List of AFL debuts in 2011

This is a list of players who made their Australian Football League (AFL) debut in a senior AFL match to date during the 2011 AFL season. In addition to those players making their AFL-level debuts, some players have made their debuts for a new club following a trade or re-drafting are also listed below in a separate table.

A senior AFL match is an Australian rules football match between two clubs that are, or have been in the past, members of the AFL. A senior AFL match is played under the laws of Australian football, and includes regular season matches, as well as finals series matches. It does not include pre-season competition matches, interstate matches or international rules football matches. The list is arranged in the order in which each player made his debut for a club in a senior AFL match. Where more than one player made his debut in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname.

AFL debuts

A total of 132 players made their début in the Australian Football League in 2011. The new Gold Coast played 34 new players and helped make 2011 the highest number of début players since West Coast and Brisbane Bears both joined the league in 1987. Each of the top 10 draft picks and 29 of the first 33 selections in the 2010 AFL Draft made their début.^[1]

Players are listed in order of debut, and statistics are for AFL regular season and finals series matches during the 2011 AFL season only. Players marked "(rookie)" are players who were elevated from their clubs' rookie-list to the senior list, and therefore were eligible to represent the club in a senior AFL match.

Order	Name	Club	Age at debut	Debut	Games in 2011	Goals in 2011	Rookie	Recruited from	League	Notes
1	Ed Curnow	Carlton	21 years, 137 days	Round 1[2]	12	3	Rookie	Box Hill	VFL
2	Nick Duigan	Carlton	26 years, 198 days	Round 1[3]	20	1		Norwood	SANFL
3	Jake Batchelor	Richmond	19 years, 39 days	Round 1[4]	16	0		Dandenong Stingrays	TAC Cup	Round 16 Rising Star nomination
4	Reece Conca	Richmond	18 years, 224 days	Round 1[5]	17	0		Perth	WAFL	Round 9 Rising Star nomination
5	Brad Helbig	Richmond	19 years, 24 days	Round 1[6]	10	4		West Adelaide	SANFL
6	Cameron Guthrie	Geelong	18 years, 218 days	Round 1[7]	2	0		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
7	Jarrad Irons	Port Adelaide	18 years, 187 days	Round 1[8]	3	3	Rookie	Perth	WAFL
8	Jasper Pittard	Port Adelaide	19 years, 359 days	Round 1[9]	13	2		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup	Round 4 Rising Star nomination
9	Cam O'Shea	Port Adelaide	19 years, 13 days	Round 1[10]	18	4		Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup
10	Brodie Smith	Adelaide	19 years, 71 days	Round 1[11]	15	2		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
11	Claye Beams	Brisbane Lions	19 years, 206 days	Round 1[12]	5	5		Labrador	QAFL	brother of Dayne Beams, Round 1 nomination for 2012 AFL Rising Star
12	Rohan Bewick	Brisbane Lions	21 years, 167 days	Round 1[13]	12	5		West Perth	WAFL	son of Corey Bewick
13	Ryan Lester	Brisbane Lions	18 years, 212 days	Round 1[14]	3	2		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
14	Jayden Pitt	Fremantle	18 years, 170 days	Round 1[15]	8	2		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
15	Dyson Heppell	Essendon	18 years, 317 days	Round 1[16]	22	3		Gippsland Power	TAC Cup	Round 1 Rising Star nomination & overall winner
16	Lukas Markovic	Western Bulldogs	24 years, 81 days	Round 1[17]	16	0		Box Hill	VFL
17	Tom Liberatore	Western Bulldogs	18 years, 315 days	Round 1[18]	16	4		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup	Son of Tony Liberatore
18	Luke Tapscott	Melbourne	19 years, 272 days	Round 1[19]	15	2		North Adelaide	SANFL
19	Byron Sumner	Sydney	19 years, 147 days	Round 1[20]	1	0		Woodville-West Torrens	SANFL
20	Jack Darling	West Coast	18 years, 287 days	Round 1[21]	21	20		West Perth	WAFL	Round 6 Rising Star nomination
21	Andrew Gaff	West Coast	18 years, 284 days	Round 1[22]	15	7		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup	Round 19 Rising Star nomination
22	Shaun Atley	North Melbourne	18 years, 195 days	Round 1[23]	16	3		Murray Bushrangers	TAC Cup
23	Cameron Pedersen	North Melbourne	24 years, 10 days	Round 1[24]	14	18	Rookie	Box Hill	VFL
24	Cameron Richardson	North Melbourne	23 years, 115 days	Round 1[25]	8	1		North Ballarat	VFL
25	Daniel Archer	St Kilda	19 years, 166 days	Round 2[26]	1	0	Rookie	Clarence	TFL
26	Harley Bennell	Gold Coast	18 years, 182 days	Round 2[27]	14	14		Peel Thunder	WAFL	cousin of Jamie Bennell (Melbourne)
27	Charlie Dixon	Gold Coast	20 years, 191 days	Round 2[28]	10	6		Redland	QAFL
28	Karmichael Hunt	Gold Coast	24 years, 136 days	Round 2[29]	16	1				former Brisbane Broncos (NRL) player
29	Marc Lock	Gold Coast	19 years, 285 days	Round 2[30]	1	0		Southport	QAFL
30	Alik Magin	Gold Coast	19 years, 354 days	Round 2[31]	3	1	Rookie	Pomona	AFLQ State Association	brother of Rhys Magin (Essendon)
31	Brandon Matera	Gold Coast	19 years, 22 days	Round 2[32]	12	15		South Fremantle	WAFL	Round 5 Rising Star nomination, son of Wally Matera (West Coast/Fitzroy)
32	Trent McKenzie	Gold Coast	18 years, 364 days	Round 2[33]	21	13		Western Jets	TAC Cup	Round 17 Rising Star nomination
33	Dion Prestia	Gold Coast	18 years, 172 days	Round 2[34]	17	1		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
34	Zac Smith	Gold Coast	21 years, 39 days	Round 2[35]	20	14		Glenmore Bulls	AFL Capricornia	Round 7 Rising Star nomination
35	David Swallow	Gold Coast	18 years, 134 days	Round 2[36]	21	11		East Fremantle	WAFL	Round 14 Rising Star nomination, brother of Andrew Swallow (North Melbourne)
36	Seb Tape	Gold Coast	18 years, 239 days	Round 2[37]	13	0		Glenelg	SANFL
37	Josh Toy	Gold Coast	18 years, 349 days	Round 2[38]	8	1		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
38	Matthew Watson	Carlton	18 years, 260 days	Round 2[39]	3	0		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
39	Allen Christensen	Geelong	19 years, 318 days	Round 2[40]	17	16		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup	Round 18 Rising Star nomination, nephew of Marty and Damien Christensen
40	Broc McCauley	Brisbane Lions	24 years, 104 days	Round 2[41]	3	0	Rookie	Southport	QAFL
41	Michael Coad	Gold Coast	27 years, 208 days	Round 3[42]	2	0		Sturt	SANFL
42	Daniel Gorringe	Gold Coast	18 years, 311 days	Round 3[43]	7	2		Norwood	SANFL
43	Maverick Weller	Gold Coast	19 years, 55 days	Round 3[44]	15	2		Burnie Dockers	TFL
44	Alex Johnson	Sydney	19 years, 38 days	Round 3[45]	19	1		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
45	Jared Polec	Brisbane Lions	18 years, 180 days	Round 3[46]	3	1		Woodville-West Torrens	SANFL
46	Alistair Smith	St Kilda	20 years, 214 days	Round 3[47]	3	0		Perth	WAFL
47	Luke Thompson	Adelaide	20 years, 67 days	Round 4[48]	11	2		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
48	Matthew Wright	Adelaide	21 years, 123 days	Round 4[49]	19	18	Rookie	North Adelaide	SANFL
49	Luke Russell	Gold Coast	21 years, 123 days	Round 4[50]	11	5		Burnie Dockers	TFL
50	Matt Shaw	Gold Coast	19 years, 71 days	Round 4[51]	15	7		Dandenong Stingrays	TAC Cup
51	Jack Hutchins	Gold Coast	19 years, 62 days	Round 5[52]	6	0		Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
52	Mitch Wallis	Western Bulldogs	18 years, 183 days	Round 5[53]	6	0		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup	son of Stephen Wallis, Round 4 nomination for 2012 AFL Rising Star
53	Kieran Harper	North Melbourne	18 years, 319 days	Round 6[54]	14	12		Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup
54	Jamie Cripps	St Kilda	19 years, 7 days	Round 6[55]	4	7		East Fremantle	WAFL
55	Will Johnson	St Kilda	21 years, 186 days	Round 6[56]	1	0		Sandringham	VFL
56	Michael Hibberd	Essendon	21 years, 118 days	Round 6[57]	9	1		Frankston	VFL
57	Steven May	Gold Coast	19 years, 111 days	Round 6[58]	9	0		Southern Districts	NTFL
58	Liam Patrick	Gold Coast	23 years, 58 days	Round 6[59]	3	2		Wanderers	NTFL	cousin of Liam Jurrah
59	Paul Puopolo	Hawthorn	23 years, 155 days	Round 7[60]	18	4		Norwood	SANFL
60	Isaac Smith	Hawthorn	22 years, 127 days	Round 7[61]	14	20		North Ballarat	VFL
61	Zephaniah Skinner	Western Bulldogs	21 years, 314 days	Round 7[62]	1	0		Nightcliff	NTFL
62	Nathan Gordon	Sydney	21 years, 84 days	Round 7[63]	2	1	Rookie	East Coast Eagles	SFL
63	Sam Day	Gold Coast	18 years, 243 days	Round 7[64]	7	2		Sturt	SANFL
64	Joseph Daye	Gold Coast	21 years, 94 days	Round 7[65]	4	1		Zillmere Eagles	QAFL
65	Tom Lynch	Gold Coast	18 years, 188 days	Round 7[66]	13	15		Dandenong Stingrays	TAC Cup
66	Bryce Retzlaff	Brisbane Lions	19 years, 312 days	Round 7[67]	11	6		Labrador	QAFL
67	Gerrick Weedon	West Coast	19 years, 348 days	Round 7[68]	1	0		Claremont	WAFL
68	Arryn Siposs	St Kilda	18 years, 165 days	Round 7[69]	5	5		Dandenong Stingrays	TAC Cup
69	Tom Nicholls	Gold Coast	19 years, 71 days	Round 8[70]	1	0		Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
70	Ben Jacobs	Port Adelaide	19 years, 125 days	Round 8[71]	12	2		Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
71	Luke Parker	Sydney	18 years, 201 days	Round 8[72]	12	8		Dandenong Stingrays	TAC Cup
72	Luke Breust	Hawthorn	20 years, 185 days	Round 8[73]	17	30	Rookie	NSW/ACT Rams	AFL NSW/ACT	Round 15 Rising Star nomination
73	Nathan Vardy	Geelong	19 years, 329 days	Round 9[74]	9	6		Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
74	Michael Evans	Melbourne	18 years, 312 days	Round 9[75]	4	0	Rookie	Claremont	WAFL
75	Tendai Mzungu	Fremantle	25 years, 82 days	Round 9[76]	14	11		Perth	WAFL
76	Nicholas Winmar	St Kilda	20 years, 24 days	Round 9[77]	2	0		Claremont	WAFL
77	Josh Green	Brisbane Lions	18 years, 270 days	Round 9[78]	5	0		Clarence	TFL
78	Luke Delaney	North Melbourne	21 years, 331 days	Round 9[79]	8	0		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
79	Daniel Nicholson	Melbourne	20 years, 206 days	Round 10[80]	9	2	Rookie	University Blues	VAFA
80	Lewis Johnston	Sydney	20 years, 86 days	Round 10[81]	2	1		North Adelaide	SANFL
81	Josh Cowan	Geelong	20 years, 73 days	Round 10[82]	3	1		North Ballarat Rebels	TAC Cup
82	Christian Howard	Western Bulldogs	20 years, 71 days	Round 10[83]	6	1		Glenelg	SANFL
83	Alex Browne	Essendon	18 years, 298 days	Round 11[84]	2	0		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
84	Max Gawn	Melbourne	19 years, 155 days	Round 11[85]	4	1		Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
85	Jeremy Howe	Melbourne	20 years, 339 days	Round 11[86]	13	18		Hobart	TFL
86	Taylor Hine	Gold Coast	19 years, 131 days	Round 11[87]	1	0		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
87	James Mulligan	Western Bulldogs	21 years, 355 days	Round 11[88]	3	0		Southport	QAFL
88	Tom Ledger	St Kilda	19 years, 79 days	Round 11[89]	2	1		Claremont	WAFL
89	Tom Simpkin	St Kilda	20 years, 301 days	Round 11[90]	2	0		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
90	Jordan Lisle	Hawthorn	20 years, 328 days	Round 11[91]	5	1		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
91	Zach Tuohy	Carlton	21 years, 177 days	Round 11[92]	10	2	Rookie	Laois	GAA
92	Luke Dahlhaus	Western Bulldogs	18 years, 293 days	Round 12[93]	11	11	Rookie	Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup	Round 21 Rising Star nomination
93	Rex Liddy	Gold Coast	19 years, 160 days	Round 12[94]	4	0		Kenmore	AFL Queensland
94	Mitchell Golby	Brisbane Lions	19 years, 252 days	Round 12[95]	8	0	Rookie	Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
95	Alex Fasolo	Collingwood	19 years, 5 days	Round 12[96]	11	15		East Fremantle	WAFL	Round 22 Rising Star nomination
96	Jayden Schofield	Western Bulldogs	19 years, 34 days	Round 13[97]	7	0		East Fremantle	WAFL
97	Patrick Karnezis	Brisbane Lions	19 years, 56 days	Round 13[98]	11	17		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
98	Ben Bucovaz	Fremantle	20 years, 229 days	Round 13[99]	2	0	Rookie	Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
99	Hayden Jolly	Gold Coast	19 years, 82 days	Round 14[100]	6	0		Glenelg	SANFL
100	Joel Wilkinson	Gold Coast	19 years, 208 days	Round 14[101]	7	1		Broadbeach	QAFL
101	Niall McKeever	Brisbane Lions	22 years, 129 days	Round 14[102]	10	1	Rookie	County Antrim	GAA
102	Josh Mellington	Fremantle	18 years, 178 days	Round 14[103]	2	1	Rookie	Murray Bushrangers	TAC Cup
103	Mitch Brown	Geelong	20 years, 322 days	Round 14[104]	2	3		Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
104	Ian Callinan	Adelaide	28 years, 188 days	Round 14[105]	3	2	Rookie	Central District	SANFL
105	Rhys O'Keeffe	Carlton	20 years, 322 days	Round 14[106]	1	0		North Adelaide	SANFL
106	Sam Blease	Melbourne	20 years, 132 days	Round 15[107]	5	0		Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup	Round 23 Rising Star nomination
107	Daniel Talia	Adelaide	19 years, 273 days	Round 15[108]	9	0		Calder Cannons	TAC Cup
108	Luke Rounds	Collingwood	20 years, 143 days	Round 15[109]	5	1		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
109	Rory Thompson	Gold Coast	20 years, 119 days	Round 16[110]	8	2		Southport	QAFL
110	Lachlan Keeffe	Collingwood	21 years, 87 days	Round 16[111]	5	4		Gympie	AFL Queensland
111	Wayde Twomey	Carlton	25 years, 176 days	Round 17[112]	2	1	Rookie	Swan Districts	WAFL
112	Scott Lycett	West Coast	18 years, 307 days	Round 19[113]	1	2		Port Adelaide Magpies	SANFL
113	Jeremy Taylor	Gold Coast	19 years, 43 days	Round 19[114]	2	0		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
114	Michael Ross	Essendon	19 years, 318 days	Round 19[115]	2	0		Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
115	Ben Sinclair	Collingwood	19 years, 303 days	Round 19[116]	4	2		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
116	Aidan Riley	Adelaide	19 years, 230 days	Round 19[117]	5	1	Rookie	Wollongong Lions	Sydney AFL
117	Josh Dyson	Brisbane Lions	19 years, 360 days	Round 20[118]	1	0	Rookie	Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup
118	Peter Faulks	Fremantle	23 years, 111 days	Round 21[119]	2	0		Williamstown	VFL
119	John Butcher	Port Adelaide	20 years, 41 days	Round 21[120]	4	11		Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
120	Tom Jonas	Port Adelaide	20 years, 216 days	Round 21[121]	4	0	Rookie	Norwood	SANFL
121	Tom Hickey	Gold Coast	20 years, 167 days	Round 22[122]	2	1		Morningside	QAFL
122	Joel Tippett	Gold Coast	22 years, 298 days	Round 22[123]	2	0	Rookie	Southport	QAFL	brother of Kurt Tippett
123	Aaron Mullett	North Melbourne	19 years, 178 days	Round 22[124]	3	0	Rookie	Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup	Round 2 2013 Rising Star nomination
124	Tom Young	Collingwood	19 years, 116 days	Round 22[125]	2	2		Sydney University	Sydney AFL
125	Ayce Cordy	Western Bulldogs	21 years, 15 days	Round 22[126]	2	0		Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup	son of Brian Cordy
126	Jason Tutt	Western Bulldogs	20 years, 98 days	Round 22[127]	3	5		NSW/ACT Rams	AFL NSW/ACT
127	Josh Caddy	Gold Coast	18 years, 334 days	Round 23[128]	2	2		Northern Knights	TAC Cup
128	Tom McDonald	Melbourne	18 years, 344 days	Round 23[129]	2	0		North Ballarat Rebels	TAC Cup
129	Jacob Gillbee	Gold Coast	18 years, 355 days	Round 24[130]	1	1		Lauderdale	TFL
130	Casey Sibosado	Fremantle	20 years, 325 days	Round 24[131]	1	1		Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
131	Jack Fitzpatrick	Melbourne	20 years, 70 days	Round 24[132]	1	1		Western Jets	TAC Cup
132	Aaron Black	North Melbourne	20 years, 279 days	Round 24[133]	1	1		Peel Thunder	WAFL

Change of clubs

Players are listed in order of debut, and statistics are for AFL regular season and finals series matches during the 2011 AFL season only. Players are only included if they had previously played a senior AFL match with another club. "Previous club(s)" years are from the season of the player's debut for their respective club to the year in which they played their final game for that club.

Order	Name	Club	Debut	Games in 2011	Goals in 2011	Rookie	Previous club(s)
1	Jeremy Laidler	Carlton	Round 1[134]	17	2		Geelong (2009–2010)
2	Shaun Grigg	Richmond	Round 1[135]	21	6		Carlton (2007–2010)
3	Bachar Houli	Richmond	Round 1[136]	22	5		Essendon (2007–2010)
4	Ryan Gamble	St Kilda	Round 1[137]	11	11		Geelong (2006–2010)
5	Simon Buckley	Collingwood	Round 1[138]	13	5		Melbourne (2007–2009)
6	Andrew Krakouer	Collingwood	Round 1[139]	22	32		Richmond (2001–2007)
7	Richard Tambling	Adelaide	Round 1[140]	10	0		Richmond (2005–2010)
8	Cameron Bruce	Hawthorn	Round 1[141]	9	1		Melbourne (2000–2010)
9	David Hale	Hawthorn	Round 1[142]	17	17		North Melbourne (2003–2010)
10	Nick Lower	Fremantle	Round 1[143]	19	8	Rookie	Port Adelaide (2006–2009)
11	Nathan Djerrkura	Western Bulldogs	Round 1[144]	8	4		Geelong (2009–2010)
12	Justin Sherman	Western Bulldogs	Round 1[145]	14	17		Brisbane Lions (2005–2010)
13	Andrejs Everitt	Sydney	Round 1[146]	11	8		Western Bulldogs (2007–2010)
14	Ben McKinley	North Melbourne	Round 1[147]	2	0		West Coast (2007–2010)
15	Gary Ablett	Gold Coast	Round 2[148]	20	18		Geelong (2002–2010)
16	Nathan Bock	Gold Coast	Round 2[149]	21	2		Adelaide (2004–2010)
17	Jared Brennan	Gold Coast	Round 2[150]	22	11		Brisbane Lions (2003–2010)
18	Campbell Brown	Gold Coast	Round 2[151]	14	0		Hawthorn (2002–2010)
19	Josh Fraser	Gold Coast	Round 2[152]	16	12		Collingwood (2000–2010)
20	Jarrod Harbrow	Gold Coast	Round 2[153]	22	2		Western Bulldogs (2007–2010)
21	Daniel Harris	Gold Coast	Round 2[154]	11	2		North Melbourne (2001–2009)
22	Nathan Krakouer	Gold Coast	Round 2[155]	13	8		Port Adelaide (2007–2010)
23	Michael Rischitelli	Gold Coast	Round 2[156]	21	10		Brisbane Lions (2004–2010)
24	Danny Stanley	Gold Coast	Round 2[157]	22	20		Collingwood (2007–2009)
25	Andrew Collins	Carlton	Round 3[158]	2	0		Richmond (2009–2010)
26	Brad Miller	Richmond	Round 4[159]	14	17		Melbourne (2002–2010)
27	Sam Iles	Gold Coast	Round 5[160]	16	8		Collingwood (2006–2007)
28	Sam Jacobs	Adelaide	Round 5[161]	19	3		Carlton (2009–2010)
29	Simon Phillips	Port Adelaide	Round 7[162]	8	7		Sydney (2006–2007)
30	Dean Polo	St Kilda	Round 8[163]	14	6		Richmond (2006–2010)
31	Jack Anthony	Fremantle	Round 8[164]	4	0		Collingwood (2008–2010)
32	Jonathon Griffin	Fremantle	Round 10[165]	7	4		Adelaide (2007–2010)
33	Kyle Cheney	Hawthorn	Round 11[166]	8	1		Melbourne (2009–2010)
34	Ed Barlow	Western Bulldogs	Round 12[167]	8	4	Rookie	Sydney (2007–2010)
35	Matt Spangher	Sydney	Round 16[168]	5	7		West Coast (2008–2010)
36	Nathan Ablett	Gold Coast	Round 22[169]	2	1		Geelong (2005–2007)
37	Patrick Veszpremi	Western Bulldogs	Round 22[170]	3	4		Sydney (2008–2010)
38	Paul Johnson	Hawthorn	Round 24[171]	1	1	Rookie	West Coast (2003), Melbourne (2005–2010)