Michael Robert Wilson (born 21 November 1976) 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

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 ...

(AFL) and 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)

AFL career

Success (1997–2006)

Affectionately known as 'Wilbur', Wilson was one of the talented crop of youngsters making the transition from the SANFL to the national league as part of

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 ...

's inaugural AFL squad in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Playing primarily as an onballer Wilson immediately made an impression and took out the 1997 AFL Rising Star award as the league's best young prospect in his debut season. From

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

onward, Wilson played primarily as a medium-sized defender rotating through the midfield on occasion. With a pair of SANFL premiership medallions already in his keeping by age 19, Wilson was able to add the AFL equivalent in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, capping a brilliant individual season with a sturdy performance in Port Adelaide's first AFL flag win over the thrice reigning premiers, 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 ...

. His high level of play was all the more remarkable given he had required a double shoulder reconstruction for some time.

Injury and retirement (2007–2008)

With a tremendous work ethic and a fearless disposition on the field, Wilson overcame both his shoulder problems and other serious injuries including two knee reconstructions to remain a vital part of the Power lineup a decade on. In

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 ...

Wilson snapped his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

in Port's win over

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

in the Preliminary Final and missed the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

against

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 ...

. Wilson announced his retirement from AFL football on 5 August

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 ...

Playing statistics

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

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 22 , , 13 , , 11 , , 270 , , 149 , , 419 , , 58 , , 37 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 12.3 , , 6.8 , , 19.0 , , 2.6 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 21 , , 8 , , 5 , , 221 , , 120 , , 341 , , 68 , , 39 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 10.5 , , 5.7 , , 16.2 , , 3.2 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 23 , , 3 , , 4 , , 191 , , 101 , , 292 , , 63 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 8.3 , , 4.4 , , 12.7 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 21 , , 6 , , 2 , , 198 , , 88 , , 286 , , 47 , , 38 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.4 , , 4.2 , , 13.6 , , 2.2 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 11 , , 3 , , 1 , , 91 , , 61 , , 152 , , 28 , , 20 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 8.3 , , 5.5 , , 13.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 15 , , 2 , , 1 , , 104 , , 60 , , 164 , , 54 , , 31 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 6.9 , , 4.0 , , 10.9 , , 3.6 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 23 , , 9 , , 8 , , 228 , , 167 , , 395 , , 93 , , 62 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 9.9 , , 7.3 , , 17.2 , , 4.0 , , 2.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 16 , , 0 , , 2 , , 142 , , 89 , , 231 , , 65 , , 41 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , , 5.6 , , 14.4 , , 4.1 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 16 , , 3 , , 4 , , 120 , , 80 , , 200 , , 68 , , 33 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 7.5 , , 5.0 , , 12.5 , , 4.3 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 19 , , 4 , , 1 , , 161 , , 121 , , 282 , , 83 , , 42 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 8.5 , , 6.4 , , 14.8 , , 4.4 , , 2.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 37 , , 22 , , 59 , , 13 , , 8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.4 , , 4.4 , , 11.8 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 192 ! 51 ! 39 ! 1763 ! 1058 ! 2821 ! 640 ! 377 ! 0.3 ! 0.2 ! 9.2 ! 5.5 ! 14.7 ! 3.3 ! 2.0

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Michael 1976 births Living people Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Magpies players Port Adelaide Football Club players Port Adelaide Football Club premiership players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) AFL Rising Star winners South Australian State of Origin players Australian rules footballers from South Australia VFL/AFL premiership players