Matthew Parker (footballer)

Matthew Parker (born 25 January 1996) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 30 matches over 4 seasons in his AFL career.

Matthew Parker
Parker playing for St Kilda in April 2019
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Parker
Nickname(s)	Matt, MP-400, Parker-horse[1]
Date of birth	(1996-01-25) 25 January 1996 (age 28)
Original team(s)	South Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft	No. 47, 2018 national draft, St Kilda No. 10, 2021 mid-season rookie draft, Richmond
Height	190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Position(s)	Forward / midfielder
Club information
Current club	South Fremantle
Number	34
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2019–2020	St Kilda	19 (16)
2021–2022	Richmond	11 0(7)
Total		30 (23)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024 WAFL season.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

St Kilda (2019–2020)

Parker was drafted to the Saints with pick 47 in the 2018 AFL draft from South Fremantle in the WAFL..^[2][3] He played 17 games in his debut season but managed only 2 in his final season. He was delisted at the end of 2020.^[4]

Return to state-league (2021)

After being delisted by St Kilda, Parker returned to his former WAFL club South Fremantle.He was selected to represent Western Australia in the interstate match against South Australia in 2021.^[5]

Richmond (2021–2022)

In the 2021 AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, Parker was selected by Richmond with the 10th pick. Parker played his first game with Richmond in round 18 against the Brisbane Lions.^[6]

On the 23rd of September, Parker committed to a new one-year deal to remain at Punt Road in 2022.^[7]

In 2022 Parker called time on his Richmond career and returned home to Western Australia for family reasons.^[8]

AFL statistics

^[9]

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
2019	St Kilda	34	17	16	13	119	61	180	50	51	0.9	0.8	7.0	3.6	10.6	2.9	3.0
2020[lower-alpha 1]	St Kilda	34	2	0	2	8	5	13	1	5	0.0	1.0	4.0	2.5	6.5	0.5	2.5
2021	Richmond	37	6	3	3	47	32	79	18	29	0.5	0.5	7.8	5.3	13.2	3.0	4.8
2022	Richmond	37	5	4	3	40	19	59	22	9	0.8	0.6	8.0	3.8	11.8	4.4	1.8
Career			30	23	21	214	117	331	91	94	0.8	0.7	7.1	3.9	11.0	3.0	3.1

Notes

1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

1. "Weird footy nicknames: So why do they call Gov 'Brackets'?".
2. Duffield, Mark Duffield (23 November 2018). "AFL draft 2018: Tears of joy for Matthew Parker after St Kilda offer a draft lifeline". The West Australian. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
3. Gabelich, Josh (20 December 2018). "How new St Kilda recruit Matt Parker completed a dramatic rise from C-Grade amateurs to the AFL". Fox Sports. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
4. "'Tough choice' as Saints cut high-flying forward". www.afl.com.au. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
5. "WAFL announce Kia Australia WA State Team". West Australian Football League. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
6. "Parker becomes a Tiger via Mid-Season Draft". richmondfc.com.au. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
7. "Young Pie signs, top-10 Blue waits, what will Swans get for George?". afl.com.au. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
8. "Parker to return to Western Australia". richmondfc.com.au. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
9. "Matthew Parker". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links

• Matthew Parker's profile on the official website of the Richmond Football Club
• Matthew Parker's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Matthew Parker at AustralianFootball.com