richie_cole#13
Senior List
http://collingwoodfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=players&spg=playerprofile&personid=13668
Paul Medhurst
Personal
Height: 178cm
Weight: 86kg
Recruited From: Claremont (WA)
Debut: AFL 2002
Date of Birth: 11 December 1981
Player honours: leading goalkicker 2003, 2004. NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2002.
Draft history: 2001 National AFL Draft 4th round selection (Fremantle) No. 56.
Career
99 Games
166 Goals
117 Behinds
Averages
9.7 Disposals per game
4.6 Marks per game
1.1 Tackles per game
1.7 Goals per game
2002 Figures
8.7 Disposals per game
4.3 Marks per game
1.3 Tackles per game
1.8 Goals per game
2003 Figures
10.2 Disposals per game
4.7 Marks per game
0.9 Tackles per game
2.2 Goals per game
2004 Figures
8.8 Disposals per game
3.9 Marks per game
1.1 Tackles per game
1.9 Goals per game
2005 Figures
9.8 Disposals per game
4.3 Marks per game
1.2 Tackles per game
1.2 Goals per game
2006 Figures
12.3 Disposals per game
7 Marks per game
0.8 Tackles per game
1 Goals per game
***Has kicked 2 or more goals in 48 of 99 matches***
***Has kicked 0 goals in 26 of 99 matches***
***Has not scored in 14 of 99 matches***
***Highest tally of 9 goals in one match***
***Highest tally of 18 disposals in one match***
***Highest tally of 14 marks in one match***
------------------
To compare Paul Medhurst to Chris Tarrant click the below link:
http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=9&pid1=37&tid2=5&pid2=180
------------------
From article (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/06/07/1054700440586.html)
Schwab sprang a surprise on the listeners that day when he named a short bloke from Claremont who had played only six games, mostly off the interchange bench, as being one of the main players in leading the club's attitude away from the spiral of self-doubt.
"Paul Medhurst is the most confident player at our football club," he told ABC radio.
Medhurst is not typical of working-class Fremantle. He hails from the other side of the Swan River, from the exclusive western suburbs of Perth and one of the state's most prestige private schools.
It's a fact not lost on Schwab, who last week stood by the comments he had made a year earlier.
"I think from the moment he stepped on an AFL field or walked into an AFL club, he felt that was where he belonged. He mixes and walks with the attitude of a guy who believes he should be playing on the big stage," Schwab said.
For Medhurst, undying self-belief was a necessity of survival growing up as one of the smallest kids around. To say he was short as a teenager is like saying the Subiaco road-trip is challenging.
At 16 he was barely 150 centimetres tall and physically much more a boy than a man. "The gap between myself and other players was a heap bigger when I was young," Medhurst said.
"I always believed that there was a chance I could make it, but I thought it would come a little later because I was a late developer, both in terms of my game and my physique."
Although he has now stretched out to 178 centimetres, Medhurst's lack of height as a teenager ensured he never carried the huge expectations that many talented young footballers did. For those who grew up with him, even his achievement of reaching WAFL level was considered amazing.
"Until I was about 19 it was the furthest thing from everyone's mind, I sort of sneaked up on myself and the rest of the guys," he said.
"There wasn't a lot of people who believed in me . . . a lot of what I had to rely on was self-belief, which was something that was a necessity as much as anything."
Seemingly without the blistering pace, athletic physique and brute strength that an elite footballer is supposed to have, Medhurst, who was left with just 50 per cent working capacity in one of his kidneys after an on-field incident, stunned many observers in 2001 when he finished the season as leading goalkicker in the WAFL.
The same doubters returned in November of that year when Fremantle selected Medhurst with the 56th pick in the national draft, convinced he was a fluke who would be shown up at AFL level.
What Fremantle saw in the cocky youngster was something rare in a modern era dominated by athletes adapted to play football. What they saw was a brilliant football brain.
Like his inexhaustible supply of self-confidence, Medhurst believes his years as the smallest kid on the park taught him the value of using his brain as a means of getting ahead. "My physical attributes aren't at the levels of a Chris Judd or a big guy that can throw his body around, so that's a tool I've had to employ more than others," he said.
"Being short, your mind was always ticking over as to how to beat the bigger guys. Whether it was with your body or picking up the flight of the ball, it was imperative you did that earlier than them or you had no chance of getting the ball."
Backing up Medhurst's confident air is the knowledge that he does not need football. With intellect at his disposal, Medhurst remains involved in his family's successful mortgage and loan business, allowing football to remain nothing more than fun.
"If footy's not fun any more in two years, I'll quit - I never want it to become a job," he said.
On the strength of last Sunday's seven-goal haul against Carlton, the high-leaping forward pocket can be sure it will stay fun for some time.
-----------------
From article (http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=printerfriendly&spg=default&articleid=300121)
While he did not have much of an influence on the field, Paul Medhurst could well provide coaches around the country with the best example of how two goalsneaks cannot be accommodated in the same team. Although Geelong has Paul Chapman and Gary Ablett and Melbourne boasts Byron Pickett and Aaron Davey, those players have other strings to their bow. Ablett and Chapman are already quality midfielders while Pickett and Davey both work feverishly to lock the ball inside the Demons' forward 50. Medhurst doesn't. Mercurial at this best, Medhurst is one of the most frustrating players in the competition because of his inconsistency. He managed just 12 goals from 12 games and with Farmer enjoying his best season as a Docker, Medhurst's future at Freo does not look great. However, Medhurst is still only 24 and definitely worth a punt during trade week if put up.
----------------
From article (http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=risingstar&spg=display&articleid=26323)
Exciting young Fremantle forward Paul Medhurst is the AFL’s first Rising Star nominee for 2002.
Medhurst, 20, earned his nomination for his three goals on debut in the West Australian derby against West Coast on Sunday at Subiaco. His first AFL game continued on his impressive form shown in the Wizard Home Loans Cup.
After kicking over 70 goals for Claremont in 2002 – including six in the preliminary final – Medhurst was selected by Fremantle in the 2001 National Draft. It was a fine reward for the talented goalsneak, after he was overlooked in the previous draft of 2000.
------------------
From article (http://www.australianrules.com.au/2005stories/medhurstben.html)
Miserable wretches with no eye for the ball queue every week to scrag, pinch, bite and sledge certain players, often from the bunkered-down safety of a state daily newspaper monopoly.
At Fremantle, Paul Medhurst is the player who comes in for more attention than anyone else from these taggers. Following a second disappointing season for the whole team, the attention on Medhurst became even more absurd with calls for him to move interstate for the good of his own career.
Interstate, according to some commentators, Medhurst's game would flourish because, of all things, he'd be free of contstant media criticism.
Here are some things Paul Medhurst has achieved for Fremantle. In 2002, at 20 years-of-age and in his first season, he burst onto the scene and played 20 games for a return of 36 goals. Some may remember the previous year Fremantle finished with the wooden spoon and just two wins. In 2002, the team finished 13th with nine wins. Fremantle picked Medhurst with pick number 56 in the 2001 national draft. That makes him, to use the vernacular, a roughie. By contrast, the Eagles' Ashley Sampi was taken in the same year with pick number six. He is not a roughie, and nor does he receive a fraction of the media tagging his purple counterpart puts up with. However, in the four seasons Sampi has played with the Eagles - all of them while being kicked to by his team's uber-midfield - Sampi has never managed more than 34 goals. In 2003, Medhurst kicked 50 to lead his team's goal-kicking and play a major role in securing Fremantle's first finals appearance. He's kept himself extraordinarily fit, not missing a game since round nine 2002. He's worked at expanding his game, turning himself from a leading forward into a crumbing goal-sneak. He spots up team mates and looks to pass. He chases and pushes up the ground to get involved when the ball's not coming his way, and he keeps running and presenting even though his midfield team mates are looking for the large bloke wearing number 29.
Lately, Medhurst's taken to breaking multiple tackles hemmed in on the boundary line. It's great stuff and deserves to be praised.
But this strange 178cm creature with magic hands and double-take hair was typecast very early by media taggers. He was a showpony, he was soft, selfish, sooky, playing for frees and never thinking of the team.
And the following two years just confirmed this view - when in 2004 he again topped the goal-kicking with 41, and in 2005 sharked 27 in a new Pavlich-based forward set-up. The slacker.
Teams, highly fancied or otherwise, don't fall short of a finals appearance because a small forward failed to set the world on fire. Nor do they get belted at home by the wooden spooner, surrender sizeable three quarter time leads to premiership favourites, or choke in their do-or-die round 22 rumble because a small forward failed to set the world on fire.
Paul Medhurst is a unique, wonderful player and thankfully Chris Connolly knows it.
For those who don't, who still want to send him packing over east to save the poor lad from constant bagging, here's a nifty, inexpensive alternative - lay off.
----------------
Cheers.
Paul Medhurst
Personal
Height: 178cm
Weight: 86kg
Recruited From: Claremont (WA)
Debut: AFL 2002
Date of Birth: 11 December 1981
Player honours: leading goalkicker 2003, 2004. NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2002.
Draft history: 2001 National AFL Draft 4th round selection (Fremantle) No. 56.
Career
99 Games
166 Goals
117 Behinds
Averages
9.7 Disposals per game
4.6 Marks per game
1.1 Tackles per game
1.7 Goals per game
2002 Figures
8.7 Disposals per game
4.3 Marks per game
1.3 Tackles per game
1.8 Goals per game
2003 Figures
10.2 Disposals per game
4.7 Marks per game
0.9 Tackles per game
2.2 Goals per game
2004 Figures
8.8 Disposals per game
3.9 Marks per game
1.1 Tackles per game
1.9 Goals per game
2005 Figures
9.8 Disposals per game
4.3 Marks per game
1.2 Tackles per game
1.2 Goals per game
2006 Figures
12.3 Disposals per game
7 Marks per game
0.8 Tackles per game
1 Goals per game
***Has kicked 2 or more goals in 48 of 99 matches***
***Has kicked 0 goals in 26 of 99 matches***
***Has not scored in 14 of 99 matches***
***Highest tally of 9 goals in one match***
***Highest tally of 18 disposals in one match***
***Highest tally of 14 marks in one match***
------------------
To compare Paul Medhurst to Chris Tarrant click the below link:
http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=9&pid1=37&tid2=5&pid2=180
------------------
From article (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/06/07/1054700440586.html)
Schwab sprang a surprise on the listeners that day when he named a short bloke from Claremont who had played only six games, mostly off the interchange bench, as being one of the main players in leading the club's attitude away from the spiral of self-doubt.
"Paul Medhurst is the most confident player at our football club," he told ABC radio.
Medhurst is not typical of working-class Fremantle. He hails from the other side of the Swan River, from the exclusive western suburbs of Perth and one of the state's most prestige private schools.
It's a fact not lost on Schwab, who last week stood by the comments he had made a year earlier.
"I think from the moment he stepped on an AFL field or walked into an AFL club, he felt that was where he belonged. He mixes and walks with the attitude of a guy who believes he should be playing on the big stage," Schwab said.
For Medhurst, undying self-belief was a necessity of survival growing up as one of the smallest kids around. To say he was short as a teenager is like saying the Subiaco road-trip is challenging.
At 16 he was barely 150 centimetres tall and physically much more a boy than a man. "The gap between myself and other players was a heap bigger when I was young," Medhurst said.
"I always believed that there was a chance I could make it, but I thought it would come a little later because I was a late developer, both in terms of my game and my physique."
Although he has now stretched out to 178 centimetres, Medhurst's lack of height as a teenager ensured he never carried the huge expectations that many talented young footballers did. For those who grew up with him, even his achievement of reaching WAFL level was considered amazing.
"Until I was about 19 it was the furthest thing from everyone's mind, I sort of sneaked up on myself and the rest of the guys," he said.
"There wasn't a lot of people who believed in me . . . a lot of what I had to rely on was self-belief, which was something that was a necessity as much as anything."
Seemingly without the blistering pace, athletic physique and brute strength that an elite footballer is supposed to have, Medhurst, who was left with just 50 per cent working capacity in one of his kidneys after an on-field incident, stunned many observers in 2001 when he finished the season as leading goalkicker in the WAFL.
The same doubters returned in November of that year when Fremantle selected Medhurst with the 56th pick in the national draft, convinced he was a fluke who would be shown up at AFL level.
What Fremantle saw in the cocky youngster was something rare in a modern era dominated by athletes adapted to play football. What they saw was a brilliant football brain.
Like his inexhaustible supply of self-confidence, Medhurst believes his years as the smallest kid on the park taught him the value of using his brain as a means of getting ahead. "My physical attributes aren't at the levels of a Chris Judd or a big guy that can throw his body around, so that's a tool I've had to employ more than others," he said.
"Being short, your mind was always ticking over as to how to beat the bigger guys. Whether it was with your body or picking up the flight of the ball, it was imperative you did that earlier than them or you had no chance of getting the ball."
Backing up Medhurst's confident air is the knowledge that he does not need football. With intellect at his disposal, Medhurst remains involved in his family's successful mortgage and loan business, allowing football to remain nothing more than fun.
"If footy's not fun any more in two years, I'll quit - I never want it to become a job," he said.
On the strength of last Sunday's seven-goal haul against Carlton, the high-leaping forward pocket can be sure it will stay fun for some time.
-----------------
From article (http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=printerfriendly&spg=default&articleid=300121)
While he did not have much of an influence on the field, Paul Medhurst could well provide coaches around the country with the best example of how two goalsneaks cannot be accommodated in the same team. Although Geelong has Paul Chapman and Gary Ablett and Melbourne boasts Byron Pickett and Aaron Davey, those players have other strings to their bow. Ablett and Chapman are already quality midfielders while Pickett and Davey both work feverishly to lock the ball inside the Demons' forward 50. Medhurst doesn't. Mercurial at this best, Medhurst is one of the most frustrating players in the competition because of his inconsistency. He managed just 12 goals from 12 games and with Farmer enjoying his best season as a Docker, Medhurst's future at Freo does not look great. However, Medhurst is still only 24 and definitely worth a punt during trade week if put up.
----------------
From article (http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=risingstar&spg=display&articleid=26323)
Exciting young Fremantle forward Paul Medhurst is the AFL’s first Rising Star nominee for 2002.
Medhurst, 20, earned his nomination for his three goals on debut in the West Australian derby against West Coast on Sunday at Subiaco. His first AFL game continued on his impressive form shown in the Wizard Home Loans Cup.
After kicking over 70 goals for Claremont in 2002 – including six in the preliminary final – Medhurst was selected by Fremantle in the 2001 National Draft. It was a fine reward for the talented goalsneak, after he was overlooked in the previous draft of 2000.
------------------
From article (http://www.australianrules.com.au/2005stories/medhurstben.html)
Miserable wretches with no eye for the ball queue every week to scrag, pinch, bite and sledge certain players, often from the bunkered-down safety of a state daily newspaper monopoly.
At Fremantle, Paul Medhurst is the player who comes in for more attention than anyone else from these taggers. Following a second disappointing season for the whole team, the attention on Medhurst became even more absurd with calls for him to move interstate for the good of his own career.
Interstate, according to some commentators, Medhurst's game would flourish because, of all things, he'd be free of contstant media criticism.
Here are some things Paul Medhurst has achieved for Fremantle. In 2002, at 20 years-of-age and in his first season, he burst onto the scene and played 20 games for a return of 36 goals. Some may remember the previous year Fremantle finished with the wooden spoon and just two wins. In 2002, the team finished 13th with nine wins. Fremantle picked Medhurst with pick number 56 in the 2001 national draft. That makes him, to use the vernacular, a roughie. By contrast, the Eagles' Ashley Sampi was taken in the same year with pick number six. He is not a roughie, and nor does he receive a fraction of the media tagging his purple counterpart puts up with. However, in the four seasons Sampi has played with the Eagles - all of them while being kicked to by his team's uber-midfield - Sampi has never managed more than 34 goals. In 2003, Medhurst kicked 50 to lead his team's goal-kicking and play a major role in securing Fremantle's first finals appearance. He's kept himself extraordinarily fit, not missing a game since round nine 2002. He's worked at expanding his game, turning himself from a leading forward into a crumbing goal-sneak. He spots up team mates and looks to pass. He chases and pushes up the ground to get involved when the ball's not coming his way, and he keeps running and presenting even though his midfield team mates are looking for the large bloke wearing number 29.
Lately, Medhurst's taken to breaking multiple tackles hemmed in on the boundary line. It's great stuff and deserves to be praised.
But this strange 178cm creature with magic hands and double-take hair was typecast very early by media taggers. He was a showpony, he was soft, selfish, sooky, playing for frees and never thinking of the team.
And the following two years just confirmed this view - when in 2004 he again topped the goal-kicking with 41, and in 2005 sharked 27 in a new Pavlich-based forward set-up. The slacker.
Teams, highly fancied or otherwise, don't fall short of a finals appearance because a small forward failed to set the world on fire. Nor do they get belted at home by the wooden spooner, surrender sizeable three quarter time leads to premiership favourites, or choke in their do-or-die round 22 rumble because a small forward failed to set the world on fire.
Paul Medhurst is a unique, wonderful player and thankfully Chris Connolly knows it.
For those who don't, who still want to send him packing over east to save the poor lad from constant bagging, here's a nifty, inexpensive alternative - lay off.
----------------
Cheers.
