Matthew Harley Priddis (born 21 March 1985) 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 for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

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). Prior to being drafted, Priddis won two premierships with the Subiaco Football Club in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) and also won the 2006

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and b ...

as the league's best player. An inside midfielder, he debuted for West Coast during the 2006 season, becoming a regular in the team the following season. Priddis won the John Worsfold Medal as West Coast's best and fairest player in the 2013 season, and has been runner-up in the award on another four occasions. Following

Darren Glass Darren Glass (born 14 May 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a full-back for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Northam, Western Australia, he attended Carine Senior High Sc ...

's retirement midway through the 2014 season, Priddis was named acting co-captain. At the end of the season, he was awarded the

2014 Brownlow Medal The 2014 Brownlow Medal was the 87th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Matt Priddis of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling ...

as the competition's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player, becoming only the third West Coast player to win the award (after

Chris Judd Christopher Dylan Judd (born 8 September 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and captain of both the West Coast Eagles and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Widely regarded as one of the bes ...

and

Ben Cousins Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...

). He also finished runner-up to

Nat Fyfe Nathan Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Fremantle captain since the 2017 season. Fyfe is a dual Brown ...

in the 2015 Brownlow Medal count. In 2017, Priddis broke

Lenny Hayes Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2014. He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Fo ...

' record for the most career tackles in the AFL, becoming the first player to surpass the 1,500 mark.

Early career

Priddis was raised in Manjimup, a country town in

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 ...

's south-west region, but moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the state's capital, as a teenager, playing at junior level for Sorrento–Duncraig. He represented

at both under-16 and under-18 level respectively,Jesse Hogan (15 August 2014)
"Matt Priddis' rise at West Coast earns many admirers"
– ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''. Retrieved 22 September 2014. in addition to also making his senior debut for in the

(WAFL) as well, playing two games early in the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. Priddis became a regular in Subiaco's senior side during the 2004 season. He played 21 games, including Subiaco's win over in the Grand Final, en route to ultimately being named the WAFL's Rising Star at the end of the season. At the end of the season, he was offered a well-paid contract 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 ...

(SANFL), but turned it down on the advice of Subiaco's coach,

Peter German Peter German (born 2 February 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer. Since retiring he has become a successful coach. German coached Subiaco to the 2004 and 2006 WAFL premierships and was rewarded by being named as an assistant to ...

. During the 2005 season, Priddis won Subiaco's best and fairest award, the Tom Outridge Medal, as well as also winning the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

as Western Australia's best player in the state game against Queensland. He was subsequently selected by West Coast with the 31st pick in the 2006 Rookie Draft, but only after he had already been overlooked in three previous national drafts.

AFL career

Priddis made his AFL debut for West Coast midway through the 2006 season, aged 21, recording 19 disposals and five tackles against . He played one further AFL game during the season, against , spending the remainder of the season in the WAFL.Matt Priddis playing statistics
– AFL Tables. Retrieved 22 September 2014. Priddis averaged over 31 disposals per game at WAFL level, playing in a second premiership for Subiaco and winning the

with 58 votes at the end of the season, a competition record (since equalled by

Kane Mitchell Kane Mitchell (born 1 December 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mitchell had an outstanding 2012 season with Claremont, winn ...

in 2012). Having been upgraded to West Coast's senior list for the 2007 season, Priddis recorded 45 disposals, 30 handballs, 15 kicks, 5 marks and 3 tackles in round 14, 2008 against

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

. His 30 handpasses was then the highest tally ever recorded (recorded since 1987), until Gary Ablett, Jr. broke the record the following season. During the 2013 season, Priddis played his 150th game for West Coast, becoming a life member of the club. At the end of the season, he was awarded West Coast's best and fairest award, the newly named John Worsfold Medal. He had finished second in the award in 2010, 2011 (tied 1st with

but lost on countback), 2014 (his Brownlow season), and 2015. After

retired midway through the 2014 season, Priddis was named acting co-captain of the club for the remainder of the season, along with four other players. He had been a member of the club's leadership group since the 2009 season. He finished the home-and-away-season ranked first in disposals (637) second in contested possessions (330) and third in tackles (161). Priddis was awarded the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

as the AFL's best and fairest player at the end of the season. Polling 26 votes, Priddis became the third West Coast player to win the award and the second person, after

Haydn Bunton, Sr. Haydn William Bunton (5 July 1911 – 5 September 1955) was an Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL), in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and in the South Australian National Football Le ...

, to have won both a Brownlow Medal and a Sandover Medal. He also became the first player to win the award having begun his career on the

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Rookie listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unless they are e ...

. Priddis' best previous finish came in the

2011 Brownlow Medal The 2011 Brownlow Medal was the 84th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Dane Swan of the Collingwood Football Club won the medal by p ...

count when, with 19 votes, he finished equal seventh. Priddis carried his exceptional form into the

2015 AFL season The 2015 AFL season was the 119th 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 eigh ...

, playing 24 games and kicking 7 goals. He averaged 29.6 disposals per game and had a total of 711 for the season, which was 84 more disposals than the previous year. Priddis laid a total of 176 tackles, going at 7.3 tackles per game. He was named in the Centre of the 2015 All-Australian team, after missing out on selection in the final team the previous season. He polled a total of 28 votes in the 2015 Brownlow Medal coming a close second behind fellow West Australian,

. He ultimately finished second behind Andrew Gaff in the John Worsfold Medal. The Eagles made it to the 2015 AFL Grand Final, but were ultimately defeated by Hawthorn, with Priddis being named in the best players, tallying 25 disposals and 7 tackles. The

2016 AFL season The 2016 AFL season was the 120th 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 e ...

saw Priddis average 27.1 disposals and 8.5 tackles per game, he played 22 games and had a total of 597 disposals for the season. He polled 17 votes in the

2016 Brownlow Medal The 2016 Brownlow Medal was the 89th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Patrick Dangerfield of the Geelong Football Club won the meda ...

to finish equal 9th. After laying 11 tackles against Hawthorn in round five of the 2017 season, Priddis simultaneously broke

' record for the most AFL career tackles and became the first player to lay 1,500 career tackles. The 2017 season saw Priddis average 24.7 disposals per game, tallying 519 for the season. He also averaged 7.8 tackles per game and played 21 games. On 28 July 2017, he announced his retirement from the AFL at the end of the 2017 season. Matt Priddis played the final game of his career in the semi final, where he collected 30 disposals and 7 tackles in a 67-point loss to the GWS Giants.

Playing style

Known for his "unusually strong legs and hips", as well as his "thirst for hard work" and "football smarts", Priddis is regarded as both a specialist at stoppages and as "one of the league's most reliable workhorses". He generally plays as an inside midfielder and led the AFL in average handballs in 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as in total handballs in 2011, with additionally high rankings in the categories of both clearances and contested possessions. Priddis is also known for his tackling ability, having averaged more than five tackles per game in all but his first season. His figure of 193 tackles for the 2011 season has only been beaten by teammate

Scott Selwood Scott Selwood (born 27 March 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As an Eagle, Selwood won a John Worsfold Medal i ...

(202 during the same year) since tackles were first recorded in 1987, while his 18 tackles against during the 2014 season has only been beaten by 's

Jude Bolton Jude Bolton (born 15 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1999 and 2013. Early life Growing up, he supported the St Kilda Footbal ...

(19 tackles against West Coast in 2011). On 23 April 2017, he passed

' record for the highest number of tackles in a playing career.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 45 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 19 , , 12 , , 31 , , 6 , , 9 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.5 , , 6.0 , , 15.5 , , 3.0 , , 4.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 24 , , 11 , , 4 , , 305 , , 260 , , 565 , , 73 , , 128 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 12.7 , , 10.8 , , 23.5 , , 3.0 , , 5.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! 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;", , 11 , , 18 , , 2 , , 9 , , 202 , , 228 , , 430 , , 44 , , 103 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 11.2 , , 12.7 , , 23.9 , , 2.4 , , 5.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 20 , , 6 , , 8 , , 200 , , 309 , , 509 , , 55 , , 127 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 10.0 , , 15.5 , , 25.5 , , 2.8 , , 6.4 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 19 , , 4 , , 5 , , 152 , , 336 , , 488 , , 36 , , 130 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 8.0 , , 17.7 , , 25.7 , , 1.9 , , 6.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 25 , , 9 , , 5 , , 276 , , 386 , , 662 , , 76 , , 193 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 11.0 , , 15.4 , , 26.5 , , 3.0 , , 7.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 8 , , 3 , , 196 , , 379 , , 575 , , 60 , , 122 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , , 17.2 , , 26.1 , , 2.7 , , 5.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 21 , , 6 , , 5 , , 221 , , 344 , , 565 , , 49 , , 129 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 10.5 , , 16.4 , , 26.9 , , 2.3 , , 6.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 10 , , 8 , , 261 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 366 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 627 , , 56 , , 161 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.9 , , 16.6 , , 28.5 , , 2.5 , , 7.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 24 , , 7 , , 5 , , 239 , , 472 , , 711 , , 44 , , 176 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 10.0 , , 19.7 , , 29.6 , , 1.8 , , 7.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 4 , , 4 , , 214 , , 383 , , 597 , , 40 , , 188 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 9.7 , , 17.4 , , 27.1 , , 1.8 , , 8.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 21 , , 6 , , 6 , , 178 , , 341 , , 519 , , 48 , , 163 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 8.5 , , 16.2 , , 24.7 , , 2.3 , , 7.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 240 ! 73 ! 62 ! 2463 ! 3816 ! 6279 ! 587 ! 1629 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 10.3 ! 15.9 ! 26.2 ! 2.4 ! 6.8

Honours and achievements

AFL *Team **

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 ...

(

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

** West Coast Co-Captain (Acting): 2014 *Individual **

** John Worsfold Medal (West Coast B&F): 2013 ** Geoff Christian Medal: 2011 & 2014 **

Ross Glendinning Medal Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

: 2011 (Round 8), 2016 (Round 3) WAFL *Team ** WAFL Premiership ( Subiaco): 2004, 2006 *Individual ** Sandover Medal (WAFL B&F): 2006 ** Simpson Medal (State Match): 2005 ** Tom Outridge Medal (Subiaco F.C. B&F): 2005 ** WAFL Rising Star: 2004

Personal life

Matthew Priddis and his wife, Ashleigh Priddis, a schoolteacher, married in 2009. They have two daughters and one son. Prior to being drafted into the AFL, he worked as a tiler, and was also involved in

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...

. Priddis is distinguishable on the football field by his "distinctive shock of curly hair".Courtney Walsh (23 September 2014)
"Matt Priddis pulls off shock win at Brownlow Medal"
– ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''. Retrieved 22 September 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Priddis, Matt 1985 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Sandover Medal winners Subiaco Football Club players West Coast Eagles players Brownlow Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) People from Manjimup, Western Australia John Worsfold Medal winners