Stephen Albert Michael (born 15 March 1956) is a former

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. More recently, Stephen is the patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation, supporting disengaged, at-risk and disadvantaged youth across

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Playing career

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

Aboriginal man, Michael played in the WAFL between 1975 and 1985 with the

South Fremantle Football Club South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the ''Bulldogs ...

, playing 243 games and kicking 231 goals. He played in South's 1980 premiership side and was appointed captain in 1983. He holds the WAFL record for the most consecutive league games (217). Throughout his career, Michael resisted numerous advances by VFL clubs to move east and is often listed as one of the best players to never play in the VFL. He was a strong, high-leaping ruckman who won the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant an ...

in 1980 and 1981. His 37 votes in 1981 (with nine best-on-ground performances and receiving votes in 15 of the 21 games played) was a record tally under the 3–2–1 voting system in place at the time. He represented

in State or State of Origin football on 17 occasions, captaining the side 3 times. In 1983, he won the Simpson Medal for the best player in the WA vs SA game and the Tassie Medal as the best player in Australia in State of Origin football and was named captain in the 1983

All-Australian Team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, 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-perfo ...

. He won the South Fremantle's fairest and best in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1983.

Recognition

In 1995, he was named as an inaugural member of the

Fremantle Football Hall of Legends The Fremantle Football Hall of Legends was inaugurated by the Fremantle Football Club in 1995, in recognition of the new Australian Football League team's links with its home city's football heritage. The inductees are nominated by the two clubs ...

. In 1999, he was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

. In 2005, he was named at Centre Half-Forward in the Australian Football

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century was selected in 2005 to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in Australian rules football. Graham Farmer was named as the team's captain, while Barry Cable was selected as the team's coach. Eight of t ...

, and in 2009 he was named in the ruck and captain of the South Fremantle Football Club's Indigenous Team of the Century. In 2008, as part of the annual NAIDOC game between South Fremantle and Claremont, the Chris Lewis–Stephen Michael Award was presented to Andrew Browne for being the best player in the match. In May 2025, as part of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round celebrations, the AFL released a 15-minute documentary about Michael called ''The Western Great: The Stephen Michael Story''.

Media

Michael was a regular guest of the '' Marngrook Footy Show'', broadcast on Melbourne Radio.

Personal life

Stephen has 7 children: Clem, Stephen Jr., Vanessa, Cindy, Matt, Talan, Corey. Stephen's son Clem Michael also played

for

(including the 1997 premiership side) and

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, 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 represen ...

. Clem's career was cut short by a knee injury.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Stephen 1956 births Living people South Fremantle Football Club players Boulder City Football Club players Western Australian State of Origin players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Sandover Medal winners All-Australians (1953–1988) Noongar people Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Australian rules footballers from Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Kojonup, Western Australia