Personal information

Full name Brendan Fevola Nickname(s) Fev, The Shag, Fevalenko Birth 20 January 1981 (age 29) Recruited Beaconsfield / from (TAC Cup) 1998: #38 (Carlton) Height 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) Weight 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) Playing career

Position(s) Full-Forward Club Lions 5 Club Years Team Pld G B Pts 1999–2009 Carlton 187 575 377 3827 2010– 4 13 15 93* Total 191 588 392 3920 Representative Years Team Pld G B Pts 2008 1 6 2 38

Fevola began playing football with the Beaconsfield Junior Football Club in the Dandenong & District Junior Football League before playing senior football in the Victorian Country Football League. His ability to kick goals for the Dandenong Stingrays earned him selection in the TAC Cup Team of the Year in 1998 and attracted the eye of recruiters and was one of three talented AFL prospects featured in the television documentary “The Draft”.

Fevola is currently regarded as one of the most effective full-forwards in the AFL, having won the for league leading goalkicker in 2006 and 2009 (kicking 84 and 86 goals respectively) as well as All-Australian selection as a forward three times since 2006. His representative honours include playing for Victoria where he was awarded the Medal for being the state team's best player and leading goalkicker. During his career at Carlton, he was the club's leading goalkicker and key forward from 2003 until 2009.

Carlton

Fevola was recruited to with selection No. 38 overall in the 1998 AFL Draft. Early in his career he showed signs of being a brilliant kick of the ball and a prospective key position player at full forward. During a practice game promoted as the "Millennium Match" against Collingwood, he kicked 12 goals, impressing his team-mates and supporters of the club.

The promising talent was given the No. 25 guernsey made famous by Carlton legend .

However Fevola struggled to maintain form over the next few years, with noticeably poor body language on-field as well as causing bad publicity through incidents off-field. 's appointment as coach, replacing , had an immediate impact on Fevola's discipline and form. In Round 5, 2003 Fevola kicked 8 goals against The Kangaroos, helping win the game for Carlton and launching himself into the eyes of AFL viewers. Fevola's unkempt dreadlocks and extroverted personality in the media earned him the nickname "The Shag" by fans.

Fevola's early goalkicking inconsistency saw him experiment with unorthodox styles of handling the ball in approach to taking set shots. However the resulting increase in goalkicking accuracy was a notable reason for his effectiveness as a full forward.

Fevola gradually developed a ritualistic set-shot routine of taking three quick steps to shoot on goal, often taking over a minute to kick. The length of Fevola's set-shots was indirectly responsible for the input of a new rule limiting players to 30 seconds to kick on goal (and Shot clock) before play-on would be called.

In 2006, Fevola capped off a stunning year and his best to that point by kicking 84 goals and winning the coveted Coleman Medal. He followed this up two years later to kick a personal best of 99 goals for the season, seeing him finish second to in the race for the Coleman Medal.

In 2009, Fevola won his second Coleman Medal kicking 86 goals for the season, eight goals clear of the runner up Jonathan Brown. He is the only Carlton player ever to win the League goal-kicking twice. Fevola was Carlton's leading goal scorer again in a season which saw the club finish 7th and take part in its first finals series since 2001.

Carlton announced on 30 September 2009 that it would seek a trade for Fevola during the 2009 trade week due to his off-field behaviour, most specifically due to antics at the 2009 Count. On 9 October he was officially traded to the Brisbane Lions, along with a second round draft pick (#27 overall) in exchange for Brisbane's Lachlan Henderson and a first round draft pick (#12 overall). Fevola left Carlton as a life member of the club, after playing 187 senior games for 575 goals – the third most goals by any player in Carlton Football Club history. Despite the circumstances of his departure, Carlton has stated that Fevola's life membership was not affected, and that he remained welcome at the club.

Brisbane Lions

At Brisbane, Fevola was given the number 5 guernsey. He made his debut in Brisbane colours in the NAB Cup loss to the on February 14 2010. The following Friday afternoon, a trial match against his old club Carlton at Visy Park attracted 10,000 fans. He made his senior debut for the Lions in the first round of the 2010 season at against the .

Best career games

Round Year Team Opponent Goals Behinds Round 15 2009 Carlton Richmond 9 1 Round 12 2008 Carlton Collingwood 8 6 Round 13 2004 Carlton Richmond 8 5 Round 3 2008 Carlton Essendon 8 4 Round 6 2009 Carlton Hawthorn 8 4 Round 19 2006 Carlton Hawthorn 8 3 Round 11 2009 Carlton Brisbane 8 3 Round 3 2007 Carlton Essendon 8 2 Round 5 2003 Carlton North 8 2 Round 22 2008 Carlton Hawthorn 7 3 Round 7 2006 Carlton Essendon 7 2 Round 4 2008 Carlton Collingwood 7 2 Round 11 2004 Carlton Adelaide 7 1 Round 13 2008 Carlton Essendon 7 1 Round 5 2008 Carlton Melbourne 7 0 Round 21 2009 Carlton Melbourne 7 0

Fevola has also kicked eight goals in two pre-season games, in the 2005 Wizard Cup grand final against West Coast, earning him the Medal, and in the semi-final of the 2007 NAB Cup against North Melbourne.

He kicked a personal best of 12 goals during the special New Years' Eve Millennium Match against Collingwood on 31 December 1999.

Playing honours

• Michael Tuck Medal 2005 • Coleman Medal 2006, 2009 • All Australian 2006, 2008, 2009 • Carlton leading goalkicker 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 • 3rd - Most Career Goals For Carlton - 575* • NAB Cup Premiership Player 2005, 2007 • Australian International Rules squad 2006 (did not play for disciplinary reasons) • VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century 2007 • Victorian State Representative In Hall Of Fame Tribute Match • Allen Aylett Medallist

Source: Wikipedia