Samuel Gilbert (born 19 August 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fr ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Gilbert was brought up in

Terranora Terranora is a town located on the northern boundary of New South Wales, Australia. At the , Terranora had a population of 3,365 people. The town is part of the Tweed Shire local Government area. Its postcode is 2486. Two schools are locate ...

in northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

.ST KILDA DEFENDER SAM GILBERT’S JOURNEY FROM STARTING AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL IN HIS MID-TEENS TO REACHING 200 AFL GAMES
28 April 2018. His first love as a child was

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. His grandfather ( Jack Gilbert) and great-grandfather (

Herb Gilbert Herbert R. Gilbert (18 September 1888 – 5 January 1972) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player – a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in three Tests in 1910 and the Kangaroos in seven Tests from 1911 to 19 ...

) played for

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until ...

in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

. Herb was also a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

who captained Australia at rugby league. Sam played for the

Bilambil Jets The Gold Coast Rugby League (also known as the Kevin Bycroft Cup) is a rugby league football competition based in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensland ...

in the

Group 18 Rugby League Group 18 is the name of a junior rugby league competition on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Currently, the group has no senior competition. Prior to 2005, there was a joint Gold Coast-Group 18 competition which fielded tea ...

on the

Northern Coast. At the age of 14 he moved the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the ...

. He attended

Palm Beach Currumbin High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC High School or PBC) is an independent co-educational public school (government funded), in the Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. PBC is Queensland's southernmost coastal High s ...

throughout his teenage years. At the age of 15 he began playing Australian Rules at the Tweed Coolangatta JAFC. He made the switch after coming to the realisation that his body type - tall and skinny was not ideally suited to rugby league. He immediately shone, being selected in the Gold Coast representative under-16 team. He played senior football with the

Southport Sharks Southport Australian Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, that competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Southport is one of the most successful football clubs ...

. He missed state selection at under 16 and 18 level being a late bloomer but was selecte as captain of the Under 21 Queensland Scorpions Representative Side that defeated Western Australia attracting the eyes of talend scouts. His 2005 Rising Star award at Southport helped consolidate his prospect in the AFL Draft. Gilbert was selected by the Saints with pick No.33 in the

2005 AFL Draft The 2005 AFL draft was the 2005 event of the AFL draft, the annual draft of players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. The 2005 draft consisted of a pre-sea ...

. Gilbert is a cousin of former NBL basketball player,

Larry Davidson Larry Davidson (born 19 January 1983) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). Junior career A scholarship-holder at the Australian Institute of Sport, Davidson led N ...

AFL career

2006 season

Gilbert was selected by the Saints with pick No.33 in the

. He made his debut for St Kilda in Round 8, 2006 against Carlton. Gilbert played only one further match in 2006, failing to make a big impact. His rugby background has led to his physical approach and strong sidestepping and tackling ability.

2007 season

The 2007 season brought further opportunities for Gilbert and he was included for the Round 5 match against

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

, after improved form in St Kilda's

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

affiliated team, the Casey Scorpions. Setting the pattern for his teammates, Gilbert laid seven tackles. He held his spot in the side and improved under coach

Ross Lyon Ross Lyon (born 8 November 1966) is a former Australian rules football player and the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously coached St Kilda from 2007 to 2011 and the Fremantle Footb ...

, playing every game for the rest of the year. Gilbert was drafted as a key defender, but his agility and speed has allowed him to play through the midfield and up forward.

2008 season

Gilbert played in St Kilda's

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 ...

winning side - the club's third pre-season cup win. After a statistically strong performance in Round 16, in which Gilbert had 16 kicks, 12 marks and 6 handballs, he was awarded the AFL Rising Star Nomination for that round.

2009 season

Gilbert played in 19 of 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds. St Kilda qualified in first position for the 2009 finals series, winning the club's third minor premiership. St Kilda qualified for

2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. It was the 113th annual grand final of the Austral ...

after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Gilbert played in the grand final in which St Kilda were defeated by 12 points.

2010 season

Gilbert played in 26 games in 2010, including four finals matches, and finished 3rd in St Kilda's Best & Fairest Award (Trevor Barker Medal). As of the end of the 2010 season, Gilbert had played in 10 AFL finals matches including a grand final

2011 season

In 2011 Gilbert played 23 games, playing at a lower level than the two previous years, but generally contributing to a finals team. He was a mainstay of the team. He also played in his last finals match of his career, playing defence and midfield in a loss to Sydney.

2012 season

As St Kilda missed finals, Gilbert continued his form with 21 games played. He played more time up forward with new coach Scott Watters experimenting.

2013 season

9 games.

2014 season

6 games.

2015 season

11 games.

2016 season

22 games.

2017 season

18 games.

2018 season

11 games. Last season, reached 200 games played.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Sam 1986 births Living people Australian rules footballers from New South Wales St Kilda Football Club players Southport Australian Football Club players People from Tweed Heads, New South Wales Sandringham Football Club players Australian rules footballers from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia international rules football team players