Matthew Scharenberg (born 18 September 1995) is a professional Australian rules football player who last played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

State football

Scharenberg played for amateur club PHOS Camden and for his school Immanuel College. He played state football at Glenelg, performing at a level which had him highly touted for the draft despite feet problems. Scharenberg represented South Australia in the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

and was selected for the All-Australian team in the 2012 season and in the 2013 season. In 2013 he also was judged the most valuable player for South Australia, together with Luke Dunstan. During the Championships he averaged 22 disposals per game.

AFL career

Scharenberg was recruited by Collingwood with the sixth selection in the 2013 AFL draft. He was touted by Mark Williams as the best schoolboy prospect since

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...

. Following a

knee reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...

, Scharenberg made his AFL debut in round 18 of the 2015 season, against

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 ...

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 ...

as a late inclusion for Tyson Goldsack. A month after his debut, at the end of the 2015 season, he was signed by Collingwood to a three-year contract extension. In November 2015, Scharenberg tore the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

in his right knee during training, only nine months after recovering from the same injury. Despite the setback and disappointment, he didn't stop believing in himself and didn't lose his passion for the game. Scharenberg returned to playing during the 2017 season, playing 10 games at the end of the season. In the 2018 season, he averaged 21 disposals, six

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...

and 3.5 rebound 50s in his first 11 games of the season, leading to him being re-signed by the club to a two-year contract extension. In round 19 which Collingwood lost to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

by 28 points, Scharenberg suffered his third anterior cruciate ligament injury. He returned to playing after another knee reconstruction through the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL), averaging 22.3 disposals and seven marks in his first three games back. Scharenberg was delisted by Collingwood at the conclusion of the 2020 season.

Return to state football

In early 2021, Scharenberg signed on to play for

Olinda-Ferny Creek Football Club The Olinda Football Club was formed in 1908 and is based at the Olinda Recreation Reserve, Olinda . The club is known as"The Bloods" and wear a white jumper with a red “vee” and play in the First Division of the Yarra Valley Mountain Dist ...

in the Outer East Football League for the 2021 season.

Personal life

Scharenberg grew up 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 ...

, with his older brother Jake Scharenberg who plays for amateur club PHOS Camden and his younger brother Jonty Scharenberg who plays for Glenelg. Before choosing to concentrate exclusively on Australian rules football, Scharenberg played junior level

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, representing Australia.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season'' , - style="background-color: #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 ...

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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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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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 s ...

, , , 12 , , 10 , , 0 , , 0 , , 125 , , 77 , , 202 , , 75 , , 9 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.5 , , 7.7 , , 20.2 , , 7.5 , , 0.9 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , , 12 , , 17 , , 0 , , 0 , , 170 , , 165 , , 335 , , 106 , , 29 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 9.7 , , 19.7 , , 6.2 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , 12 , , 7 , , 0 , , 0 , , 55 , , 48 , , 103 , , 32 , , 7 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.9 , , 6.9 , , 14.7 , , 4.6 , , 1.0 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , , 12 , , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 25 , , 15 , , 40 , , 12 , , 8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.3 , , 5.0 , , 13.3 , , 4.0 , , 2.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 41 ! 0 ! 1 ! 408 ! 332 ! 740 ! 243 ! 58 ! 0.0 ! 0.03 ! 10.0 ! 8.1 ! 18.0 ! 5.9 ! 1.4

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scharenberg, Matthew 1995 births Living people Collingwood Football Club players Australian rules footballers from South Australia Glenelg Football Club players Australian people of German descent People educated at Immanuel College, Adelaide