Isaac Smith (born 30 December 1988) is an

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 ...

player who plays with the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

in the

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 ...

. Smith started off playing for the Hawthorn Football Club, Smith is a four time premiership player and the champion of the Norm Smith Medal, earned at the

2022 AFL Grand Final The 2022 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between Geelong and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2022. It was the 127th grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL), staged to ...

Early career

Smith was born in Young, New South Wales and moved to

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

where he attended school. As a child he played Australian rules football and basketball with

Luke Breust Luke Breust (born 11 November 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career Recruited from Temora, New South Wales, Breust played both rugby league and A ...

in Temora. Moving to Wagga Wagga when he was 13, Smith played with future Hawthorn teammate

Matt Suckling Matthew Suckling (born 25 July 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Suckling is known as a player with precision kicking and link-u ...

in the Wagga Hawks for several years before both moved to the Wagga Tigers where they won two premierships. Smith then played with Albury in the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray are ...

in 2007. Smith later moved to Victoria to take up a Sports Management Degree at the University of Ballarat. He joined the

Redan Football Club The Redan Football Netball Club (nicknamed the ''Lions'') is an Australian rules football and netball club located in the city of Ballarat, Victoria. The football team currently competes in the Ballarat Football League. Redan has a history of ...

and became known for being an effective left-footed kick in the Redan reserves. After winning the 2009 senior Ballarat Football League (BFL) Grand Final, he resisted

North Ballarat North Ballarat Football & Netball Club, nicknamed ''The Roosters'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club currently fields senior, reserve and Under 19 sides in the Ballarat Football Lea ...

's overtures to do a pre-season with them, but by midway through 2010, he was not only being pulled again by the Roosters, but pushed from within by Redan. Smith had a meteoric rise in 2010, starting the year playing with Redan in the BFL and finishing in North Ballarat's Victorian Football League (VFL) premiership side. Smith was also a member of the successful

Victorian Country Football League AFL Victoria Country is an Australian rules football governing body with jurisdiction over the state of Victoria outside metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria. As well as administering and promoting the code in the regions, it often ar ...

(VCFL) team that won the 2010 Australian Country Football Championships in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Smith was Hawthorn's first pick in the 2010 AFL Draft, being selected with pick 19. Smith's path to the AFL was considered unusual, as he had been passed on the draft the previous year and had been considered unlikely to be drafted at the start of 2010.

AFL career

During the 2011 season, Smith drew attention for his reliance on speed rather than strength or size in his playing. Smith was widely regarded as having a good 2013 season, and was a member of the 2013 Hawthorn premiership side. His performance in the 2013 Grand Final included kicking an outstanding 50m goal in the last quarter. Smith was considered an extremely effective midfielder, being described by pundit Travis King in 2016 as the "quintessential modern wingman". In the 2016 Qualifying Final match against traditional rivals

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, Smith drew attention for missing a relatively simple shot on goal after the siren, the scoring of which would have won Hawthorn the game, and automatically sent them to the preliminary final. Hawthorn would be eliminated from the finals series following a loss in their semi-final match against the Western Bulldogs the following week. From 2017 to 2019, Smith served as Co-Vice-Captain of the Hawks along with

Liam Shiels Liam Shiels (born 29 April 1991) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the North Melbourne Football Club, in the Australian Football League (AFL). Shiels is a midfielder who developed into a key member of the midfield for the Hawthor ...

, but both were replaced in that role prior to the 2019 season by Jack Gunston. Smith remained a member of Hawthorn's leadership group. At the conclusion of the 2020 season, Smith exercised his rights as a free agent and moved to . In 2022 Smith became the oldest player to win the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in an AFL grand final during Geelong's grand final win over the Sydney Swans, posting 32 disposals and 12 marks to go along with 3 goals in the 81 point win.

Personal life

Smith completed a Masters of Business Administration at Swinburne University.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - , 2011 , , , , 16 , 16 , , 20 , , 9 , , 178 , , 123 , , 301 , , 100 , , 40 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 11.1 , , 7.7 , , 18.8 , , 6.3 , , 2.5 , , 1 , - , 2012 , , , , 16 , 22 , , 17 , , 13 , , 222 , , 164 , , 386 , , 95 , , 86 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 10.1 , , 7.5 , , 17.5 , , 4.3 , , 3.9 , , 0 , - , style="background:khaki;", 2013^# , , , , 16 , 24 , , 18 , , 16 , , 286 , , 193 , , 479 , , 112 , , 82 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 11.9 , , 8.0 , , 20.0 , , 4.7 , , 3.4 , , 5 , - , style="background:khaki;", 2014^# , , , , 16 , 24 , , 24 , , 15 , , 337 , , 203 , , 540 , , 133 , , 68 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 14.0 , , 8.5 , , 22.5 , , 5.5 , , 2.8 , , 4 , - , style="background:khaki;", 2015^# , , , , 16 , 25 , , 23 , , 12 , , 350 , , 231 , , 581 , , 163 , , 70 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 14.0 , , 9.2 , , 23.2 , , 6.5 , , 2.8 , , 3 , - , 2016 , , , , 16 , 24 , , 9 , , 16 , , 335 , , 206 , , 541 , , 139 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 14.0 , , 8.6 , , 22.5 , , 5.8 , , 2.8 , , 4 , - , 2017 , , , , 16 , 22 , , 14 , , 12 , , 313 , , 187 , , 500 , , 130 , , 65 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 14.2 , , 8.5 , , 22.7 , , 5.9 , , 3.0 , , 2 , - , 2018 , , , , 16 , 24 , , 26 , , 14 , , 311 , , 213 , , 524 , , 143 , , 61 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 13.0 , , 8.9 , , 21.8 , , 6.0 , , 2.5 , , 6 , - , 2019 , , , , 16 , 19 , , 9 , , 8 , , 273 , , 154 , , 427 , , 100 , , 41 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 14.4 , , 8.1 , , 22.5 , , 5.3 , , 2.2 , , 0 , - , 2020 , , , , 16 , 10 , , 5 , , 2 , , 100 , , 73 , , 173 , , 35 , , 21 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 10.0 , , 7.3 , , 17.3 , , 3.5 , , 2.1 , , 3 , - , 2021 , , , , 7 , 24 , , 15 , , 9 , , 383 , , 167 , , 550 , , 166 , , 38 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 16.0 , , 7.0 , , 22.9 , , 6.9 , , 1.6 , , 1 , - , style="background:khaki;", 2022^# , , , , 7 , 24 , , 15 , , 22 , , 339 , , 178 , , 517 , , 161 , , 31 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 14.1 , , 7.4 , , 21.5 , , 6.7 , , 1.3 , , 5 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 258 !! 195 !! 148 !! 3427 !! 2092 !! 5519 !! 1477 !! 669 !! 0.8 !! 0.6 !! 13.3 !! 8.1 !! 21.4 !! 5.7 !! 2.6 , , 34 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * 4 × AFL premiership player ():

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. ():

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* 2 × Minor premiership (): 2012, 2013 * Minor premiership (): 2022 Individual * Norm Smith Medal:

* vice-captain: 2017–2019 * best clubman: 2016 * most promising player: 2013 * All-Stars team:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

* life member

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Isaac 1988 births Living people Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club Premiership players Box Hill Football Club players North Ballarat Football Club players Redan Football Club players People from Young, New South Wales Federation University Australia alumni Geelong Football Club players Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Swinburne University of Technology alumni Geelong Football Club Premiership players Sportsmen from New South Wales