginal players in the history of the game, with his selection to the

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in the sport. It was announced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first senior-level game played by an indig ...

. He announced his retirement from AFL at the end of the 2007 season. After his retirement from the AFL in 2007 he continued playing semi-professionally, including some time with the

Port Adelaide Magpies Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, whilst its reserves ...

in the

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 the ...

Early life

Born in Kellerberrin in country

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

parents, Byron Pickett grew up in Tammin and then

Geraldton, Western Australia Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

before moving to

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Pickett played the majority of his junior football for

Port Lincoln Football League The Port Lincoln Football League is an Australian rules football competition based at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia, Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League ...

club Mallee Park, which was also the junior club of leading footballers like

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Shaun Burgoyne Shaun Playford Burgoyne (born 21 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL, and Port Adelaide and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Burgoyne ...

, Graham Johncock and Daniel Wells. Pickett's skills were identified by

(SANFL) club

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

and Pickett began to play in Port's junior sides, making the long trip each weekend to

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 ...

. Although Pickett never played higher than the under-19s with Port Adelaide, Port senior coach John Cahill was eager to name Pickett in Port Adelaide's squad for their inaugural

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully 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 gam ...

(AFL) season in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. However, Pickett, citing homesickness, turned down this offer, although he later nominated for the 1996 AFL Draft, where he was taken by

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

AFL career

North Melbourne (1997–2002)

Nicknamed "Choppy", Pickett burst onto the scene in 1997 with the

, playing only one game. However, in 1998 he had a fine year and was rewarded with the Norwich Rising Star award. At only 178 cm and 86 kg, Pickett was not a large Australian Rules player, however he is solidly built and unquestionably tough. Pickett developed a reputation as a 'tough' player for his aggressive attack on the ball, with a frequent tendency to cause opponents serious injuries. Pickett was known for hard bumps and was consequently suspended three times from 2001. In 1999 he played in a premiership team with the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

, before switching to the club he originally played for in the SANFL, Port Adelaide Football Club, in 2002. In the last days of his playing career with North Melbourne, he famously broke the collarbone of Geelong's Darren Milburn in a hard clash.

Port Adelaide (2003–2005)

He moved to Port Adelaide in 2003, a season in which he kicked 43 goals in 25 games (2nd on the list of top goal kickers in 2003). He was part of

's first ever

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

premiership in 2004, and his 3-goal, 20 possession performance earned him the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

. At the end of the 2005 season Pickett was traded to , finishing a short but successful stint at Port Adelaide.

Melbourne Demons (2006–2007)

At the end of 2005, Pickett was involved in a trade that saw him play at the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

from 2006 onwards, and he has vowed not to alter his style of play. He wore No 33, previously worn by former aboriginal player Jeff Farmer. In a round 7, 2006 clash with

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

, Pickett sent

Ryan Crowley Ryan Crowley (born 5 March 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played as a midfielder and specialise ...

to hospital with a broken cheekbone. Pickett suffered successive

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injuries in 2006 which sidelined him for several games. 2007 began slowly for Pickett, not selected in the initial rounds due to poor pre-season match fitness. However he returned in Round 4. In April he laid a heavy tackle on

Tadhg Kennelly Tadhg Kennelly (born 1 July 1981) is an Irish-Australian former international sportsperson turned recruiter and coach. He is most known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football being the only holder of bot ...

which tore Kenelly's

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

. On 5 May 2007, Pickett laid a strong tackle on Port Adelaide's

Kane Cornes Kane Graham Cornes (born 5 January 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life A product of Sacred Heart College and Glenelg in the SAN ...

, which left him concussed and taken from the ground on a stretcher. After round 6 in 2007, the Demons suspended Pickett to a minimum of four weeks at the

Sandringham Football Club The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed The Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne which was formed in 1929 and plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL) which was formerly called the Victorian Football Association ...

for the official reason of failing to attend a game. Unofficially, there were club concerns surrounding Pickett's weight and pre-season work ethic and him turning up to training under the influence of alcohol. Despite drawing criticism late in his career for being increasingly overweight and slow, however he maintained an impact in matches, continuing to score goals and make game turning plays. Byron Pickett announced his last game of football on Sunday 2 September, in the match against Carlton, retiring along with Demons teammates

Clint Bizzell Clinton "Clint" Bizzell (born 28 June 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Early life The son of Robin Bizzell a Queensland State League (Australian rules football), QAFL player who pla ...

and Nathan Brown. He kicked a goal in his final game against the Blues.

Controversy

In 1999, Pickett crashed into Hawthorn's Brendan Krummel while his head was down to get the ball. In the bump, Pickett broke Krummel's nose, he was concussed and had short-term amnesia. A free kick was awarded but no official charge from the AFL. Despite his injuries, Krummel publicly defended Pickett's actions. In 2000, Byron was admitted to a mental health clinic with fears of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other mental illnesses. Pickett was released from the clinic with reports that his mental health was fine. In 2005 he received a 6-week suspension for a clash which accidentally knocked out

James Begley James Begley (born 22 July 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Begley ...

in a pre-season match with both players chasing for the ball. The incident sparked controversy and in response many football commentators, including premiership player

Robert Walls Robert Walls (born 21 July 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career that spanned three decades Robert played a combined 259 gam ...

called to ban the bump. Many cynics felt that Pickett had been singled out over the incident and his style of play unfairly made an example of, with the rules changing in response to the incident. He received a 2-week suspension for a hip-and-shoulder on Carlton's Simon Wiggins as he completed a mark, after slowing down and pulling up to reduce the collision. In the 2005 semi-final between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, a bump on

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

Rhett Biglands Rhett Biglands (born 4 September 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Career He made his debut as an 18-year-old in the SANFL with Woodville West Torrens kicking 5 goals in his first match. He was ...

knocked the 104 kg ruckman out cold, seeing Biglands stretchered from the field. He was not suspended for the collision. Pickett has also made numerous appearances in court related to

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

offences. In 2007 Pickett was suspended by

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

for failure to attend a game against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

; he was listed as an emergency. It was later revealed he sent a phone text message to his coach

Neale Daniher Neale Francis Daniher (born 15 February 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was later the coach of the Melbourne Football Club between 1998 an ...

to inform him that he was too hungover to play.

Post-AFL career

Following his AFL retirement, Pickett was rumoured to be approached by several Victorian country football clubs including

Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the S ...

in the southwestern Victorian based

Hampden Football League The Hampden Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league based in South-Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns along or near the Princes Highway from Camperdown to Portland. The league is a major country ...

. Eventually Pickett returned to Port Adelaide in the SANFL for 2008 and 2009. Pickett is also involved with the club's Football Academy Program with a specific focus on mentoring some of the young Aboriginal players in this program.

Statistics

:Byron Pickett's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1998 , style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 25 , , 0 , , 3 , , 211 , , 94 , , 305 , , 64 , , 71 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.4 , , 3.8 , , 12.2 , , 2.6 , , 2.8 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1999 , style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 25 , , 0 , , 2 , , 294 , , 95 , , 389 , , 69 , , 48 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 11.8 , , 3.8 , , 15.6 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 25 , , 4 , , 3 , , 263 , , 92 , , 355 , , 76 , , 73 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 10.5 , , 3.7 , , 14.2 , , 3.0 , , 2.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 22, , 37 , , 10 , , 201 , , 88 , , 289 , , 72 , , 96 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 9.1 , , 4.0 , , 13.1 , , 3.3 , , 4.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 28 , , 22 , , 40 , , 20 , , 175 , , 56 , , 231 , , 73 , , 73 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 8.0 , , 2.5 , , 10.5 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 25 , , 43 , , 25 , , 225 , , 84 , , 309 , , 92 , , 75 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 9.0 , , 3.4 , , 12.4 , , 3.7 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 15 , , 20 , , 11 , , 109 , , 44 , , 153 , , 45 , , 34 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 7.3 , , 2.9 , , 10.2 , , 3.0 , , 2.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 15 , , 17 , , 9 , , 128 , , 41 , , 169 , , 49 , , 25 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 8.5 , , 2.7 , , 11.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 9 , , 7 , , 215 , , 80 , , 295 , , 102 , , 45 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 10.8 , , 4.0 , , 14.8 , , 5.1 , , 2.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 9 , , 7 , , 3 , , 64 , , 19 , , 83 , , 26 , , 30 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 7.1 , , 2.1 , , 9.2 , , 2.9 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 204 ! 177 ! 93 ! 1886 ! 694 ! 2580 ! 668 ! 570 ! 0.9 ! 0.5 ! 9.2 ! 3.4 ! 12.6 ! 3.3 ! 2.8

Honours and achievements

Team

North Melbourne/Kangaroos *

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

): 1999 *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

(

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

): 1998 * Pre-Season Cup (

): 1998

(

): 2004 *

(

, 2004

Individual

: 2004 *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

: 1999 * Indigenous All-Stars Representative Honours: 2005, 2007 *

AFL Rising Star Award The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan ...

: 1998 * AFL Rising Star Nominee: 1998 (Round 3)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Byron 1977 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Melbourne Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club Premiership players Port Adelaide Magpies players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club Premiership players South Australian State of Origin players Norm Smith Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football AFL Rising Star winners Australian rules footballers from South Australia People from Kellerberrin, Western Australia Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players