Fabian Francis (born 24 October 1973) is a former

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 ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer, most notable for his professional career with the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in Darwin into a family of

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

descent, Francis grew up playing both

and

. Francis played in the Litchfield Rugby League Club's premiership team in 1992. He chose to focus on Australian rules football and began playing Australian rules football for the Southern Districts club in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated a ...

. Francis moved to

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 ...

in 1992 to play for Port Adelaide in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

. Although he did not play a senior game for Port, Francis sufficiently impressed

(AFL) club

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to draft him.

AFL career

Francis made his AFL debut with Melbourne in 1991, but he did not enjoy living in Melbourne and after one season returned to Darwin to play rugby league.

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

coach

Robert Walls Robert Walls (21 July 1950 – 15 May 2025) was an Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career that spanned three decades, Walls played a combined 2 ...

convinced Francis to return to Australian rules with the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

and Francis played for Brisbane from 1994 to 1995. He spent the off-season playing rugby league in Darwin where he was part of the Northern Territory side in the 1995 Ansett Challenge Cup that defeated the Mascot Jets and Victoria. He returned to Port Adelaide for the 1996 season, where he played in Port's premiership winning 1996 SANFL Grand Final side and was runner-up in the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willi ...

. He was then named as an inaugural member of Port Adelaide's AFL team in 1997. Francis was clearly a favourite with Port Adelaide fans, winning the Member's Choice award for favourite player in both 1999 and 2000. Following a pay dispute, Francis was delisted by Port Adelaide at the end of the 2001 AFL season. Soon after being appointed coach of the Fremantle Dockers for the 2002 season, Chris Connolly suggested that Francis could be drafted by the Dockers with their number one selection at the upcoming preseason draft. A deal was soon struck between Fremantle and Francis, that he would be drafted, and he moved from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, with his family, and began training with the Dockers. Shortly before the preseason draft, the AFL informed Fremantle that they had exceeded Total Player Payments (TPP) for season 2001 - despite finishing last with only two wins for the year, and they would be barred from the upcoming draft, preventing them from selecting Francis. It is understood that the breach of TPP occurred due to an excess of injury payments - several regular players had been injured and a greater than expected number of players on match payments had needed to be paid. Fremantle then struck a deal with a clearly upset and disillusioned Francis, that he play the 2002 season in the WAFL for South Fremantle, and then be guaranteed to be drafted by Fremantle in the 2002 AFL draft. During the 2002 season, Francis suffered a serious knee injury playing for South Fremantle, and never played senior football again. He was not drafted by Fremantle later in the year, and a cash settlement was agreed upon in lieu of drafting him. He did stay with the club however, becoming a runner.

Post-AFL

Since his AFL career, Francis has worked with

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

in finding jobs in Darwin and Alice Springs. He also fathered 3 children.

Personal life

Prior to 1999 Francis was in a relationship with Dawn Cleary, together they had a daughter, Kloe Cleary. From 1999 to 2007 he was married to Debra Buckskin, a police officer. In September 2009 he appeared in a South Australian court charged with offences related to

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. Later in 2009, he was officially charged with the following crimes: three charges of threatening life, eight counts of common assault, six counts of aggravated assault, six counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two counts of threatening to cause harm. Fabian pleaded not guilty to all charges; however, it was announced on 26 January 2012 that Francis was found guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 15 months in jail over the charges. The judge described Francis as "domineering, threatening, verbally vicious and at times physically quite violent ... undeterred by the presence of others - by the presence of

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

children, her parents or by work colleagues", noting "Francis had bashed Ms Buckskin in the face, threatened to stab her and threatened to injure her to such an extent that she would have to drink through a straw." He later married Trish Gully and had another child with her. In 2021, Francis' step-son

Jason Horne-Francis Jason Luke Horne-Francis (né Horne; born 21 June 2003) is a professional Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League, having been initially selected by the North Melbourne ...

, Gully's son from a previous marriage, was chosen as the number one pick in the

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

References

External links