Barnaby French (born 25 November 1975) is a former professional
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er.
French attended
Pembroke School in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
. A champion junior
rower, French was a member of the
Australian under 23s rowing team. He gave up rowing when his studies interfered.
[Connolly, R.]
The Age
"French plans to stand tall", 23 November 2003, Retrieved 23 April 2011.
After rowing, French played local football for Ironbank in the Adelaide regional
Hills Football League from 1996 to 1997. Despite having relatively little junior experience as a footballer, French won the club best and fairest both years, and was impressive enough to be drafted by
Port Adelaide Football Club as a
rookie
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year).
In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...
at the
1997 AFL Draft.
French spent the
1998 AFL season playing for
South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club
Sturt.
He was also selected in the SANFL representative team that season.
Port Adelaide elevated French to its senior list for
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
and he made his AFL debut as a 23-year-old, playing 62 games and kick 20 goals for the club. However, French was generally the club's number three or four
ruckman behind
Matthew Primus,
Dean Brogan and
Brendon Lade, at the time, and this limited his opportunities with Port. French continued to play SANFL football with Sturt when not selected for Port Adelaide, winning a SANFL premiership in 2002.
At the end of the
2002 AFL season, French was traded to the
Carlton Football Club in exchange for a second-round draft selection (#16 overall). There, he took the position of number one ruckman, and proved weekly to be one of Carlton's most important players. French spent four seasons at Carlton, but as time went on he began to struggle to keep his place in the team. French announced his retirement at three quarter time of the Blues' Round 22,
2006 match against the
Sydney Swans, which they lost by 92 points.
References
External links
Barnaby French at the Carlton Football Club website*
Barnaby French profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Barnaby
Port Adelaide Football Club players
Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions)
1975 births
Living people
Carlton Football Club players
Sturt Football Club players
People educated at Pembroke School, Adelaide
Australian rules footballers from South Australia