Simon Fletcher (born 17 August 1978) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fletcher was initially drafted to Geelong, from the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

. His father Gary did not play at VFL/AFL level but the rule was used because he was a manager at the club. A knee injury in 1997 kept him out of action and he was delisted at the end of the season. Carlton rookie listed Fletcher in 1998 and he made his senior debut late in the

1999 AFL season The 1999 AFL season was the 103rd 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 s ...

. He impressed enough to keep his spot for the finals series and made three appearances, but after having just five disposals in the preliminary final was replaced by

Adrian Hickmott Adrian Hickmott (born 30 March 1972) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach with the Hawthorn Football Club. As a player, he played with the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club i ...

for the grand final. Fletcher, who played mostly on the wing and flanks, missed just one game in 2000 and played in another preliminary final. A former

Grovedale Grovedale is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the , Grovedale had a population of 14,869. History Toponymy The locality was originally named ''Germantown'' because several families of German Lutheran origin had settled th ...

player, he was again a regular member of the team in 2001 and put together a sequence of 28 consecutive games before it ended in 2002. He was delisted after the 2003 season and nominated for the national draft, where he was selected by Richmond with the 79th selection. He was unable to have an impact from six games, and was delisted. He continued his playing career in the

Geelong Football League The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former AFL players n ...

with St Mary's, playing there from 2005 until 2009.Green, B.
Geelong Advertiser
"Simon Fletcher plucked from St Mary's for Gold Coast role", 28 December 2009, Retrieved 23 April 2011. After the 2009 season, Fletcher took the role as player development manager for the newly formed

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since the ...

; he remains in the role as of 2013. He also played football with Burleigh in the

AFL Queensland State League The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Previously known as the Queensland Football League (QFL), Queensland ...

for a couple of years. Simon is now a facilitator at Leading Teams.

References

External links

Simon Fletcher's profile
on the Leading Teams website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Simon 1978 births Living people Carlton Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Geelong Falcons players Grovedale Football Club players St Mary's Sporting Club Inc players