Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) 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. He played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

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 or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

, and

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally selected by Melbourne with the first overall draft pick of the

2009 AFL draft The 2009 AFL draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2009/10 Australian Football League off-season. These were the trade week (held between 5 October and 9 October), the national draft (held on 26 November), the ...

. However at the conclusion of his initial two-year contract with Melbourne, he accepted the opportunity to join the newly established

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

in 2012 on a six-year deal. In October 2018, Scully was traded to Hawthorn for the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. He attended school first at Berwick College and then

Haileybury College Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...

Junior career

Originally from Berwick, Scully was first noticed by Dandenong region manager Darren Flanigan when he was 13. Flanigan asserted that Scully was the best talent he had seen come through the Dandenong program in nine years. Scully played his

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

football for the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regiona ...

, and school football for

. He captained Victorian Metropolitan region in the 2009 AFL Under 18 Championships and was named in the Under 18 All Australian team in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Melbourne career

Recruitment

Throughout 2009, Scully was touted as a potential and likely number one draft pick for the

AFL Draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft (sports), draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League ( ...

.Clark, Jay (12 April 2009)
Tom Scully plays by his own rules
heraldsun.com.au, Retrieved 21 April 2010 In the draft, the Melbourne Football Club had both the No. 1 and 2 picks available to it, and used the No. 1 pick (a priority draft pick) to recruit Scully. Scully was presented with the number 31 guernsey made famous by club and league legend

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi (27 February 1936 – 16 September 2023) was an Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the greatest and most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player ...

.Unsigned (15 December 2009)
No. 31 and No. 9 - Scully and Trengove
melbournefc.com.au, Retrieved 21 April 2010

Playing career at Melbourne

Scully made his AFL debut in round 1, 2010, alongside No. 2 pick Jack Trengove.Burgan, Matt (25 March 2010)
Scully, Trengove to debut against Hawks
AFL.com.au, Retrieved 8 April 2010 His breakout individual performance of the season came in Round 4 against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, with 26 disposals for the match including 11 in the third quarter, and he received an

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 Bu ...

nomination (and three Brownlow votes) for his Round 7 performance. Scully finished the season by coming second in the

, behind Sydney's

Dan Hannebery Daniel Hannebery (born 24 February 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Sydney Swans from 2009 to 2018 and for the St Kilda Football Club fr ...

. He won the Harold Ball Memorial Trophy, for being Melbourne's Best First Year Player, and finished eighth in the

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 ...

Greater Western Sydney career

Recruitment

There was intense speculation throughout the 2011 AFL season that Scully would move to expansion club Greater Western Sydney at the end of the season. Scully's initial two-year contract with Melbourne would end after the 2011 season, allowing the expansion club to sign Scully without need for a trade. It was announced on 12 September 2011 that he would be moving to the play for the Giants on a six-year contract valued at an estimated total value of $6 million. Melbourne retrieved compensation picks for losing Scully, they traded for Dominic Barry and selected

Jesse Hogan Jesse Hogan (born 12 February 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). A key forward, Hogan is tall and weighs . He was a standout basketballer ...

. There was controversy surrounding the signing when it was discovered that Scully's father, Phil Scully, had also been offered a job as a recruiting scout at the Giants, with a six-year term of employment coinciding with the period of Scully's playing contract. The AFL ruled that the appointment was legal, but that it was considered as part of the total agreement used to convince Scully to sign with the Giants; as a result, Phil Scully's wages ($680,000 over six years) will be included inside Greater Western Sydney's

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

. Scully has stated publicly that he had no knowledge of the offer to his father prior to signing his own deal. Phil Scully had previously served in a similar role with the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

2016

After signing a four-year extension with the club midway through the 2016 season, Scully helped the new franchise finish fourth on the ladder and reach its first finals series in its short history.

2017

Known as "The Running Machine,” Scully received a second straight All-Australian nomination in 2017 and finished with 15 goals for the year.

2018

Scully broke his ankle in the second round of the 2018 season against after twisting on it in a tackle. He fractured the fibula in his right ankle and also sustained a syndesmosis injury. The severity of the injury led to fears that he might not play again. Scully's frustration with the Giants' handling of his injury and the need to free space in

led to the former number one pick being traded to Hawthorn.afl.com.au
/ref>

Hawthorn

Scully was traded to Hawthorn at the end of the 2018 season for a future fourth round pick. Scully underwent a further operation on his ankle and spend most of the summer in rehab. Scully excelled with his rehab and he played his first game for Hawthorn against the in round 2, 2019. He didn't miss another game that year and was considered a steal of the year. The 2020 Covid restricted year and the shorter quarters hampered Scully ability to run out the quarters compare to his opposition, He missed a few games by being managed. Scully retired on 2 February 2021.

Statistics

, - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , 31 , 21 , , 5 , , 3 , , 197 , , 255 , , 452 , , 80 , , 81 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 9.4 , , 12.1 , , 21.5 , , 3.8 , , 3.9 , , 3 , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , , 31 , 10 , , 1 , , 5 , , 76 , , 132 , , 208 , , 21 , , 54 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 7.6 , , 13.2 , , 20.8 , , 2.1 , , 5.4 , , 2 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , , 9 , 19 , , 4 , , 4 , , 177 , , 209 , , 386 , , 51 , , 85 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 9.3 , , 11.0 , , 20.3 , , 2.7 , , 4.5 , , 0 , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , , 9 , 21 , , 11 , , 6 , , 198 , , 180 , , 378 , , 92 , , 84 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 9.4 , , 8.6 , , 18.0 , , 4.4 , , 4.0 , , 5 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , , , 9 , 15 , , 5 , , 5 , , 139 , , 158 , , 297 , , 49 , , 68 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 9.3 , , 10.5 , , 19.8 , , 3.3 , , 4.5 , , 1 , - ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , , , 9 , 17 , , 8 , , 8 , , 170 , , 175 , , 345 , , 80 , , 77 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 10.0 , , 10.3 , , 20.3 , , 4.7 , , 4.5 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 9 , 24 , , 23 , , 13 , , 282 , , 308 , , 590 , , 112 , , 103 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 11.8 , , 12.8 , , 24.6 , , 4.7 , , 4.3 , , 7 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 9 , 24 , , 15 , , 7 , , 241 , , 314 , , 555 , , 91 , , 75 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , , 13.1 , , 23.1 , , 3.8 , , 3.1 , , 3 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 9 , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , , 3 , , 2 , , 5 , , 1 , , 1 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 21 , 21 , , 12 , , 6 , , 195 , , 193 , , 388 , , 67 , , 49 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 9.3 , , 9.2 , , 18.5 , , 3.2 , , 2.3 , , 2 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 21 , 14, , 4 , , 2 , , 104 , , 86 , , 190 , , 34 , , 16 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.4 , , 6.1 , , 13.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, CareerTom Scully's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> ! 187 !! 89 !! 59 !! 1781 !! 2012 !! 3793 !! 677 !! 693 !! 0.5 !! 0.3 !! 9.5 !! 10.8 !! 20.3 !! 3.6 !! 3.7 !! 23 Notes

Honours and achievements

Individual * Harold Ball Memorial Trophy: 2010 * coaches award: 2013 * AFL Rising Star nominee:

* 2× Under 18 All-Australian team:

References

External links

*
DemonWiki profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scully, Tom Living people Hawthorn Football Club players Greater Western Sydney Giants players Melbourne Football Club players 1991 births People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne) Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Dandenong Stingrays players Casey Demons players AFL Academy graduates People from Berwick, Victoria