Simon Minton-Connell (born 26 April 1969) 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 in 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) and Australian Football League (AFL).

VFL/AFL career

Nephew of the great

full-forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

Peter Hudson Peter John Hudson Order of Australia, AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New ...

and cousin of Paul Hudson, Minton-Connell was selected at pick 38 in the 1986 VFL Draft by

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

. Minton-Connell eventually played for four different VFL/AFL clubs; Carlton,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Hawthorn and

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in his twelve-year career, amassing 112 games and 305 goals in the process. Despite this lack of career stability Minton-Connell was an effective forward judged by today's standards, despite being overshadowed by the more glamorous and prolific spearheads of the era. He played for during a three-year period from 1992 until 1994 when the club won three consecutive wooden spoons, leading the club's goalkicking each year. He led the VFL/AFL reserves in goalkicking in 1989, with 69 goals, and in his final season in 1998, with 59 goals.

Local league career

Retiring to local league football, Minton-Connell reached the 100-goal milestone for the Aberfeldie Football Club of the

Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competi ...

in 2002, ending the season with 121 majors after tearing a thigh muscle in the opening minutes of that year's Grand Final versus Oak Park.Anonymous
'Top guns in shoot-out'
''The Age'', 28 June 2003

References

1969 births Living people Carlton Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Sydney Swans players Western Bulldogs players Allies State of Origin players Tasmanian State of Origin players North Hobart Football Club players Aberfeldie Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1960s-stub