Paul Medhurst (born 11 December 1981) 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 ...

player who played for 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 ...

and 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 ...

. In his 2008 season, he was selected in the

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, 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-perf ...

team and his other career highlights include leading the goalkicking at Fremantle in successive seasons and winning the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

for best on ground in the 2012 WAFL Grand Final.

Early career

Medhurst began his senior footballing with

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), with the

Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...

. Despite a ruptured

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

causing him to miss all but one match in 2000, Medhurst comfortably won the

Bernie Naylor Medal The Bernie Naylor Medal is an Australian rules football award which is given to the leading goalkicker at the end of each home and away season in the West Australian Football League. It is named after South Fremantle full-forward Bernie Naylor. Be ...

in 2001 for the most goals in the league.

AFL career

Medhurst was originally selected by the

with a 4th round selection in the

2001 AFL Draft The 2001 AFL draft consisted of a state draft, a body draft, a pre-season draft and a trade period. The AFL draft is the annual draft of players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Aust ...

. However he was traded to Collingwood in 2007 as part of the deal that sent

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV (TV network), ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wa ...

to Fremantle.

Fremantle

Medhurst made a successful debut in round 1, 2002 in a

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 capital ...

against 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 ...

, kicking three goals and earning an

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 ...

nomination. At the end of 2002, he won the Beacon Award as the best young player on the Fremantle team. He was Fremantle's leading goalkicker in 2003 and 2004, kicking 50 and 41 goals respectively, including nine 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 2004 and seven against

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

in 2003. His 166 career goals for Fremantle is the club's equal-fourth highest tally. After wearing

guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

number 34 from his debut in 2002 until 2005, he changed to number six for the 2006 season, the number worn by his idol, former Fremantle and

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 ...

champion goalkicker

Tony Modra Anthony Dale Modra (born 1 March 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Adelaide and Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known fo ...

. However he had the poorest season of his career, only scoring 12 goals from 12 games.

Collingwood

Medhurst joined Collingwood in 2007 in the deal which saw Chris Tarrant become a Docker, and

Ben Reid Ben Reid (born 29 April 1989) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Australian Football League (AFL). Personal life Reid grew up in Wangaratta Victoria, attending Galen Catholic College. He is the son of ...

, draft selection eight, join the Magpies. Despite playing his 100th match (his first in Magpie colours, round one against the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

), Medhurst began the season slowly, injuring his foot during a four-goal performance against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in round three, which sidelined him for much of the season. Medhurst returned to face Fremantle in round 10 at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

, and Collingwood won by 10 points. Neither Medhurst nor Tarrant were among the goals, sharing three behinds between them. The following six weeks saw Medhurst struggle to hold his place in the Collingwood outfit, a number of low-possession efforts in the seniors forcing the former Docker to play with Williamstown in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). He returned to form towards the end of the season, scoring three goals in the round 19 loss to

, before following up with another three against

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

a week later. Medhurst played a part in Collingwood's win over West Coast 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 ...

in their semi-final extra-time win. He gathered 16 disposals, 15 of them kicks, booted two goals and laid six tackles. Although the Magpies lost 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, ...

the following week in the

preliminary final The McIntyre System, or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher. The systems were developed by Ken McIntyre, an Australian lawyer, historian and English lect ...

by a five points, Medhurst's three goals helped keep his team in the contest. In 2008, Medhurst won the ANZAC Day Medal after kicking six goals in the

ANZAC Day clash The Anzac Day match is an annual Australian rules football match between Collingwood and Essendon, two clubs in the Australian Football League, held on Anzac Day (25 April) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). History of Australian rul ...

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 King ...

.Former Docker wins Anzac Day medal

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

26 April 2008 Medhurst was selected in the 2008

team as a

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

and finished runner-up in Collingwood's 2008 best-and-fairest award. He was rewarded the R. T. Rush Trophy and the Gordon Coventry Trophy (leading goal kicker for Collingwood (50)).Samantha Lane and Michael Gleeson (4 October 2008
Swan named Magpies' best
Real Footy Medhurst retired from the AFL at the end of the 2010 season.

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 34 , , 20 , , 36 , , 20 , , 148 , , 26 , , 174 , , 85 , , 26 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 7.4 , , 1.3 , , 8.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 34 , , 23 , , 50 , , 30 , , 205 , , 29 , , 234 , , 108 , , 20 , , 2.2 , , 1.3 , , 8.9 , , 1.3 , , 10.2 , , 4.7 , , 0.9 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 34 , , 22 , , 41 , , 22 , , 166 , , 28 , , 194 , , 85 , , 25 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 7.5 , , 1.3 , , 8.8 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 34 , , 22 , , 27 , , 26 , , 179 , , 37 , , 216 , , 95 , , 27 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 8.1 , , 1.7 , , 9.8 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 12 , , 12 , , 19 , , 132 , , 15 , , 147 , , 84 , , 9 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , 11.0 , , 1.3 , , 12.3 , , 7.0 , , 0.8 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 17 , , 24 , , 16 , , 144 , , 33 , , 177 , , 82 , , 30 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 8.5 , , 1.9 , , 10.4 , , 4.8 , , 1.8 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 50 , , 27 , , 309 , , 67 , , 376 , , 179 , , 53 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , 12.9 , , 2.8 , , 15.7 , , 7.5 , , 2.2 , , 12 , - ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 18 , , 22 , , 19 , , 155 , , 71 , , 226 , , 96 , , 28 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 8.6 , , 3.9 , , 12.6 , , 5.3 , , 1.6 , , 1 , - 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 10 , , 12 , , 5 , , 68 , , 42 , , 110 , , 32 , , 37 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 6.8 , , 4.2 , , 11.0 , , 3.2 , , 3.7 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 168 ! 274 ! 184 ! 1506 ! 348 ! 1854 ! 846 ! 255 ! 1.6 ! 1.1 ! 9.0 ! 2.1 ! 11.0 ! 5.0 ! 1.5 ! 20

Post AFL

Medhurst returned to Claremont in the WAFL for the 2012 season. On the 23 September 2012, Medhurst played in Claremont's premiership victory over

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

in the 2012 WAFL Grand Final. Medhurst kicked 6 goals and was awarded the

for his best-on-ground display. He played an instrumental role in allowing Claremont to win 18.16 (124) to 15.8 (98), earning Claremont their first back-to-back premierships since their 1938–1940 hat-trick. Medhurst finished the match with 13 possessions, 7 marks, 3 inside-50s and 6 goals. Medhurst became a father for the first time when his son, Elias was born in June 2013.

Career highlights

Fremantle *

nomination Rd 1, 2002 * Beacon Award winner (2002) *

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 ...

Leading Goal Kicker (2003, 2004) Collingwood * Round 13, 2007

AFL Army Award From 2007 until 2009 the Australian Football League produced the AFL Army Award to recognise players who produced significant acts of bravery or selflessness to promote the cause of their team during a game. Examples of such bravery that are not ...

nomination * ANZAC Day Medallist (2008) *

(2008) * R.T Rush Trophy (2008) * Gordon Coventry Trophy (2008) Claremont * WAFL Premiership (2012) * Simpson Medal (2012)

References

External links

Paul Medhurst Player Profile on CollingwoodFC.com.au
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medhurst, Paul 1981 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Claremont Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) People educated at Hale School Australian people of Malaysian descent Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People educated at John XXIII College, Perth