Rhys Palmer (born 13 February 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, 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 represent the port city of Fr ...

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents th ...

and

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan ...

award in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

Early life

Palmer was born in 1989 and played junior football for the Bullcreek Leeming Junior Football Club. He made his

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

(WAFL) debut for in 2007, playing 14 games, obtaining over 20 possessions in his final six games, include five goals in one game. Palmer was a key member of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

's victorious 2007

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

side, averaging 32 possessions and 3 goals per game. He finished second by one vote behind

Cale Morton Cale Morton (born 18 January 1990) is a former Australian rules football player, recruited at pick 4 in the 2007 AFL Draft by the Melbourne Football Club. Morton was a midfield/forward with a penetrating and accurate kick as well as being a ...

in the

Larke Medal The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

and was named in the Under 18

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led by ...

side. Palmer gained attention again at 2007 AFL Draft Camp finishing second in the 3 km time trial with a time of 10min 25sec and fifth in the beep test with a score of 14.8.

AFL career

Palmer was taken at pick #7 overall in the

2007 AFL Draft The 2007 Australian Football League draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2007/08 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week, the national draft, which was held on 24 November 2007, the pre-s ...

by Fremantle. He put in some impressive performances in the

2008 NAB Cup The 2008 NAB Cup was the Australian Football League pre-season competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2008 season began. It culminated with the Grand Final played on 8 March 2008 at AAMI Stadium in which S ...

and after being named as an emergency for the opening round of the 2008 season, Palmer made his debut in Round 2 at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the hig ...

against Hawthorn. Whilst his debut match was impressive individually, with 22 possessions and a goal, Fremantle lost the match by 15 points. In his second match he was awarded the

nomination for his outstanding performance in the

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...

, despite receiving a gash to his head in the opening quarter. After being nominated in Round 3, Palmer won the

ahead of

Cyril Rioli Cyril Rioli (born 14 July 1989) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. Rioli was a member of four premiership teams and the Norm Smith Medallist from the 2015 ...

from Hawthorn with 8 of the 9 judges voting him as the best emerging player. He missed most of the 2009 season because of a knee reconstruction. Palmer joined in September 2011, becoming the third uncontracted player, after Phil Davis and Callan Ward, to join the club in preparation for its entry into the AFL for the 2012 season. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Palmer was traded to Carlton. He made his first senior appearance for Carlton at the MCG against Essendon, as a late inclusion. Carlton recorded their first win of the season, winning by 15 points. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, he was delisted by Carlton. In 2018 he returned to Western Australia and joined

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

in the

(WAFL). In March 2019 he threw his shoes onto the Gloucester Park

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Austral ...

track during the feature race. No horses or reinsmen were injured, but there were calls for Palmer to be banned for life from racetracks due to the dangerous act. On 16 March 2019, at roughly 7:30pm local time, Palmer suffered serious injuries in a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

accident in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, resulting in Palmer being placed in an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

. Palmer has since relocated to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and continues to play football with the Kalgoorlie City Football Club (Kangas). He was awarded Best on Ground in the 2021 Grand Final and later won the club’s fairest and best award for the season.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to round 19 of 2017 season'' , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 10 , , 8 , , 270 , , 192 , , 462 , , 100 , , 47 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.5 , , 9.6 , , 23.1 , , 5.0 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 5 , , 3 , , 1 , , 45 , , 59 , , 104 , , 18 , , 20 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.0 , , 11.8 , , 20.8 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 13 , , 4 , , 3 , , 113 , , 136 , , 249 , , 46 , , 52 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 8.7 , , 10.5 , , 19.2 , , 3.5 , , 4.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2011 , style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 15 , , 6 , , 6 , , 110 , , 121 , , 231 , , 48 , , 57 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.3 , , 8.1 , , 15.4 , , 3.2 , , 3.8 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 15 , , 9 , , 9 , , 158 , , 128 , , 286 , , 66 , , 34 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 10.5 , , 8.5 , , 19.1 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 11 , , 9 , , 5 , , 103 , , 80 , , 183 , , 51 , , 32 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 9.4 , , 7.3 , , 16.6 , , 4.6 , , 2.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 17 , , 23 , , 12 , , 147 , , 136 , , 283 , , 54 , , 49 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 8.6 , , 8.0 , , 16.6 , , 3.2 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 14 , , 18 , , 16 , , 133 , , 79 , , 212 , , 53 , , 38 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 9.5 , , 5.6 , , 15.1 , , 3.8 , , 2.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2016 , style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 12 , , 13 , , 7 , , 94 , , 73 , , 167 , , 53 , , 28 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 7.8 , , 6.1 , , 13.9 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 6 , , 6 , , 12 , , 4 , , 2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 6.0 , , 12.0 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 123 ! 95 ! 67 ! 1179 ! 1010 ! 2189 ! 493 ! 359 ! 0.8 ! 0.5 ! 9.6 ! 8.2 ! 17.8 ! 4.0 ! 2.9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Rhys 1989 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players East Fremantle Football Club players AFL Rising Star winners Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Greater Western Sydney Giants players Carlton Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) players Swan Districts Football Club players Australian people of Scottish descent