Mathew Stokes (born 22 November 1984) 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 who played with the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

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).

Early life

Mathew Stokes grew up in

Darwin, Australia Darwin (Laragiya language, Larrakia: ') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 Australian census, ...

, with his parents John and Jennifer, and three sisters Jaylene, Anne-Maree and Amy. Stokes' ancestors were

Indigenous Australian 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 ...

( Larrakia), Filipino and Spanish. His father is a life member of the Palmerston Magpies, having played 148 games for them 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 ...

(NTFL). Growing up, Stokes played basketball,

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

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 ...

, but age restrictions limited his involvement in

until he was 11 years old. Stokes' main sporting passion was for basketball, where he played at every junior level growing up and won an under-14s best and fairest award whilst still only seven years of age. When he was finally eligible to play football as an under-14, Stokes forced his way into the Palmerston Magpies senior team at only 14 years of age. In 2002, he was a member of Palmerston's premiership-winning side, and it was then that he began to switch his focus from basketball to football. Stokes' achievements in the local junior leagues saw him selected to represent Australia in the under-17's national team, alongside future AFL players

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 ...

Luke Ball Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the and football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club where ...

and

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, ...

. Stokes was overlooked in the 2002 AFL Draft though, and 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 ...

to begin playing 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. ...

(SANFL) for

Woodville-West Torrens Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The club was formed in 1990 from a merger of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football club ...

. Taking up a part-time job as a zookeeper off the field, Stokes continued to establish himself in the SANFL over the next three years. His persistence paid off when he was selected with the 61st pick in the 2005 AFL Draft by the

AFL career

It was not until his seventh game, making his mark against

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

in Round 15,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, that he kicked two final-term goals to lift Geelong's finals chances, one of which he marked and kicked from 40m out under pressure. For the rest of the year Stokes was inconsistent and as a result was in and out of the team. In 2006, Stokes played in Geelong's VFL grand final side, losing to the

Sandringham Zebras The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed the Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham. It currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Sandringham has c ...

. Stokes cemented his spot in Geelong's best 22 players. His best game in the 2007 home-and-away season was against

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

, in round 17, when he kicked a career best 5 goals. He was a member of Geelong's 2007 AFL Premiership side, overcoming a dislocated kneecap in the first quarter to make a solid contribution to the team's record 119-point win over

. Stokes escaped severe head injuries in a

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

pre-season practice match against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

, when in the last quarter he suffered a blow to the head after being tackled by Brisbane midfielder Albert Proud. He was declared OK after being stretchered from the ground, and despite having a sore head, didn't need to be taken to hospital. Mathew Stokes playing for Geelong

Stokes was reported in Geelong's Round 7 clash against the

, after striking Brisbane's

Michael Rischitelli Michael Rischitelli (born 8 January 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Brisbane Lions. AFL career Brisbane Lions (2004–2010) ...

in the match's first quarter. Stokes went on to garner two goals and 12 disposals for the game. At the

AFL Tribunal The AFL Tribunal is the disciplinary tribunal of the Australian Football League (AFL), an Australian rules football competition. The Tribunal regulates the conduct of players, umpires, and other officials associated with the AFL and its clubs. ...

, he accepted a one match suspension for the incident, but due to his poor tribunal record, which includes a four match suspension for an incident in the 2007 pre-season, his ban could not be reduced with an early plea. Stokes went on to play 22 games for 2008 including the loss in the

2008 AFL Grand Final The 2008 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 2008. It was the 112th annual AFL Gran ...

against Hawthorn. He had a career high 31 disposals (22 kicks, 9 handballs, 13 marks and 2 goals) in the round 2, 99-point win against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

. Stokes played 19 games in total for 2009, including the second qualifying final against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

. He withdrew from the preliminary final against Collingwood due to groin soreness, and as a result of

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

winning the preliminary final by a large margin and all players performing well, he could not force his selection back into the team for the grand final against St Kilda. Stokes later revealed that the decision to withdraw from the preliminary final was driven by "letting down his teammates" in the 2008 Grand Final loss by playing unfit, and stated that: His best games of 2009 came against

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 ...

in round 5 (13 kicks, 11 handballs, 4 marks and 3 goals); Sydney in round 7 (13 kicks, 8 handballs, 6 marks, 6 tackles and 3 goals) and against Adelaide in round 4 (12 kicks, 11 handballs, 6 marks, 4 tackles and 2 goals). He kicked a season high 4 goals against the

in round 9. Stokes was ranked 18th in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

for goal assists per game in 2009. Despite interest from 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 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

to secure Stokes, Geelong re-signed Stokes to a two-year contract extension at the conclusion of the 2009 season. The Geelong Football Club imposed sanctions against Stokes for his 2010 drug arrest including being banned from playing for Geelong's AFL team until round eight. Stokes was an automatic inclusion to the team in round eight and played a total of 18 games for the season. His best games came in the round 11 win against West Coast at Subiaco (24 disposals, 16 kicks 8 handballs, 5 marks and a goal); the round 14 win over North Melbourne at Skilled Stadium (28 disposals, 10 kicks 18 handballs and 9 marks); the round 15 win against Hawthorn at the MCG (22 disposals, 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 3 marks and 4 goals) and in the Semi Final victory over Fremantle at the MCG, (22 disposals, 10 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks and 3 goals). Stokes was ranked 12th in the AFL for goal assists per game. On 1 September 2015, Stokes announced the final round clash against would be his last for Geelong and he was subsequently delisted, he announced his official retirement from the AFL on 6 November. In January 2016, he came out of retirement to sign with the Essendon Football Club as a top-up player due to the club's supplements controversy. He announced in August he would retire after his 200th game in round 22 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 ...

Personal life

Stokes interests outside of football include feral pig shooting, and fishing. Stokes grew up supporting the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

AFL Record The ''AFL Record'' is the official matchday programme of the Australian Football League (AFL). The publication began as the ''Football Record'' in Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian ...

– Round 9 2008, Collingwood V Geelong 23 May 2008 His football hero was

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

of Collingwood. His overall sporting hero is American basketball player,

Josh Howard Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the UNT Dallas Trailblazers men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. H ...

of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, Growing up, Stokes was close friends with other future AFL players, including Trent Hentschel,

Aaron Davey Aaron Davey (born 10 June 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who represented the Melbourne Football Club between 2004 and 2013. Davey was a runner-up in the AFL Rising Star award in 2004 and represented Australia in t ...

and Alwyn Davey. Whilst playing in the SANFL, Stokes worked part-time as a zookeeper, and hopes to return to the profession after his football career. As a result, he studies

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

via correspondence. On 3 February 2010, Stokes was arrested on charges of possession and trafficking of cocaine. On 27 April 2010, Stokes pleaded guilty to the possession charge in the Geelong Magistrates' Court after a deal between prosecutors and Stokes' lawyers to drop the trafficking charge. Stokes was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $3000 to the court fund. A conviction was not recorded by the magistrate. After retiring as a player, Stokes was employed by the AFL as its Indigenous engagement and programs manager. He remained in this role until December 2018, when he returned to the Geelong Football Club as its people and engagement manager.

Statistics

:Mathew Stokes' player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 27 , , 9 , , 9 , , 5 , , 72 , , 45 , , 117 , , 51 , , 23 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 8.0 , , 5.0 , , 13.0 , , 5.7 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , 27 , , 21 , , 32 , , 15 , , 195 , , 159 , , 354 , , 111 , , 58 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 9.3 , , 7.6 , , 16.9 , , 5.3 , , 2.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 27 , , 22 , , 38 , , 17 , , 235 , , 162 , , 397 , , 122 , , 54 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 10.7 , , 7.4 , , 18.0 , , 5.5 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , 27 , , 19 , , 29 , , 19 , , 157 , , 143 , , 300 , , 75 , , 55 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 8.3 , , 7.5 , , 15.8 , , 3.9 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 27 , , 18 , , 28 , , 12 , , 166 , , 179 , , 345 , , 76 , , 32 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 9.2 , , 9.9 , , 19.2 , , 4.2 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , 27 , , 22 , , 29 , , 16 , , 208 , , 233 , , 441 , , 95 , , 70 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 9.5 , , 10.6 , , 20.0 , , 4.3 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 27 , , 20 , , 15 , , 6 , , 149 , , 161 , , 310 , , 70 , , 63 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 7.5 , , 8.1 , , 15.5 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 27 , , 24 , , 12 , , 6 , , 285 , , 348 , , 633 , , 123 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 11.9 , , 14.5 , , 26.4 , , 5.1 , , 2.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, , 27 , , 20 , , 7 , , 4 , , 270 , , 239 , , 509 , , 80 , , 55 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 13.5 , , 12.0 , , 25.4 , , 4.0 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, , 27 , , 14 , , 4 , , 2 , , 135 , , 132 , , 267 , , 58 , , 33 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.6 , , 9.4 , , 19.1 , , 4.1 , , 2.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, , 48 , , 11 , , 6 , , 5 , , 107 , , 103 , , 210 , , 58 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 9.7 , , 9.4 , , 19.1 , , 5.3 , , 2.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 200 ! 209 ! 107 ! 1979 ! 1904 ! 3883 ! 919 ! 538 ! 1.0 ! 0.5 ! 9.9 ! 9.5 ! 19.4 ! 4.6 ! 2.7

Honours and achievements

*Team **

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1989, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

): 2007, 2011 ** AFL Pre-Season Premiership (

): 2009 **

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 ...

(

): 2007, 2008 ** Dream Team Representative Honours in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match: 2008 ** NTFL Premiership ( Palmerston): 2001

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Matthew 1984 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Woodville-West Torrens Football Club players Palmerston Football Club players Australian people of Filipino descent Australian people of Spanish descent Australia international rules football team players West Preston Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory Larrakia people 21st-century Australian sportsmen