Steele Sidebottom

Steele Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Steele Sidebottom
Sidebottom playing for Collingwood in June 2017
Personal information
Full name	Steele Sidebottom
Nickname(s)	Rusty,[1] Steelo,[2] BlueScope[3]
Date of birth	(1991-01-02) 2 January 1991 (age 34)
Place of birth	Victoria
Original team(s)	Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft	No. 11, 2008 National Draft, Collingwood
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Collingwood
Number	22
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2009–	Collingwood	338 (197)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2020	Victoria	1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 7, 2025.
Career highlights
2× AFL premiership player: 2010, 2023 All-Australian team: 2018 2× Copeland Trophy: 2017, 2018 Collingwood co-vice captain: 2015–2022 Gary Ayres Award: 2018 2x Anzac Day Medal: 2016, 2025 2× 22under22 team: 2012, 2013
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He made the All-Australian team in 2018 and is a two-time Copeland Trophy winner.^[4]

Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the 2008 AFL Draft. Sidebottom had a 10-goal best-on-ground performance in the 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final.^[5] He is strong overhead and in one-on-one contests. An AIS/AFL Academy graduate and Vic Country representative in 2008, Sidebottom also was selected in the All-Australian team following the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships.^[6]

A midfielder, Sidebottom became a star player for Collingwood. He has won the Copeland Trophy twice as the club's best and fairest (2017, 2018) and also played in premierships in 2010 and 2023. Sidebottom has been named in the All-Australian team in 2018 on a wing in addition to finishing second in the 2018 Brownlow Medal. He has been the co-vice captain of Collingwood since the 2015 season to 2022.

Career

Sidebottom made his AFL debut vs St Kilda in Round 7, 2009, where St Kilda defeated Collingwood by 88 points.

In the semi-final against Adelaide of the 2009 AFL Season, Sidebottom had his first major breakthrough, where he notched up 25 disposals in a come-from-behind win.

In 2010, Sidebottom played in all but one game for the Magpies, including both the drawn Grand Final and Grand Final replay. At 19 years of age, he was the youngest member of Collingwood's 2010 Premiership side.

On 6 October 2017, Sidebottom won the Copeland Trophy.^[7]

In the 2018 Brownlow Medal count, Sidebottom finished in second place (his career best).^[8]

In 2020, Sidebottom was handed a four match suspension for breaching the AFL's COVID-19 protocols, after he and teammate Lynden Dunn had shared an Uber together and visited several homes, with the night concluding with Sidebottom being driven home by police.^[9]

In Round 11 2023, Sidebottom played his 300th AFL game, becoming the fourth Collingwood player ever to do so. In the milestone match, he injured his MCL and did not play again until Round 18. In the Grand Final of that year, Sidebottom kicked a goal with a 60-metre bomb in the last quarter which ultimately proved vital to Collingwood's premiership victory.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.^[10]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
#	Played in that season's  premiership team

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2009	Collingwood	22	11	3	3	82	85	167	42	44	0.3	0.3	7.5	7.7	15.2	3.8	4.0	0
2010#	Collingwood	22	25	24	13	253	209	462	105	101	1.0	0.5	10.1	8.4	18.5	4.2	4.0	1
2011	Collingwood	22	25	25	13	275	214	489	128	107	1.0	0.5	11.0	8.6	19.6	5.1	4.3	4
2012	Collingwood	22	24	14	13	377	258	635	133	89	0.6	0.5	15.7	10.8	26.5	5.5	3.7	7
2013	Collingwood	22	23	19	10	361	194	555	120	77	0.8	0.4	15.7	8.4	24.1	5.2	3.3	7
2014	Collingwood	22	19	14	14	327	181	508	109	78	0.7	0.7	17.2	9.5	26.7	5.7	4.1	9
2015	Collingwood	22	16	7	8	251	186	437	85	53	0.4	0.5	15.7	11.6	27.3	5.3	3.3	9
2016	Collingwood	22	20	17	7	273	241	514	108	90	0.9	0.4	13.7	12.1	25.7	5.4	4.5	7
2017	Collingwood	22	22	16	9	344	256	600	115	93	0.7	0.4	15.6	11.6	27.3	5.2	4.2	14
2018	Collingwood	22	26	12	14	361	403	764	133	96	0.5	0.5	13.9	15.5	29.4	5.1	3.7	24
2019	Collingwood	22	23	10	7	339	253	592	141	84	0.4	0.3	14.7	11.0	25.7	6.1	3.7	7
2020[a]	Collingwood	22	9	5	3	112	101	213	33	38	0.6	0.3	12.4	11.2	23.7	3.7	4.2	6
2021	Collingwood	22	21	8	5	272	228	500	114	62	0.4	0.2	13.0	10.9	23.8	5.4	3.0	0
2022	Collingwood	22	25	12	7	274	175	449	110	74	0.5	0.3	11.0	7.0	18.0	4.4	3.0	3
2023#	Collingwood	22	20	4	2	257	160	417	85	72	0.2	0.1	12.9	8.0	20.9	4.3	3.6	3
2024	Collingwood	22	22	4	8	270	133	403	90	69	0.2	0.4	12.3	6.0	18.3	4.1	3.1	0
Career			331	194	136	4428	3277	7705	1651	1227	0.6	0.4	13.4	9.9	23.3	5.0	3.7	101

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.

Honours and achievements

Collingwood

• 2× AFL Premiership (Collingwood): 2010, 2023
• McClelland Trophy (Collingwood): 2010, 2011
• AFL Minor Premiership (Collingwood) 2010, 2011 2023
• NAB Cup (Collingwood) 2011

Individual

• All-Australian team: 2018
• 2× Copeland Trophy: 2017, 2018
• Collingwood co-vice captain: 2015–
• Gary Ayres Award: 2018
• 2x Anzac Day Medal: 2016, 2025
• 2× 22under22 team: 2012, 2013