Michael Barlow (born 18 December 1987) 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 for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, 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 represen ...

and Gold Coast Football Club 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

Barlow grew up in regional Victoria town of

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

. He was educated at Notre Dame College, Shepparton before finishing his schooling as a boarder at

Assumption College, Kilmore Assumption College (often known as ACK, where the K stands for Kilmore) is an Australian Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Catholic co-educational Secondary school, secondary Day school, day and boarding school. The school is located in the tow ...

Early career

Unlike most players in the AFL, Barlow did not play in 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 ...

as a junior, but instead played for Shepparton United in the

Goulburn Valley Football League The Goulburn Valley League (GVL), also known as the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League (GVFNL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. History The leag ...

, where he represented Victoria Country in 2007 as a 19-year-old. Barlow also won Shepparton United's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

at age 19 before moving to 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) at the end of the 2007 season. He moved to play for the

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-base ...

in the VFL in 2008. He had a very successful season in 2009, having moved from the forward line into the midfield, winning Werribee's best player award, the Fothergill–Round Medal as the league's best young player, came second in the 2009

J. J. Liston Trophy The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J. J. Liston, J.J. Liston, a busine ...

for the league's best and fairest player, and was named in the VFL's Team of the Year in both 2008 and 2009.

AFL career

After training with St Kilda during the 2009 pre-season and with

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 ...

after the 2009 season, Barlow was drafted to

with their first selection in the 2010 Rookie Draft—the eighth overall. He was one of eight players from the VFL selected in the rookie draft. Alex Silvagni was also drafted to Fremantle from the Casey Scorpions. He also continued the trend of Fothergill–Round medallists being rookie listed, with all bar one of the previous seven winners being selected in the rookie draft: Michael Firrito (2002), Aaron Davey (2003), Adam Fisher (won the medal in 2004, rookie listed in 2003), Jason Davenport (2006), Shane Valenti (2007) and Robin Nahas (2008). After performing well in Fremantle's three NAB Cup pre-season games, Barlow was promoted to Fremantle's senior list as a nominated rookie, enabling him to play throughout the

2010 AFL season The 2010 AFL season was the 114th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...

. He made a successful debut for Fremantle in the opening round of the

, gaining 33 possessions and kicking two goals, and was named as one of the best players on the ground. It was the most possessions gained by a player on debut since the AFL's official data partner, Champion Data, began collecting statistics in 1992, beating Bradd Dalziell's 32 possessions in 2008. In his first

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

( R6 2010), Barlow was awarded the Ross Glendinning Medal for being the best player on the ground. His game consisted of 10 kicks, 15 handballs, 4 marks, 8 tackles and a goal. A broken leg ended Barlow's season in Round 14 against Port Adelaide: late in the final quarter of the game, an awkward collision with teammate Rhys Palmer saw Barlow cleanly break both the

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

in his left leg, a few inches below the knee. He was awarded the Best First Year Player Award at the 2010

AFL Players Association awards The AFL Players Association (AFLPA) awards are a group of awards given annually, mainly to players in the Australian Football League and AFL Women's, voted for by all AFL and AFL Women's players. Main awards The AFLPA nominates the following as ...

, despite missing 8 home and away games due to his broken leg. After missing the first 12 rounds of the 2011 home and away season recovering from his broken leg, Barlow made his comeback in the Dockers round 13 clash with Melbourne at the MCG, after playing 2 games of WAFL football over the previous 2 weeks. Barlow gathered 25 disposals to be one of the Dockers best in the huge 89-point loss to the Demons in what was deemed a successful return to AFL football. However, he missed the following two games against Brisbane and the Gold Coast with soreness in his leg. He returned as the substitute in the round 17 clash against Sydney at the SCG, collecting 11 disposals after being activated on to the ground at three-quarter time. Barlow finished off the season strongly from then on, playing every game onwards and averaging just over 24 disposals. Although his form wasn't quite as stellar as his debut season, it was an impressive return to football. Leading up to the 2012 season, Barlow again faced difficulties with his rebuilt leg, experiencing more soreness weeks before the season began. He missed the whole pre-season competition and returned as the substitute again in the opening two games against Geelong and Sydney. Since then his form improved, with his best performance occurring in the Round 14 clash with Collingwood, where he collected a career high 37 disposals. He finished 9th in the club's

award, the Doig Medal. He continued to be a key part of Fremantle's midfield in the following years, finishing seventh and sixth in the Doig Medal in 2013 and 2014 respectively. At the conclusion of the

2016 AFL season The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eig ...

, Barlow was delisted by Fremantle. He subsequently joined as a delisted free agent. Barlow had played in every game for the Suns in 2017 until he again broke the fibula in his left leg whilst being tackled by Bryce Gibbs during a match against Carlton in round 13. Barlow was delisted by the Suns at the end of the 2018 season. In October 2018, Barlow was announced as a playing assistant coach with original VFL club Werribee for 2019.

Coaching career

Werribee senior coach (2021–2023)

In 2021, Barlow was appointed head coach of the

in the

(VFL). Barlow's 2 year coaching journey in South Western Melbourne helped end their Grand Final drought and helped players such as Shaun Mannagh earn their spot on an AFL list. At the end of the 2023 season, he left to join as a Development Manager.

North Melbourne Head of Development (2023–present)

Barlow joined the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

and replaced Gavin Brown as their new Head of Development ahead of the

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

Honours and achievements

Team *

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 ...

(

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 ...

)

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 ...

Individual *3× Ross Glendinning Medal: 2010, 2013 * Beacon Award Winner: 2010 * AFLPA Best First-Year Player: 2010 * Fremantle 25 since ‘95 Team' * Fothergill–Round–Mitchell Medal:

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 ...

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season''Michael Barlow's player profile at AFL Tables
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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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 13 , , 15 , , 3 , , 150 , , 212 , , 362 , , 66 , , 66 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.5 , , 16.3 , , 27.8 , , 5.1 , , 5.1 , - ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 9 , , 4 , , 8 , , 83 , , 134 , , 217 , , 32 , , 37 , , 0.4 , , 0.9 , , 9.2 , , 14.9 , , 24.1 , , 3.6 , , 4.1 , - 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 24 , , 8 , , 14 , , 310 , , 275 , , 585 , , 103 , , 124 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 12.9 , , 11.5 , , 24.4 , , 4.3 , , 5.2 , - ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 24 , , 14 , , 13 , , 302 , , 334 , , 636 , , 100 , , 142 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 12.6 , , 13.9 , , 26.5 , , 4.2 , , 5.9 , - 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 19 , , 18 , , 9 , , 255 , , 250 , , 505 , , 111 , , 97 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 13.4 , , 13.2 , , 26.6 , , 5.8 , , 5.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 24 , , 16 , , 9 , , 253 , , 297 , , 550 , , 116 , , 103 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 10.5 , , 12.4 , , 22.9 , , 4.8 , , 4.3 , - 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 13 , , 6 , , 2 , , 133 , , 185 , , 318 , , 45 , , 79 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 10.2 , , 14.2 , , 24.5 , , 3.5 , , 6.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 12 , , 10 , , 8 , , 131 , , 174 , , 305 , , 53 , , 48 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 10.9 , , 14.5 , , 25.4 , , 4.4 , , 4.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , 37 , , 41 , , 78 , , 21 , , 8 , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 12.3 , , 13.7 , , 26.0 , , 7.0 , , 2.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 141 ! 92 ! 68 ! 1654 ! 1902 ! 3556 ! 647 ! 704 ! 0.7 ! 0.5 ! 11.7 ! 13.5 ! 25.2 ! 4.6 ! 5.0

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Michael Living people Fremantle Football Club players Gold Coast Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Shepparton United Football Club players 1987 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sportspeople from Shepparton Werribee Football Club coaches People educated at Assumption College, Kilmore