Caleb Serong (born 9 February 2001) is an Australian rules footballer and the co vice-captain of the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fr ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Serong grew up in the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n country town of Inverloch before moving to

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 1 ...

. From 2013 to 2015 Caleb played for the Warragul Colts JFC he was the U12's best & fairest of 2013 and also helped the U14.5's win the Warragul and District Junior Football League premiership that year. He attended St Paul's Anglican Grammar School and later boarded at

Geelong Grammar School Geelong Grammar School is an Independent school, independent Anglican co-educational Boarding school, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio, Victoria, Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, ...

on a sports scholarship. He was drafted with the 8th selection in the

2019 AFL draft The 2019 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2019 AFL season. Key dates Mid-season rookie draft The first mid- ...

from

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Wooden Spoons (1): 2003 *Morrish Me ...

in the

NAB League The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vic ...

. He made his senior debut for

Warragul Football Club The Warragul Football and Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Gulls'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of the same name in the state of Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Gippsland League, fieldin ...

at the age of 15. He co-captained the Victoria Country team at the

2019 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships was the 24th edition of the AFL Under-18 Championships. The tournament was played between five teams— Allies, South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the souther ...

, where he was awarded the team's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

award and was named in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led by ...

AFL career

Serong was recruited by

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

with pick eight in the

and made his debut in the fourth round of the

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

Metricon Stadium Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of t ...

against Gold Coast. In Round 8 of the

Serong was awarded the

Rising Star Rising Star or Rising Stars may refer to: People and characters * Rising Star, a pseudonym of the DJ Armin van Buuren * Aurvandil, the Rising Star, or Morning Star; in Germanic mythology Books * ''Rising Stars'' (comic), a comic book series by J ...

nomination after being one of Fremantle's best players in their 32 point loss to

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

, and won the award overall at the season's conclusion. A thrilling

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...

in round 22 of the

2021 AFL season The 2021 AFL season was the 125th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

saw Serong win Goal of the Year after kicking a remarkable off-the-canvas banana from an 'impossible angle' deep within

Optus Stadium Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...

’s south-east pocket. He was awarded the Glendinning-Allan Medal for best on ground. The

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...

saw Serong play 22 out of a possible 24 games, missing Fremantle's Round 3 Western Derby due to a sore knee, as well as their clash against GWS the following week. He was arguably best-afield during Fremantle's round 23 clash against GWS at

Manuka Oval Manuka Oval is a sporting venue in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located in Griffith, in the area of that suburb known as Manuka. Manuka Oval has a seating capacity of 13,550 people and an overall capacity of 16,000 people, althou ...

in Canberra, collecting a game-high 32 possessions, 11 clearances, eight score involvements and kicking a goal. Serong again had a stand out performance the next week during Fremantle's elimination final against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the ...

at Optus Stadium, racking up 33 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal. Following the 2022 season Serong was named co vice-captain of Fremantle alongside

Andrew Brayshaw Andrew Brayshaw (born 8 November 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career After an impressive junior career for his school, Haileybury, ...

. In round 3 of the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, Serong won the Glendinning-Allan Medal for best on ground in the Western Derby against the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Footbal ...

with 35 disposals and 9 score involvements, and tallying a perfect 10 coaches votes. Serong collected 37 disposals and was best afield during Fremantle's round 5 game against , which was played at

Norwood Oval Norwood Oval (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from the Adelaide-based Coopers Brewery) is a suburban oval in the western end of Norwood, an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is owned by Norwood, Payn ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, due to the AFL's inaugural

Gather Round Gather Round is an annual Australian Football League event in which all games in one home-and-away round are played in a single city and its surrounds. The event was first held in 2023 in Adelaide, South Australia, which will host the round each y ...

. Serong was among Fremantle's best in round 20, during their 7 point win over at

Kardinia Park Kardinia Park is a major public park located in South Geelong, Victoria. A number of public and sporting facilities are located in the park: a major AFL stadium, a secondary football oval, a cricket field, an open air swimming pool, a number ...

, collecting a game-high 29 disposals.

Family

Caleb's younger brother

Jai Jai or JAI may refer to: Abbreviations and codes * Jaipur International Airport (IATA: JAI), in Jaipur, India * Jamna Auto Industries, an Indian automotive parts company * Java Advanced Imaging, an API for the Java platform * Jet Airways (ICAO: ...

was drafted by in the

2021 AFL draft The 2021 AFL draft comprised the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2021 AFL season. The National Draft returned to being a two day ...

Statistics

''Updated to the end of round 10, 2023''.} , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

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2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

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2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

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Honours and achievements

Individual *

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan ...

* AFLPA Best First Year Player Award: 2020 * AFLCA Best Young Player Award: 2020 *

AFL Goal of the Year The Goal of the Year is a competition for the best goal kicked in the Australian Football League (AFL) during that season. It is run in conjunction with the Mark of the Year competition and is currently sponsored by Rebel Sport. The winner i ...

: 2021 *

Glendinning–Allan Medal The Glendinning–Allan Medal, formerly the Ross Glenndinning Medal, is awarded to the player judged best on ground in each Western Derby football match played between Fremantle Football Club and the West Coast Eagles. It is named after former ...

: 2021 (round 22), 2023 (round 3) * 22under22 team: 2022

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serong, Caleb 2001 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Gippsland Power players People educated at Geelong Grammar School