Rhys Palmer (born 13 February 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played 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 ...

, Greater Western Sydney Giants and

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

award in

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; ...

Early life

Palmer was born in 1989 and played junior football for the Bullcreek Leeming Junior Football Club. He made his

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) debut for in 2007, playing 14 games, obtaining over 20 possessions in his final six games, include five goals in one game. Palmer was a key member of

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 victorious 2007

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 ...

side, averaging 32 possessions and 3 goals per game. He finished second by one vote behind Cale Morton in the

Larke Medal 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 named in the Under 18

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of 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-performed players during the season, led b ...

side. Palmer gained attention again at 2007 AFL Draft Camp finishing second in the 3 km time trial with a time of 10min 25sec and fifth in the beep test with a score of 14.8.

AFL career

Palmer was taken at pick #7 overall in the

2007 AFL Draft The 2007 Australian Football League draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2007/08 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week, the national draft, which was held on 24 November 2007, the pre-s ...

by Fremantle. He put in some impressive performances in the

2008 NAB Cup The 2008 NAB Cup was the Australian Football League pre-season competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2008 season began. It culminated with the Grand Final played on 8 March 2008 at AAMI Stadium in which ...

and after being named as an emergency for the opening round of the 2008 season, Palmer made his debut in Round 2 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 ...

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 ...

. Whilst his debut match was impressive individually, with 22 possessions and a goal, Fremantle lost the match by 15 points. In his second match he was awarded the

nomination for his outstanding performance in the

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capit ...

, despite receiving a gash to his head in the opening quarter. After being nominated in Round 3, Palmer won the

ahead of

Cyril Rioli Cyril Rioli (born 14 July 1989) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. Rioli was a member of four premiership teams and the Norm Smith Medallist from the 2015 ...

from

with 8 of the 9 judges voting him as the best emerging player. He missed most of the 2009 season because of a knee reconstruction. Palmer joined in September 2011, becoming the third uncontracted player, after Phil Davis and Callan Ward, to join the club in preparation for its entry into the AFL for the 2012 season. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Palmer was traded to Carlton. He made his first senior appearance for Carlton at the MCG against Essendon, as a late inclusion. Carlton recorded their first win of the season, winning by 15 points. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, he was delisted by Carlton. In 2018 he returned to Western Australia and joined Swan Districts in the

(WAFL). In March 2019 he threw his shoes onto the Gloucester Park harness racing track during the feature race. No horses or reinsmen were injured, but there were calls for Palmer to be banned for life from racetracks due to the dangerous act. On 16 March 2019, at roughly 7:30pm local time, Palmer suffered serious injuries in a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

accident in

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 i ...

, resulting in Palmer being placed in an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

. Palmer has since relocated to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and continues to play football with the Kalgoorlie City Football Club (Kangas). He was awarded Best on Ground in the 2021 Grand Final and later won the club’s fairest and best award for the season.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to round 19 of 2017 season'' , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 10 , , 8 , , 270 , , 192 , , 462 , , 100 , , 47 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.5 , , 9.6 , , 23.1 , , 5.0 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2009 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 5 , , 3 , , 1 , , 45 , , 59 , , 104 , , 18 , , 20 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.0 , , 11.8 , , 20.8 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2010 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 13 , , 4 , , 3 , , 113 , , 136 , , 249 , , 46 , , 52 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 8.7 , , 10.5 , , 19.2 , , 3.5 , , 4.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2011 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 15 , , 6 , , 6 , , 110 , , 121 , , 231 , , 48 , , 57 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.3 , , 8.1 , , 15.4 , , 3.2 , , 3.8 , - 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 gat ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 15 , , 9 , , 9 , , 158 , , 128 , , 286 , , 66 , , 34 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 10.5 , , 8.5 , , 19.1 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , - ! 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 fa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 11 , , 9 , , 5 , , 103 , , 80 , , 183 , , 51 , , 32 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 9.4 , , 7.3 , , 16.6 , , 4.6 , , 2.9 , - 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;", , 7 , , 17 , , 23 , , 12 , , 147 , , 136 , , 283 , , 54 , , 49 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 8.6 , , 8.0 , , 16.6 , , 3.2 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2015 , style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 14 , , 18 , , 16 , , 133 , , 79 , , 212 , , 53 , , 38 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 9.5 , , 5.6 , , 15.1 , , 3.8 , , 2.7 , - 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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 12 , , 13 , , 7 , , 94 , , 73 , , 167 , , 53 , , 28 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 7.8 , , 6.1 , , 13.9 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , - ! 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;", , 24 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 6 , , 6 , , 12 , , 4 , , 2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 6.0 , , 12.0 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 123 ! 95 ! 67 ! 1179 ! 1010 ! 2189 ! 493 ! 359 ! 0.8 ! 0.5 ! 9.6 ! 8.2 ! 17.8 ! 4.0 ! 2.9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Rhys 1989 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players East Fremantle Football Club players AFL Rising Star winners Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Greater Western Sydney Giants players Carlton Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) players Swan Districts Football Club players Australian people of Scottish descent