Mathew Stokes (born 22 November 1984) 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 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 ...

and the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

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).

Early life

Mathew Stokes grew up in

Darwin, Australia Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

, with his parents John and Jennifer, and three sisters Jaylene, Anne-Maree and Amy. Stokes' ancestors were

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 ...

( Larrakia), Filipino and Spanish. His father is a life member of the Palmerston Magpies, having played 148 games for them in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory. The league is one of few (and the highest level) Australian Rules competitions played during ...

(NTFL). Growing up, Stokes played basketball,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

, but age restrictions limited his involvement in

until he was 11 years old. Stokes' main sporting passion was for basketball, where he played at every junior level growing up and won an under-14s best and fairest award whilst still only seven years of age. When he was finally eligible to play football as an under-14, Stokes forced his way into the Palmerston Magpies senior team at only 14 years of age. In 2002, he was a member of Palmerston's premiership-winning side, and it was then that he began to switch his focus from basketball to football. Stokes' achievements in the local junior leagues saw him selected to represent Australia in the under-17's national team, alongside future AFL players

Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, c ...

Luke Ball Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the and football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club where ...

and

Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition and a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AF ...

. Stokes was overlooked in the 2002 AFL Draft though, and moved 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 ...

to begin playing 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) for Woodville-West Torrens. Taking up a part-time job as a zookeeper off the field, Stokes continued to establish himself in the SANFL over the next three years. His persistence paid off when he was selected with the 61st pick in the 2005 AFL Draft by the

AFL career

It was not until his seventh game, making his mark against

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 ...

in Round 15,

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 ...

, that he kicked two final-term goals to lift Geelong's finals chances, one of which he marked and kicked from 40m out under pressure. For the rest of the year Stokes was inconsistent and as a result was in and out of the team. In 2006, Stokes played in Geelong's VFL grand final side, losing to the

Sandringham Zebras 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 Associatio ...

. Stokes cemented his spot in Geelong's best 22 players. His best game in the 2007 home-and-away season was against

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 ...

, in round 17, when he kicked a career best 5 goals. He was a member of Geelong's 2007 AFL Premiership side, overcoming a dislocated kneecap in the first quarter to make a solid contribution to the team's record 119-point win over

. Stokes escaped severe head injuries in a

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; ...

pre-season practice match against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

, when in the last quarter he suffered a blow to the head after being tackled by Brisbane midfielder

Albert Proud Albert Proud (born 6 September 1988) is a former Australian rules football player who played for Mt Gravatt Vultures in NEAFL. Originally from Braybrook in Melbourne's Western suburbs he previously played for the Brisbane Lions in the Austra ...

. He was declared OK after being stretchered from the ground, and despite having a sore head, didn't need to be taken to hospital. Mathew Stokes playing for Geelong

Stokes was reported in Geelong's Round 7 clash against the

, after striking Brisbane's

Michael Rischitelli Michael Rischitelli (born 8 January 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Brisbane Lions. AFL career Brisbane Lions (2004–2010 ...

in the match's first quarter. Stokes went on to garner two goals and 12 disposals for the game. At the

AFL Tribunal The AFL Tribunal is the disciplinary tribunal of the Australian Football League (AFL), an Australian rules football competition. The Tribunal regulates the conduct of players, umpires, and other officials associated with the AFL and its clubs. ...

, he accepted a one match suspension for the incident, but due to his poor tribunal record, which includes a four match suspension for an incident in the 2007 pre-season, his ban could not be reduced with an early plea. Stokes went on to play 22 games for 2008 including the loss in the 2008 AFL Grand Final 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 ...

. He had a career high 31 disposals (22 kicks, 9 handballs, 13 marks and 2 goals) in the round 2, 99-point win against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

. Stokes played 19 games in total for 2009, including the second qualifying final 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 withdrew from the preliminary final against Collingwood due to groin soreness, and as a result of

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, ...

winning the preliminary final by a large margin and all players performing well, he could not force his selection back into the team for the grand final against St Kilda. Stokes later revealed that the decision to withdraw from the preliminary final was driven by "letting down his teammates" in the 2008 Grand Final loss by playing unfit, and stated that: His best games of 2009 came against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in round 5 (13 kicks, 11 handballs, 4 marks and 3 goals); Sydney in round 7 (13 kicks, 8 handballs, 6 marks, 6 tackles and 3 goals) and against Adelaide in round 4 (12 kicks, 11 handballs, 6 marks, 4 tackles and 2 goals). He kicked a season high 4 goals against the

in round 9. Stokes was ranked 18th in 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 ...

for goal assists per game in 2009. Despite interest from 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 ...

to secure Stokes, Geelong re-signed Stokes to a two-year contract extension at the conclusion of the 2009 season. The Geelong Football Club imposed sanctions against Stokes for his 2010 drug arrest including being banned from playing for Geelong's AFL team until round eight. Stokes was an automatic inclusion to the team in round eight and played a total of 18 games for the season. His best games came in the round 11 win against West Coast at Subiaco (24 disposals, 16 kicks 8 handballs, 5 marks and a goal); the round 14 win over North Melbourne at Skilled Stadium (28 disposals, 10 kicks 18 handballs and 9 marks); the round 15 win against Hawthorn at the MCG (22 disposals, 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 3 marks and 4 goals) and in the Semi Final victory over Fremantle at the MCG, (22 disposals, 10 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks and 3 goals). Stokes was ranked 12th in the AFL for goal assists per game. On 1 September 2015, Stokes announced the final round clash against would be his last for Geelong and he was subsequently delisted, he announced his official retirement from the AFL on 6 November. In January 2016, he came out of retirement to sign with the Essendon Football Club as a top-up player due to the club's supplements controversy. He announced in August he would retire after his 200th game in round 22 against at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

Personal life

Stokes interests outside of football include feral pig shooting, and fishing. Stokes grew up supporting the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

AFL Record The ''AFL Record'' is the official program available at Australian Football League (AFL) matches. The publication began as the ''Football Record'' in Melbourne, Australia in 1912, making it one of the oldest magazines in Australia. The publicat ...

– Round 9 2008, Collingwood V Geelong 23 May 2008 His football hero was

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

of Collingwood. His overall sporting hero is American basketball player,

Josh Howard Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the UNT Dallas Trailblazers men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. H ...

of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, Growing up, Stokes was close friends with other future AFL players, including

Trent Hentschel Trent Hentschel (born 25 December 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was taken in the 2002 Pre-Season Draft with pick 5, and currently serves ...

Aaron Davey Aaron Davey (born 10 June 1983) is a professional Australian rules football player of Indigenous Australian heritage. He played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) until he retired from the club at the ...

and

Alwyn Davey Alwyn Davey, Jr. (born 15 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) between 2007 and 2013. Early life Davey is of Indigenous Australian descent with t ...

. Whilst playing in the SANFL, Stokes worked part-time as a zookeeper, and hopes to return to the profession after his football career. As a result, he studies

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

via correspondence. On 3 February 2010, Stokes was arrested on charges of possession and trafficking of cocaine. On 27 April 2010, Stokes pleaded guilty to the possession charge in the Geelong Magistrates' Court after a deal between prosecutors and Stokes' lawyers to drop the trafficking charge. Stokes was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $3000 to the court fund. A conviction was not recorded by the magistrate. After retiring as a player, Stokes was employed by the AFL as its Indigenous engagement and programs manager. He remained in this role until December 2018, when he returned to the Geelong Football Club as its people and engagement manager.

Statistics

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

, , 27 , , 9 , , 9 , , 5 , , 72 , , 45 , , 117 , , 51 , , 23 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 8.0 , , 5.0 , , 13.0 , , 5.7 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , , 27 , , 21 , , 32 , , 15 , , 195 , , 159 , , 354 , , 111 , , 58 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 9.3 , , 7.6 , , 16.9 , , 5.3 , , 2.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 27 , , 22 , , 38 , , 17 , , 235 , , 162 , , 397 , , 122 , , 54 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 10.7 , , 7.4 , , 18.0 , , 5.5 , , 2.5 , - ! 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 ...

, , 27 , , 19 , , 29 , , 19 , , 157 , , 143 , , 300 , , 75 , , 55 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 8.3 , , 7.5 , , 15.8 , , 3.9 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #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 ...

, , 27 , , 18 , , 28 , , 12 , , 166 , , 179 , , 345 , , 76 , , 32 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 9.2 , , 9.9 , , 19.2 , , 4.2 , , 1.8 , - ! 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 ...

, , 27 , , 22 , , 29 , , 16 , , 208 , , 233 , , 441 , , 95 , , 70 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 9.5 , , 10.6 , , 20.0 , , 4.3 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #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 ...

, , 27 , , 20 , , 15 , , 6 , , 149 , , 161 , , 310 , , 70 , , 63 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 7.5 , , 8.1 , , 15.5 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , - ! 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 ...

, , 27 , , 24 , , 12 , , 6 , , 285 , , 348 , , 633 , , 123 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 11.9 , , 14.5 , , 26.4 , , 5.1 , , 2.7 , - 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 ...

, , 27 , , 20 , , 7 , , 4 , , 270 , , 239 , , 509 , , 80 , , 55 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 13.5 , , 12.0 , , 25.4 , , 4.0 , , 2.8 , - ! 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 ...

, , 27 , , 14 , , 4 , , 2 , , 135 , , 132 , , 267 , , 58 , , 33 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.6 , , 9.4 , , 19.1 , , 4.1 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #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 ...

, , 48 , , 11 , , 6 , , 5 , , 107 , , 103 , , 210 , , 58 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 9.7 , , 9.4 , , 19.1 , , 5.3 , , 2.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 200 ! 209 ! 107 ! 1979 ! 1904 ! 3883 ! 919 ! 538 ! 1.0 ! 0.5 ! 9.9 ! 9.5 ! 19.4 ! 4.6 ! 2.7

Honours and achievements

*Team **

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 ...

(

): 2007, 2011 ** AFL Pre-Season Premiership (

): 2009 **

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 ...

(

): 2007, 2008 ** Dream Team Representative Honours in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match: 2008 ** NTFL Premiership (

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...

): 2001

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Matthew 1984 births Australian rules footballers from the Northern Territory Living people Essendon Football Club players Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Woodville-West Torrens Football Club players Palmerston Football Club players Australian people of Filipino descent Australian people of Spanish descent Australia international rules football team players West Preston Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players Sportspeople from Darwin, Northern Territory