Thomas Boyd (born 22 August 1995) 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. He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

, but was traded to 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 ...

following the 2014 season. In

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 ...

, he helped the Bulldogs win their first premiership since 1954. After struggling with injuries and mental health, Boyd announced his retirement from AFL football in May 2019.

Early life

Boyd attended Luther College in

Croydon Hills, Victoria Croydon Hills is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maroondah local government area. Croydon Hills recorded a population of 4,839 at the 2021 cens ...

and played junior football for the

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which is ...

. Playing for

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

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 Victo ...

from 2011 to 2013, Boyd was the competition's leading goal kicker in 2012 and later performed well for Vic Metro at the 2012 national carnival. In April 2013, Boyd visited

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in his mother's native

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

for three days as part of the AIS-AFL Academy tour.

AFL career

GWS Giants (2014)

Boyd was selected with the first overall pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the

. In his reserves debut on 1 March 2014, Boyd kicked three goals and demonstrated his versatility with a stint in the ruck. He went on to make his senior debut on 20 April 2014 in the Giants' 137–72 loss to the Adelaide Crows; he managed just five disposals and didn't score. He finished the 2014 season with eight goals in nine games.

Western Bulldogs (2015–2019)

Trade request

On 13 October 2014, Boyd requested a trade to the

. This development was made even more remarkable considering that only days prior, Bulldogs' captain

Ryan Griffen Ryan Leigh Griffen (born 27 July 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Griffen was born in Goolwa, a South Australi ...

had requested a trade away from the club and Brendan McCartney had resigned as Senior Coach. Despite the Giants initial stance claiming that Boyd would not be traded under any circumstances, two days after Boyd handed in his trade request, he was traded to the Bulldogs in exchange for Griffen and pick 6 in the

2014 AFL draft The 2014 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2014 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

. He later signed a seven-year, $7 million contract with the Bulldogs.

2015 season

In his debut game for the Bulldogs on 4 April 2015, Boyd was well-held by Eagle

Jeremy McGovern Jeremy McGovern (born 15 April 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a tall key-position player who has spent most of his career as a defender, although he occa ...

but managed to kick an important late goal to help his new club secure a

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. ...

win over 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 ...

. On 22 June 2015, he earned the AFL's Rising Star nomination for Round 12 after kicking four goals and recording eight marks in a win over 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 ...

. Following a poor showing in the Bulldogs' Round 16 game against Geelong, Boyd was dropped from the senior squad and failed to be recalled to the AFL level for the rest of the season, playing out the year with the team's VFL side. He helped Footscray reach the VFL finals, kicking two goals in the team's semi-final loss to

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 ...

2016 season

Boyd's right shoulder was a constant problem for him throughout the 2016 season after he first aggravated it in the club's round four game against Carlton. The injury kept him on the sidelines for much of the first half of the season, after which he returned with the Bulldogs' VFL side, Footscray. He was in line to receive a recall to the AFL side for Round 15, but a drunken, "violent" altercation with teammate

Zaine Cordy Zaine Cordy (born 27 October 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having initially been recruited as a father–son pick by the Western Bulldo ...

set him back. He was suspended indefinitely by the club on 30 June 2016 and fined $5,000. Boyd responded with a four-goal haul in Footscray's 12-point loss to

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

on July 2. He returned to the AFL side in Round 17 and remained there for the rest of the year. He showed promise when he kicked three goals in the Bulldogs' loss to

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, ...

in Round 19. He went on to help the Bulldogs reach their first VFL/AFL grand final since 1961. In the 2016 Grand Final, Boyd completed a coming-of-age finals series with his highly influential aerial work, finishing the match with eight marks (six contested) and three goals. His third goal late in the fourth quarter from the centre square sealed the win for the Bulldogs, defeating the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

by 22 points to become the first team to win a premiership from seventh on the ladder.

2017 season

Despite enjoying a breakthrough finals series in 2016, Boyd struggled to reproduce that form in 2017. Coach

Luke Beveridge Luke Beveridge (born 23 August 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who played for Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He is head coach of the Western Bulldogs.< ...

admitted he saw Boyd as a ruckman more than a key forward at this stage of his career. He kicked seven goals from 11 games, and averaged 20 hit-outs a game, before enduring a poor run of injury, missing round 12 with a back injury and rounds 14 and 15 with a calf injury. On 5 July 2017, Boyd was provided a leave of absence from the Bulldogs to receive treatment for clinical depression.

2018 season

Boyd's 2018 season was cut short by a back injury, as he was ruled out for the rest of the season after round 18.

2019 season

On 16 May 2019, having not played at the top level since round 18 in 2018 amid battles with injury and mental health, Boyd announced his immediate retirement from the AFL. Over his AFL career, he never played more than 15 games in a season.

Statistics

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Honours and achievements

AFL *Team ** AFL premiership player:

*Individual **

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 ...

nominee:

TAC Cup *Team ** TAC Cup premiership player: 2013

Personal

Boyd has an Australian father, Geoff, and a Danish mother, Anita. Boyd studied a

Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format ...

Victoria University, Melbourne Victoria University (VU or Vic Uni) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of only six dual-sector universities in Australia, providing courses in both higher education and Technical and Further Educat ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Tom 1995 births Living people Australian people of Danish descent Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Eastern Ranges players Greater Western Sydney Giants players Western Bulldogs players Western Bulldogs Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Victoria University, Melbourne alumni