Luke McPharlin

Not to be confused with Luke Macfarlane.

Luke McPharlin (born 1 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the Fremantle Football Club between 2002 and 2015, after two seasons with the Hawthorn Football Club. Throughout his AFL career, McPharlin predominantly played as a key defender.

Luke McPharlin
McPharlin in April 2016
Personal information
Full name	Luke McPharlin
Nickname(s)	Woosh
Date of birth	(1981-12-01) 1 December 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia
Original team(s)	East Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft	10th pick, 1999 National Draft (Hawthorn)
Height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s)	Defender / Forward
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2000–2001	Hawthorn	012 00(3)
2002–2015	Fremantle	244 (112)
Total		256 (115)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2015.
Career highlights
2005 Mark of the Year 2012 All-Australian team Fremantle Life Member: 2010 Fremantle 25 since '95 Team
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

McPharlin was recruited from East Fremantle in Western Australia to the Hawthorn Football Club after being taken at Pick 10 in the 1999 AFL Draft. He made his debut in 2000, kicking a goal with his first kick, but played just 12 total games in his first two seasons at Hawthorn. Feeling home sick in Melbourne, McPharlin jumped at the chance of returning to Perth, and was subsequently traded to Fremantle following the 2001 season. McPharlin battled injury early on in his career, managing just over 50 games in his first five seasons.^[1]

In 2005, McPharlin garnered Mark of the Year honours for his spectacular chestmark against the West Coast Eagles in Round Three.^[2]

McPharlin played his 200th AFL game in Round 13, 2012 against Essendon.^[1] That season, he was named in the All-Australian team as a defender.

In 2013, McPharlin helped lead Fremantle to their first ever AFL Grand Final appearance, where they were defeated by Hawthorn by 15 points, ending the club's best season in their 19-year history just short of their first premiership success.^[3]

McPharlin struggled to play regularly in 2013 and 2014 with calf and achilles-related issues, managing just 29 games over those two seasons. He also did not feature in Fremantle's finals campaigns in 2014 and 2015 due to calf problems.^[4]

On 30 September 2015, McPharlin announced his retirement from the AFL after 256 games and 16 seasons in the league.^[5] McPharlin departed Fremantle sitting second on the club's games record list with 244, behind only Matthew Pavlich who retired on 353 and David Mundy who retired on 376.^[6]

Personal life

McPharlin was the lead guitarist and singer of a Baháʼí Youth Music outfit, "Calling, Waiting, Searching".^[7][8] His musical skills led him to win The Footy Show's musical contest Screamers in 2005.^[9] On 24 July 2011, it was announced that McPharlin would release his debut album later that year in collaboration with local Perth act Stella's Kitchen.^[10]

He was educated at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth where he graduated in 1999. McPharlin and his wife, Kalinz, have two daughters.^[11] After retiring from football McPharlin and his family moved to Broome where he works as a pharmacist.^[12] As of 2022, he and his family have moved back to Perth and now live in Beaconsfield.

He was recently interviewed in the Mind and Soul Matters Podcast^[13] where he talks candidly about the struggles he faced early in his football career, and also about his beliefs and faith.

Honours and achievements

Team

• McClelland Trophy (Fremantle) 2015

Individual

• 2005 Mark of the Year
• 2012 All-Australian team
• Fremantle Life Member: 2010
• Fremantle 25 since '95 Team

Statistics

^[14]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2000	Hawthorn	18	4	1	3	11	7	18	6	0	0.2	0.8	2.8	1.8	4.5	1.5	0.0
2001	Hawthorn	18	8	2	2	44	33	77	35	4	0.2	0.2	5.5	4.1	9.6	4.4	0.5
2002	Fremantle	15	11	7	4	92	58	150	58	19	0.6	0.4	8.4	5.3	13.6	5.3	1.7
2003	Fremantle	18	12	0	2	108	64	172	77	25	0.0	0.2	9.0	5.3	14.3	6.4	2.1
2004	Fremantle	18	16	4	1	173	73	246	106	28	0.2	0.1	10.8	4.6	15.4	6.6	1.8
2005	Fremantle	18	19	34	12	144	56	200	104	24	1.8	0.6	7.6	3.0	10.5	5.5	1.3
2006	Fremantle	18	22	15	9	184	62	246	144	27	0.7	0.4	8.4	2.8	11.2	6.6	1.2
2007	Fremantle	18	21	8	1	173	124	297	152	38	0.4	0.0	8.2	5.9	14.1	7.2	1.8
2008	Fremantle	18	20	21	14	192	105	297	142	30	1.0	0.7	9.6	5.2	14.8	7.1	1.5
2009	Fremantle	18	18	20	18	150	90	240	102	24	1.1	1.0	8.3	5.0	13.3	5.7	1.3
2010	Fremantle	18	17	0	3	138	116	254	97	29	0.0	0.2	8.1	6.8	14.9	5.7	1.7
2011	Fremantle	18	20	1	1	191	116	307	129	35	0.0	0.0	9.6	5.8	15.4	6.4	1.8
2012	Fremantle	18	21	1	2	230	119	349	171	28	0.0	0.1	11.0	5.7	16.6	8.1	1.3
2013	Fremantle	18	16	0	0	195	71	266	137	21	0.0	0.0	12.2	4.4	16.6	8.6	1.3
2014	Fremantle	18	13	1	0	132	79	211	93	12	0.1	0.0	10.2	6.1	16.2	7.2	0.9
2015	Fremantle	18	18	0	0	169	114	283	124	17	0.0	0.0	9.4	6.3	15.7	6.9	0.9
Career			256	115	72	2326	1287	3613	1677	361	0.4	0.3	9.1	5.0	14.1	6.6	1.4

References

1. Luke McPharlin 200 AFL Games
2. AFL – Mark of The Year 2005 (Luke McPharlin)
3. "Grand revenge: Hawthorn makes up for 2012 loss". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 28 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
4. Fremantle Dockers defender Luke McPharlin retires as a club legend
5. "McPharlin calls time after decorated career". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
6. McPharlin calls time
7. A player and more
8. Top sportsmen find support in faith
9. Luke McPharlin Wins the Footy Show Screamers
10. Outside man
11. Grateful for guidance
12. "Kimberley perfect tonic for ex-Docker". Broome Advertiser. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
13. "Mind and Soul Matters Podcast". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
14. Luke McPharlin's player profile at AFL Tables

External links

• Luke McPharlin's profile on the official website of the Fremantle Football Club
• Luke McPharlin's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Luke McPharlin's profile on the Official WAFL Website