Sam Switkowski (born 20 November 1996) is an Australian rules footballer who plays 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 ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early career

Switkowski attended school at

Eltham College Eltham College is an independent day school situated in Mottingham, southeast London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Early his ...

. He played for the

Northern Knights The Northern Knights is an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based in Preston, representing the northern suburban area of Melbourne. The Knight ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vic ...

Under 18s competition, winning their

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 ...

award in 2014. However, he was overlooked in the

2014 AFL draft The 2014 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2014 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed a ...

and joined the

Box Hill Hawks Football Club Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League. It has an alliance with the Hawthorn Football Club, which plays in the Australian Football League. Early Australian rules football in B ...

in the

Victorian Football League 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 ...

(VFL). He again missed selection in the 2015 and 2016 drafts, but was recruited by Fremantle with their second last selection, 73rd overall, in the

2017 AFL draft The 2017 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2017 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

AFL career

Despite having an interrupted first season at Fremantle due to

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrup ...

injuries, Switkowski made his AFL debut in Round 21 of the

2018 AFL season The 2018 AFL season was the 122nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

, against

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. A small forward known for his tackling and other pressure acts, he has been compared to his former Fremantle teammate

Hayden Ballantyne Hayden Ballantyne (born 16 July 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League. He was a 2014 All Australian and has previously won a Sandover Medal while playing wit ...

. Switkowski missed the

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

due to sustaining a stress fracture in his back. In 2022, he was ranked the number one small forward in the league for forward half pressure points per game (37.7) by

Champion Data A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

, and the third best small forward for tackles per game. Switkowski signed a contract extension during the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...

, tying him to the club until at least 2024. Following the 2022 AFL season, Switkowski was promoted to Fremantle's leadership group. Sam had a standout performance in round three of the

2023 AFL season The 2023 AFL season is the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season will fea ...

, collecting 21 disposals, 10 score involvements and kicking two goals. He signed a two-year contract extension in June of 2023. Switkowski was a major contributor in round 20 during Fremantle's 7 point win over

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

Kardinia Park Kardinia Park is a major public park located in South Geelong, Victoria. A number of public and sporting facilities are located in the park: a major AFL stadium, a secondary football oval, a cricket field, an open air swimming pool, a number ...

, collecting 17 disposals, six score involvements and kicking a goal. Switkowski made the line-up for Fremantle's opening game of

2024 AFL season The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the ga ...

, against the at

Optus Stadium Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...

. He kicked Fremantle's second goal of the game and finished with twelve disposals, a game-high three inside-50s, six score involvements and nine tackles. He collected eight disposals, nine tackles and kicked a goal the following week against . Arguably his best game of the season so far was against in round 13 at

Traeger Park Traeger Park (currently known under naming rights as TIO Traeger Park) is a sports complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, and is named after Alfred Hermann Traeger. The park was officially opened by Anne Catherine Sm ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. Switkowski finished the match with a career-high 25 disposals, 401 metres gained, eight marks, five clearances, six inside 50’s, four-goal assists and a goal in what was a 92 point drubbing over the Demons. Switkowski played 20 games in 2024 and finished fifth in Fremantle's best and fairest award, polling 168 votes.

Statistics

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

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2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , 39 , , 12 , , 9 , , 9 , , 79 , , 67 , , 146 , , 36 , , 32 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 6.6 , , 5.6 , , 12.2 , , 3.0 , , 2.7 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, , 39 , , 14 , , 11 , , 6 , , 79 , , 122 , , 201 , , 23 , , 63 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 5.6 , , 8.7 , , 14.3 , , 1.6 , , 4.5 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, , 39 , , 22 , , 16 , , 9 , , 134 , , 174 , , 308, , 58 , , 89 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 6.0 , , 7.9 , , 14.0 , , 2.6 , , 4.0 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***'' Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney ...

, , 39 , , 20 , , 12 , , 10 , , 130 , , 159 , , 289, , 63 , , 101 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 6.5 , , 7.9 , , 14.4 , , 3.2 , , 5.0 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 88 ! 55 ! 38 ! 527 ! 652 ! 1179 ! 233 ! 379 ! 0.63 ! 0.43 ! 5.99 ! 7.41 ! 13.40 ! 2.65 ! 4.31 ! 2 Notes

References

External links

* * * *
WAFL playing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Switkowski, Sam 1996 births Living people Australian people of Polish descent Australian people of Scottish descent Fremantle Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players Northern Knights players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen