Matthew Taberner (born 17 June 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fr ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He mainly plays as a key position forward.

Early life

Originally from

Bright, Victoria Bright (pronunciation: ) is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the , Bright had a population of 2,406. It is in the Alpine Shire local government area. Its pos ...

, Taberner played for

Myrtleford Myrtleford is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia, 280 km (170 miles) northeast of Melbourne and 46 km (29 miles) southeast of Wangaratta. Myrtleford is part of the Alpine Shire local government area and in 2016 the town had a po ...

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 ar ...

and the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the NAB League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Mark ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vict ...

. He was drafted to Fremantle with the 11th selection at the 2013 Rookie Draft. Taberner missed the start of the 2013 season due to a bout of

glandular fever In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

. He made his debut for

Peel Thunder The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

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) in the 6th round of the 2013 WAFL season, and kicking 9 goals from his next 7 matches.

AFL career

Taberner made his AFL debut in Round 13, 2013 against

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

Patersons Stadium 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 ...

. He struggled to hold his place in the side, playing only four games in 2013 and six in 2014, before an impressive performance against

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 ...

in Round 22 earned him a nomination for the 2014 AFL Rising Star. Playing as Fremantle's only tall forward due to captain

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 ...

's late withdrawal due to injury, Taberner collected 24 disposals, took 10 marks and kicked a goal as Fremantle thrashed Brisbane by 58 points. Taberner was out of contract at the end of the 2017 season, and due to poor form wasn't selected by Fremantle early in the season. In the second half of the season he lifted his output for WAFL side

, forcing his way into the senior side for the final three matches. He played only eight games for Fremantle and kicked 11 goals in the 2017 season. At the end of 2017, after putting contract talks on hold, he eventually signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of 2019. One of his standout performances came against Essendon at Domain Stadium in round 7. He finished the game with 4 goals, 9 marks and 18 disposals. The dockers beat Essendon in that game by 37 points. Starting off the 2018 season in strong form, he fractured a metatarsal bone in his left foot in the Round 5 clash with the Western Bulldogs. He later returned, after 15 weeks recovering from his injury, in time for the Round 20 Western Derby against West Coast. He finished the season having played 9 games, and kicking 10 goals. Taberner started 2019 in brilliant fashion, with his strong marking ability displayed regularly. His standout game came against GWS in Round 5, where he kicked 3.3, amassed 21 disposals, took 13 marks, and was arguably Fremantle's best player on the day. Unfortunately, his 2019 season came to an abrupt end as a result of a stress fracture in his left foot, after the Round 9 clash with Essendon. He finished the season having kicked 13.10, and amassing 24 contested marks (avg. of 2.7 per game) from his 9 games. 2020 was a breakout season for Taberner, who finished the season as Fremantle's leading goalkicker with 29 goals (from 16 games), which also placed him in equal 4th for the Coleman medal. Taberner was second in the AFL for contested marks, finishing the season with 38 (an average of 2.4 per game). He was named in the initial 40 man squad for the All-Australian team but was overlooked in the final team announcement. Round five of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featur ...

saw Taberner receive much praise for his performance against at

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

kicking a career-best seven goal haul.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 10, 2022''Matthew Taberner's player profile at AFL Tables
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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 fa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 42 , , 4 , , 2 , , 0 , , 18 , , 11 , , 29 , , 11 , , 9 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 4.5 , , 2.8 , , 7.2 , , 2.8 , , 2.2 , , 0 , - ! 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;", , 20 , , 9 , , 7 , , 6 , , 61 , , 31 , , 92 , , 40 , , 25 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 6.8 , , 3.4 , , 10.2 , , 4.4 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2015 , style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 15 , , 14 , , 7 , , 83 , , 42 , , 125 , , 51 , , 20 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 5.5 , , 2.8 , , 8.3 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - ! 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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 17 , , 18 , , 6 , , 121 , , 89 , , 210 , , 82 , , 41 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 7.1 , , 5.2 , , 12.4 , , 4.8 , , 2.4 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 8 , , 11 , , 6 , , 65 , , 27 , , 92 , , 43 , , 20 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 8.1 , , 3.4 , , 11.5 , , 5.4 , , 2.5 , , 0 , - ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 9 , , 10 , , 7 , , 88 , , 47 , , 135 , , 48 , , 12 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 9.8 , , 5.2 , , 15.0 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 9 , , 13 , , 10 , , 105 , , 44 , , 149 , , 72 , , 18 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 11.7 , , 4.9 , , 16.6 , , 8.0 , , 2.0 , , 2 , - ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 16 , , 29 , , 13 , , 129 , , 37 , , 166 , , 92 , , 8 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 8.1 , , 2.3 , , 10.4 , , 5.8 , , 0.5 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 16 , , 37 , , 17 , , 135 , , 42 , , 117 , , 89 , , 10 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , 8.4 , , 2.6 , , 11.1 , , 5.6 , , 0.6 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 5 , , 12 , , 2 , , 41 , , 8 , , 49 , , 22 , , 3 , , 2.4 , , 0.4 , , 8.2 , , 1.6 , , 9.8 , , 4.4 , , 0.6 , , TBA , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 108 ! 153 ! 74 ! 846 ! 378 ! 1224 ! 550 ! 166 ! 1.4 ! 0.7 ! 7.8 ! 3.5 ! 11.3 ! 5.1 ! 1.5 ! 7

References

External links

* *
Matt Taberner's
WAFL playing statistics {{DEFAULTSORT:Taberner, Matt 1993 births Living people People from Bright, Victoria Fremantle Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Murray Bushrangers players Myrtleford Football Club players