Troy Schwarze (born 23 December 1981) 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 in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. He was recruited as the number 53 draft pick (traded by Carlton for

Matthew Lappin Matthew Lappin (born 17 February 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Lappin played in Chiltern's losing 1 ...

and number 58,

Ian Prendergast Ian Prendergast (born 2 September 1980) is an Australian rules footballer who played senior professional football with the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League, and formally served as the club's Chief Commercial Officer and G ...

), in the 1998 AFL Draft from Dingley. At the time Schwarze was the youngest player on an AFL list at 17 years of age.

AFL career

Schwarze made his debut for St Kilda in Round 4, 2000 against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and in his early seasons was a much-maligned player. The turning point in Schwarze's career was in Round 6, 2004 against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

where he kicked the match-winning goal from 55 metres out in the last moments of the match at Telstra Dome. Schwarze played in St Kilda’s

2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup The 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup was the Australian Football League competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2004 Premiership Season began. The AFL National Cup is also sometimes referred to as the pre-season cu ...

winning side - St Kilda's second AFL Cup win. His brother, Ben Schwarze, was once also a St Kilda rookie, at the same time as Troy. Ben was delisted and picked up by the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

being a regular at the Kangaroos in 2006, but still being delisted at the end of the year. In 2006 Schwarze was a steady contributor to the Saints, playing many utility roles in defence and occasionally in attack. 2006 saw him used up forward, as was evidenced in the Round 4 game against Port Adelaide where he kicked 3 goals to spark a second-half resurgence from the Saints. Schwarze then suffered a hamstring injury in Round 13 and did not return to the side for the remainder of the year. He was delisted by St Kilda at the end of 2006 and, despite some interest from Port Adelaide and the Saints themselves, was not picked up by any clubs in either the National or Internal drafts.

After AFL

Schwarze was appointed the senior coach of the Sorrento Football Club in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarze, Troy 1981 births Living people St Kilda Football Club players Sandringham Dragons players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)