Matthew Pavlich

Matthew Lee 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).

Pavlich had nominated for the 1998 draft, but was overlooked by all clubs.

In 1999, he was the club's leading goalkicker.

Pavlich was recruited by Fremantle with the fourth selection in the 1999 AFL national draft.

Most notably Adelaide instead drafted 17-year-old Ken McGregor who went on to play 158 games between 1999 and 2008, and cross town rival Port Adelaide who instead chose 17-year-old Adam Morgan who played only 3 games between 2002 and 2003 for Port.

Pavlich played his entire AFL career at Fremantle after making his debut for the club in 2000.

With the 2000 AFL season starting earlier than normal due to the 2000 Summer Olympics later that year in Sydney, Pavlich only played one game for South Fremantle in the Westar Rules before making his AFL debut in Round 5 against Melbourne.

Pavlich achieved the rare feat of kicking 2 goals with his first 2 kicks in the AFL.

He went on to play the remaining 18 games for the season, earning himself a Rising star nomination in Round 17 while contributing consistently and finished ninth in the club's best and fairest award.

The 2001 Season saw Pavlich spend more time in the forward line.

He managed to underline his potential with some ball grabbing performances including two 4-goal hauls against the Brisbane Lions which earned him 2 Brownlow votes, the first of his career.

Pavlich went on to play 21 games for the season, finishing with a respectable 28 goals.

In an otherwise disappointing season for Fremantle, Pavlich was the shining light as he started to realise his true potential.

A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premier AFL centre half-forwards of the modern era, achieving All-Australian selection six times between 2002 and 2008, twice representing Australia in the International Rules Series and representing the Dream Team in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match.

2002 was the season that would set up Matthew Pavlich for the rest of his career.

In a widely unexpected move, new Fremantle coach Chris Connolly moved Pavlich into a defensive role.

Playing against some of the power forwards of the competition, Pavlich underlined his versatility and talent as a footballer, as he displayed a smooth transition into the role.

He showed the uncanny ability of shutting down opponents, while gathering plenty of possession and setting up play further up the ground.

This saw him earn his first All-Australian selection at fullback at the age of 20.

He has been selected in the All-Australian Teams six times: in 2002 (fullback), 2003 (half forward flank), 2005 (centre half forward), 2006 (interchange), 2007 (full forward) and 2008 (interchange).

He was a member of the Australian International rules team in 2002 and 2003, and was a Rising Star nominee in 2000.

In the 2003 season he was again called upon to play a different role, Pavlich was this time thrust into a midfield role, while also pushing up to half forward.

This allowed him to gather multiple possessions forward of centre and develop into a strong goal-kicking midfielder.

Playing all 23 games for the season, including the club's first final, Pavlich finished off averaging 18.7 possessions per game, and executed his damaging midfield role perfectly with 37 goals.

He was rewarded with a second selection in the All-Australian team for the 2003 season, this time named on the half forward flank.

The 2005 season saw Pavlich moved to centre half forward, with Fremantle focusing on a taller forward structure.

The move paid massive dividends for the team, as Pavlich topped Fremantle's list of goalkickers, with 61 goals for the season.

He also took more marks than any other Docker and won his second Doig Medal as Fremantle's best and fairest player.

In the 2005 Brownlow Medal count, Pavlich was tipped as a contender, but like Tredrea in 2004, the power forwards did not get the votes of the umpires and Pavlich finished equal ninth; receiving more votes than any other Fremantle player.

On 13 December 2006 Pavlich was named the captain of the Fremantle Football Club, succeeding Peter Bell.

Over his 17-year career, he was a six-time best and fairest winner, eight-time leading goalkicker and was the club captain between 2007 and 2015.

Despite the additional burden of captaincy, Pavlich performed well throughout the 2007 season, leading an otherwise disappointing Fremantle side.

He kicked a club record 72 goals, came second in the Coleman Medal and was named full-forward in the All-Australian team for 2007.

On 14 August 2007 Pavlich signed a new, 3-year contract with the Fremantle Football club, which ended speculation that he may join the Adelaide Crows or Port Adelaide.

In 2014, he became the first player from a Western Australian based club to reach 300 AFL games.

Pavlich was born in Adelaide, South Australia.

He is a fifth-generation Australian of Croatian-Scottish descent.

His mother, Jan, is of Scottish and German descent, while his father, Steve, is of Irish and Croatian descent.

His father and two uncles played for West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL.

Pavlich played school football at Sacred Heart College in Adelaide and followed the footsteps of his father, playing senior football for the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles before he was drafted into the AFL.