Christian Salem (born 15 July 1995) is a 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 playing for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). A defender, tall and weighing , Salem plays primarily as a half-back flanker, with the ability to push into the

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and forward line. He was recognised as a talented footballer at a young age when he represented Victoria at under 12 level. He played top-level football early when he played in both the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

and

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...

as a bottom-aged player. His achievements as a junior saw him selected with the ninth pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the Melbourne Football Club and he made his AFL debut during the 2014 season.

Early life

Salem was born to Alex and Mary Salem, and is of Lebanese descent with his father being born in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. His talent was recognised from a young age when he received state selection in the under-12 Victorian side. He attended

Brighton Grammar Brighton Grammar School is a private Anglican day school for boys, located in Brighton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1882 by George Henry Crowther, Brighton Grammar has a non-selective enrolment policy ...

and played with the Robert Shaw coached first XVIIIs side from year nine, generally playing against year twelves. Salem played his junior career with the Hampton Rovers Football Club and played for the

Sandringham Dragons Sandringham Dragons is an Australian rules football club playing in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Moorabbin Oval in Moorabbin, Victoria, representin ...

in the

in both 2012 and 2013. He was selected to play for Victoria Metro in the

2012 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2012 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 17th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in Division 1, and New South Wales/Australia ...

as a bottom-aged player and played in the winning final, kicking two goals. He received a scholarship through the AIS-AFL Academy as part of their level two squad in the 2012 intake, and travelled to Europe for two weeks in 2013. He received mid-year state honours for the second consecutive year and played for Victoria Metro in the 2013 AFL Under 18 Championships. Salem was rated highly heading into the 2013 AFL draft and was predicted to be drafted inside the top ten due to his decision making and kicking precision, in addition, he drew comparisons to

Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, c ...

Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition and a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda Football Club, St Kilda and North Melbourne Football Club, ...

and

Dan Hannebery Daniel Hannebery (born 24 February 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Sydney Swans from 2009 to 2018 and for the St Kilda Football Club fr ...

AFL career

Salem was recruited by the

with their first selection and ninth overall in the 2013 national draft. During the pre-season, he suffered from a

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, it is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam's apple. It consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by ...

issue which saw him lose six kilograms in the month following the draft. He played the start of the season in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the

Casey Scorpions The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East. The club, which was previously known as the Springvale Football Club (1903–2005) and the Casey Scorpions (2 ...

, and after strong form in the VFL, including a thirty-two possession game in the VFL round three match against at

Frankston Park Frankston Park, known commercially as Kinetic Stadium, is a suburban Australian rules football ground located in Frankston, Victoria, in Australia. It is home to the Frankston Football Club, which plays in the Victorian Football League. Fran ...

, he made his AFL debut a week later in the thirty-one point loss against at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

in round six. In his seventh match, Salem was pivotal in Melbourne's comeback victory against in round thirteen, after marking the ball thirty metres directly in front of goal, he kicked the winning goal with nineteen seconds left in the match, giving Melbourne a one-point lead. He finished his debut season with twelve matches and senior ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' football writer, Jay Clark, wrote he had the potential to become one of Melbourne's best players. After playing his debut season in the forward line and a majority of matches as the substitute, Salem changed positions in 2015 and played predominantly on the

half-back line In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

. Playing the first seven matches of the season, he injured his hamstring in the round seven loss to and was initially ruled out for a month, however, after injuring his other hamstring, he ultimately missed two months and returned from injury playing in the VFL in round sixteen, before returning to the senior side in round twenty-one in the twenty-three point loss against at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He played the remainder of the season and finished with ten matches overall. After declaring his intentions to play in the

, Salem retained his spot on the half-back line whilst also playing on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

and prior to the season, he was labelled as one of the players who could have a breakout season by AFL Media journalist, Ben Guthrie. Entrusted with the

kick-in In the sport of Australian rules football, a kick-in (sometimes known as a kick-out, and known for much of the game's history as a kick-off) is the common name for the procedure to restart the game after a behind. It involves a defender from t ...

s for the season due to his elite kicking skills, Salem played the first six matches of the season before suffering from a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

as a result of a head clash during the thirty-nine point loss against at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53,600, making it the 7t ...

in round six. He returned two weeks later for the thirty-two point loss against the at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After being omitted the next week and playing for Casey in the VFL, a recurrence of his thyroid issue would see him miss two months of any form of football, and he returned for Casey when he played against in round seventeen of the VFL season. After playing the next three weeks in the VFL, he returned to the senior side for the final match of the year in the 111-point loss against at Simonds Stadium, which saw him finish with eight matches for the season. His time in the VFL saw him qualify for the finals, and he played in the winning preliminary final against in which he was stretchered off in the second quarter after losing consciousness from a tackle where his head hit the ground heavily. He subsequently missed the grand final, in which Casey lost to by thirty-one points at Etihad Stadium. Salem handballing away from Fasolo

During the 2017 preseason, senior coach,

Simon Goodwin Simon Goodwin (born 26 December 1976) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He has been the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2017. As a player, Goodwin tallied 275 AF ...

, earmarked a move into the midfield for Salem in the upcoming season, however, he suffered a mishap during preseason training, in which he received his third concussion in 2016 due to a brick in his backpack hitting his head during a preseason camp in December. Despite the injury, he returned to full fitness in time for the start of the season and played in the opening round match against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium. The next week in the twenty-two point win against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he recorded a career-high thirty-one disposals, in addition to seven marks, seven rebound 50s, three tackles and a goal, to be named the best player on the field by AFL Media journalist, Ben Collins. In what was labelled his breakthrough game by ''Herald Sun'' reporter, Jay Clark, he received the maximum three

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

votes, meaning he was adjudged the best player on the ground by the field umpires. Salem played the first nine matches of the season, until he was suspended for the round ten match against at TIO Traeger Park due to striking 's,

Shaun Higgins Shaun Higgins (born 4 March 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). Higgins played for the Western Bulldogs from 2006 to 2014, the North Melbourne Football Club from 2015 to ...

, in the fourteen point loss the week before. He received high praise from the media during the first half of the season, with ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' journalist, Chloe Saltau, writing Salem's "polish and calm" was a key reason behind Melbourne's improved form, Fox Sport Australia's, Anna Harington, noted he was enjoying a breakout season and his elite kicking was a "valuable asset" to Melbourne, and AFL Media reporter, Ben Guthrie, reiterated by stating his "elite ball use and composure under pressure asproving to be an important component of Melbourne's side." Furthermore, he was named in AFL Media's team of the week for his performances in the round two match against Carlton and the round thirteen match against the Western Bulldogs. Missing just the one match from rounds one to fourteen, Salem was forced to miss four weeks of football after sustaining a hamstring injury during the three-point win against at Domain Stadium in round fourteen. He returned for the twenty-three point win against at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round eighteen, and played three matches before he was omitted for the round twenty-one match against St Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The same weekend when he was playing in the VFL, he was suspended for one week for striking Carlton forward, Liam Sumner, thus ruling him ineligible for selection for the round twenty-two match against . He returned for the final round match against at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and finished with sixteen matches for the season.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of 2024''. , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , , , 3 , 10 , , 1 , , 3 , , 101 , , 57 , , 158 , , 34 , , 35 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 10.1 , , 5.7 , , 15.8 , , 3.4 , , 3.5 , , 0 , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 3 , 8 , , 1 , , 0 , , 87 , , 59 , , 146 , , 17 , , 29 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 10.9 , , 7.4 , , 18.3 , , 2.1 , , 3.6 , , 0 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 3 , 16 , , 5 , , 0 , , 219 , , 124 , , 343 , , 73 , , 54 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 13.7 , , 7.8 , , 21.5 , , 4.6 , , 3.4 , , 3 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 3 , 24 , , 6 , , 7 , , 320 , , 174 , , 494 , , 85 , , 84 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 13.3 , , 7.3 , , 20.6 , , 3.5 , , 3.5 , , 2 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 3 , 20 , , 0 , , 2 , , 334 , , 148 , , 482 , , 93 , , 60 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 16.7 , , 7.4 , , 24.1 , , 4.7 , , 3.0 , , 0 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 3 , 16 , , 2 , , 0 , , 200 , , 101 , , 301 , , 64 , , 41 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 12.5 , , 6.3 , , 18.8 , , 4.0 , , 2.6 , , 0 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

^# , , , , 3 , 24 , , 3 , , 2 , , 405 , , 203 , , 608 , , 145 , , 58 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 16.9 , , 8.5 , , 25.3 , , 6.0 , , 2.4 , , 1 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 3 , 13 , , 1 , , 1 , , 148 , , 78 , , 226 , , 59 , , 37 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 11.4 , , 6.0 , , 17.4 , , 4.5 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 3 , 16 , , 0 , , 0 , , 200 , , 106 , , 306 , , 63 , , 61 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.5 , , 6.6 , , 19.1 , , 3.9 , , 3.8 , , 1 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 3 , 17 , , 1 , , 2 , , 226 , , 114 , , 340 , , 99 , , 47 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 13.3 , , 6.7 , , 20.0 , , 5.8 , , 2.8 , , , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 176 !! 26 !! 23 !! 2297 !! 1188 !! 3485 !! 756 !! 529 !! 0.1 !! 0.1 !! 13.1 !! 6.8 !! 19.8 !! 4.3 !! 3.0 , , 7 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * AFL premiership player ():

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

Other work

Due to his Lebanese background, he was named one of the AFL's multicultural ambassadors during the 2017 season.

References

External links

* * *
Christian Salem's profile
from Demonwiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Christian 1995 births Living people People educated at Brighton Grammar School Melbourne Football Club players Casey Demons players Sandringham Dragons players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian people of Lebanese descent Melbourne Football Club premiership players VFL/AFL premiership players People from the City of Bayside 21st-century Australian sportsmen