Jeff Farmer (born 24 June 1977) is a former

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 of Aboriginal descent. He was the first indigenous player to kick 400 goals 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 ...

(AFL).

Melbourne career

Known as "The Wizard" (or "The Wiz") because of his uncanny ability to create goals from nothing, Farmer began his professional football career with 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, ...

in 1995. Farmer has always been one of the

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 ...

's most exciting players. His career best goalkicking performance came against Collingwood 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 ...

in 2000 when he kicked 9 goals in the second half after barely being able to get a touch in the first two-quarters. He was taken from the field for the third quarter and was on the interchange bench before Ben Beams suffered a broken wrist and was unable to continue. He finished the 2000 season with a career best 76 goals and was named in the

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 ...

team. After 118 games and 259 goals for Melbourne, he was traded to

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 end of 2001.

Fremantle career

Farmer's first two seasons with Fremantle were disappointing, with less than 30 goals in each year, but in 2004, his consistency improved and he was the Dockers' 2nd most productive forward for each of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. During the 2006 home and away season, Farmer had his most productive season since 2000, kicking 55 goals from just 19 games, with a 31 goals in 7 games effort towards the end of the season. Due to this run of good form, he was thought by many to be a good chance of making All-Australian selection in the

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

. He was not, however, selected. At the end of the

2008 AFL season The 2008 AFL season was the 112th 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 si ...

Farmer announced his retirement from AFL football, leaving him stranded on 249 games. His 483 career goals, including three in his final game, is the 49th most in VFL/AFL history and his 224 goals for Fremantle is second behind

Matthew Pavlich Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premi ...

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 7 , , 4 , , 5 , , 31 , , 14 , , 45 , , 10 , , 3 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 4.4 , , 2.0 , , 6.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 19 , , 37 , , 24 , , 130 , , 91 , , 221 , , 38 , , 25 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 6.8 , , 4.8 , , 11.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 17 , , 30 , , 17 , , 115 , , 63 , , 178 , , 40 , , 16 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 6.8 , , 3.7 , , 10.5 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1998 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 19 , , 47 , , 33 , , 149 , , 55 , , 204 , , 45 , , 18 , , 2.5 , , 1.7 , , 7.8 , , 2.9 , , 10.7 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1999 , style="text-align:center;", , 8 & 33 , , 19 , , 32 , , 27 , , 129 , , 51 , , 180 , , 35 , , 20 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 6.8 , , 2.7 , , 9.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , - ! 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;", , 33 , , 23 , , 76 , , 36 , , 196 , , 84 , , 280 , , 84 , , 36 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , 8.5 , , 3.7 , , 12.2 , , 3.7 , , 1.6 , - style="background-color: #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;", , 33 , , 14 , , 33 , , 16 , , 132 , , 59 , , 191 , , 44 , , 19 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , 9.4 , , 4.2 , , 13.6 , , 3.1 , , 1.4 , - ! 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;", , 7 , , 20 , , 29 , , 27 , , 187 , , 89 , , 276 , , 77 , , 38 , , 1.5 , , 1.4 , , 9.4 , , 4.5 , , 13.8 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #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;", , 33 , , 20 , , 27 , , 16 , , 126 , , 60 , , 186 , , 36 , , 28 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 6.3 , , 3.0 , , 9.3 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 36 , , 24 , , 153 , , 63 , , 216 , , 66 , , 51 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , 7.0 , , 2.9 , , 9.8 , , 3.0 , , 2.3 , - style="background-color: #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;", , 33 , , 19 , , 35 , , 16 , , 162 , , 60 , , 222 , , 58 , , 38 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 8.5 , , 3.2 , , 11.7 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , - ! 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 , , 22 , , 55 , , 21 , , 192 , , 62 , , 254 , , 70 , , 57 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 8.7 , , 2.8 , , 11.5 , , 3.2 , , 2.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 8 , , 19 , , 10 , , 80 , , 35 , , 115 , , 40 , , 16 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , 10.0 , , 4.4 , , 14.4 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 23 , , 13 , , 206 , , 102 , , 308 , , 85 , , 34 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 10.3 , , 5.1 , , 15.4 , , 4.3 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 249 ! 483 ! 285 ! 1988 ! 888 ! 2876 ! 728 ! 399 ! 1.9 ! 1.1 ! 8.0 ! 3.6 ! 11.6 ! 2.9 ! 1.6

Controversial incidents

In November 2004, Farmer pleaded guilty to assaulting his long-time girlfriend and was fined $2,000. In December 2006 he was alleged to have been involved in a nightclub fight in which a Subiaco Football Club player,

Greg Broughton Greg Broughton (born 29 September 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After playing in Subiaco's 2006, 20 ...

, suffered a broken eye socket.Nightclub punch puts Farmer out for months
No charges were laid. Farmer was arrested in April 2007 and charged with assault for knocking out a security guard at a Perth nightclub after being refused entry. The Fremantle Football Club fined him $5,100 and suspended him for a further 6 weeks on top of his existing AFL enforced suspension for eye gouging another player during a pre-season game, which was his 10th suspension and his 14th appearance before the tribunal. In court, Farmer pleaded guilty to assault and was fined $3,000. After serving his full suspension, Farmer returned to the Fremantle side on 30 June in the round 13 game against Carlton at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

. Farmer together with Des Headland, who was himself implicated in another nightclub fight during the week, were amongst the best players on the field and led the way to a 77-point thrashing. This was Fremantle's second highest ever score and their greatest winning margin ever against Carlton. Headland kicked 5 goals and Farmer kicked 4 goals and each set up many more for their teammates. In July 2007, police charged Farmer with criminal damage after he smashed a car's side mirror in a rage after being ejected from Burswood Casino. In court he pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $750 (with $400 compensation and $58 costs). Despite the previous conviction which was considered his last chance at the club, Fremantle did not suspend him, but fined him $10,000 (the maximum allowed under the

AFL Players Association The AFL Players Association (AFL PA, also simply known as AFL Players) is the representative body for all current and past professional Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) players. The AFL PA promotes and protects its membe ...

rules) and requested he donate $20,000 to charity. He was recalled to play for Fremantle the following week against league leaders Geelong. On 18 August 2007, in the third quarter of a match against St Kilda at

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and w ...

, Farmer received facial injuries from a behind the play incident and was assisted from the playing area, bleeding and suffering a concussion. The incident was not witnessed by umpires, nor by any of the TV broadcast cameras.Sheehan, Mike
Baker victim of poor vision
Fox Sports; 22 August 2007

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

commentator

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a triple premiersh ...

stated soon afterwards that he saw what happened and added that St Kilda tagger Steven Baker would be hoping it had not been captured by TV cameras.Smith, Patrick
On-field hit-and-miss surveillance
The Australian; 21 August 2007 Farmer took no further part in the match, which St Kilda won by 30 points. Baker was later handed a 7-game suspension by the AFL tribunal, after being charged with rough conduct on Farmer. St Kilda appealed the decision, and included a letter from Farmer to the AFL pleading for leniency on Baker, describing Baker as one of his most respected opponents. The letter could not be accepted in the appeal, because it was new evidence. The appeal was rejected and the suspension remained.AA

23 August 2007 On 25 June 2008 it was announced that Farmer was suspended for a week by the Fremantle Football Club for not attending a compulsory recovery session after the weekend's loss to St Kilda in Melbourne.
25 June 2008 Farmer retired at the conclusion of the 2008 AFL season.
from Perthnow.com.au

South Fremantle career

Jeff Farmer decided to come out of retirement to play for South Fremantle Football Club in WAFL for 2009 season.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Jeff 1977 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Melbourne Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players South Fremantle Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Indigenous Australians from Western Australia People from Tambellup, Western Australia Western Australian State of Origin players Australia international rules football team players