The Fremantle Dockers’ games record holder, and walk up hall of fame entrant, Matthew Pavlich announced his retirement today. He leaves the league as one of football’s great noblemen.
Pavlich’s numbers really do speak for themselves: 353 games played, 700 goals kicked (assuming all things go well on Sunday), six times named All Australian, six times named Fremantle’s best and fairest, and 189 games as Fremantle’s skipper – in the top 10 of all-time. Those figures will define his career in the history books. They are the marks of a hall of fame player.
He’s currently the president of the AFL Player’s Association, charged with handling the negotiations in what will be one of the most important moments in the League’s history. Pavlich has been a voice of reason in many debates, and looms large as the sensible, measured ex-player commentator the football media so sorely needs in its sea of hot takes.
The Dockers have had a forgettable season, and will finish in the bottom four for the first time since 2009. Their three wins to date will be their second-lowest tally on record. It is not the way any player wishes to bow out, let alone one of Pavlich’s stature.
But even in his final season, Pavlich has been weaving magic. A four-goal performance against the Power, and a clutch goal against the Eagles – over which he holds a 19-15 record, just quietly – in Round 3, come to mind. His trademark long kicking and strong one-on-one abilities have not deserted him. He remains a very, very good player.
And, like so many of the game’s greats, Pavlich’s Dockers never won the last game of the year. Their lone trip to the grand final, in 2013, was even on scoring shots but uneven on the scoreboard. Pavlich kicked 3.2, and was the leading scorer on the ground; his teammates kicked a combined 5.9 (and three rushed behinds) for the rest of the game.
Playing his role. Those three words could define many players but for Pavlich, they speak to the manner in which he became the champion he retires as. The Fremantle Dockers didn’t have a happy existence for most of Pavlich’s career – his all-time winning record is 48.7 per cent – and more often than not, number 29 was called upon to fill the numerous holes present on his team’s list.
Drafted as a power forward, Pavlich played his third season as a majority key defender, earning the All Australian full back spot in the process. The following two years, and frequently thereafter, Pavlich played as a big-bodied midfielder, backing up his out-of-position higher honour with a half forward flank spot in 2003.
It was a role Pavlich was called to play frequently as a change up, or when his team needed a lift at a centre clearance. He did what his team needed him to do, and almost always did so at an elite level.
But it is abundantly clear that this selflessness extended beyond the perimeter fence of Subiaco Oval. Pavlich’s most memorable act, and the one for which he will almost certainly not receive due credit for, was his decision to stay a Fremantle Docker throughout his entire career.
In case you’re new to this footballing caper, excellent key forwards are the game’s most valuable commodity. In the modern era, there are at any point in time five or six big bodied forwards that are in the elite bracket. Right now, it’s Josh Kennedy of West Coast, Lance Franklin at Sydney, Tom Lynch at Gold Coast, Jack Riewoldt at Richmond, Jeremy Cameron at GWS, and probably one of Tim Membrey, Jack Gunston or Josh Jenkins. These moments are often fleeting: Travis Cloke can tell you all about that.
Back in 2007, Pavlich was one of those guys. He’d kicked 71 goals in 2006, and was on track to back up that mark half way through 2007 when it emerged the two Adelaide clubs had lobbed large contracts in front of the then 25-year-old.
The Dockers had made it to their first preliminary final in 2006, a loss, a mark which the Crows also achieved in that year. The Power were less good in that particular year, but made it into September in 2007. A South Australian, the temptation would have been immense.
It was, in many ways, a sliding door moment for all three clubs: Adelaide would go on to play finals in 2008 and 2009 without a prime-aged key forward – Jason Porplyzia led their goal kicking tally in 2009 – before slipping out of finals contention for a few years. The Power shot up to second in 2007, before enduring five straight years of hell until Saint Hinkley arrived.
Pavlich stayed a Docker.
Again, in 2010, Pavlich was courted by many sides. He stayed a Docker. An excellent 153-game career as Fremantle’s Mr Fix It has blossomed into a 353-game career as Fremantle’s Mr Everything.
He leaves the game as one of its most decorated individuals. In a football world where economics is pushing players and clubs towards short-term-ism, Pavlich’s career might be one of the last of a dying breed. Fremantle’s number 29 is, undisputedly, the AFL era’s greatest nobleman. His exit will leave a gigantic hole not just in the Dockers’ forward line, but in the Australian football landscape.
johno
Guest
never said failure - just said that it didn't work out Peter Schwab also springs to mind
Wilson
Roar Guru
I would not Call Ratten A failure as a coach it was more the blues seeing MM was available and going we want that it will get us to a grand Final, and we all know how that ended.
johno
Guest
A ceremonial handing over of the handkerchief maybe?
johno
Guest
Personally I think he would be better off going to another club. He's only really ever been exposed to the Fremantle club. He needs to do a Brett Kirk and go somewhere different. Apart from Roos and Worsfold (to an extent) senior coaches going back to the clubs they played for doesn't seem to work out - Voss, Leppitsch, Ratten, Tony Shaw, Buckley,
johno
Guest
He was never the best forward in the league? I would say that over the period 2005/06/07 he was the best forward in the comp. He was better in my mind than Fevola, Brown, Gehrig, Riewoldt and Hall over that period. Which is why he was named in the AA team 3 times and no other forward (KPP) was named more than once But anon always looks to find fault with the men in purple.
johno
Guest
Yeah - the other 699 goals he got despite his team mates being rubbish
Johnno
Guest
Why isn't he playing to end of season, why is he retiring mid-season?
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Anon is as ungracious as always.
Nathan Cook
Guest
Bontempelli will officially now take over the mantle as having the competitions biggest schnoz!
KingKongBundy
Guest
Pav could walk into a wall with a woody and still hit his nose but back to the subject true loyal champion
Lions07
Guest
A great article Ryan, Matthew does not get the credit that is deserving of a career such as his. Due to the fact that he plays for a interstate club. If he played for a Victorian club, he would of played more games (travel factor every second week). The media would be talking about Matthew's career to the higher praise that he deserves, ( Dane Swan for example ). Don't get me wrong, Dane deserved as well. As a lions supporter living in Melbourne, you get extremely frustrated with the lack of reporting on or about the interstate clubs and get extremely frustrated about the amount of reporting about/ on the 5 clubs in Melbourne, guess what media outlets, there are another 13 teams that make up the AFL. All the best to Matthew, I would of loved him to be at the Lions, what a role model he would be to our young group of players endeavouring to establish themselves in this competition.
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
Brown was a danger to himself and team mates alike, ran blindly into oncoming packs thinking it was courageous, it wasn't and still isn't Pavlich was such a better footballer than Brown in so many ways.
Oscar Dawson
Roar Rookie
I don't know if this is meant to be a whack for Jonathan Brown or Matthew Pavlich. But i must say i don't agree with you're assessment of Pav not being a team-first player. He doesn't ask for his teammates to kick the ball to him, and he gets as much ball as he does because Freo have never had anyone else to support him, he's been a one man band in the Dockers forward line for years. considering his age and the lack of tall targets Freo has, i'd say he's done it tougher than any one forward in the competition for the past few years. But he's never complaint about it and he's always been willing to dish the ball off teammates in a better position than he is. He set up two goals in 350th when he could have had a shot himself. I don't know what you're basis for calling him a stats-driven player is, to me he's always been a great team-man and leader
Balthazar
Guest
It actually doesn't sink in that Pav won't be there next year... he's been around only a few years less than the club itself. A great player, a fair player and a Freo legend. The AFL era's greatest nobleman - I think that is a compliment he would appreciate. Ryan.
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
Great guy - very measured, professional and friendly. Hopefully the dockers keep him in some capacity
anon
Guest
They would have been forced to develop a more balanced forward line.
anon
Guest
Pavlich is in some respect overrated (by some) or overlooked (by others) because he was never at anytime the best forward in the league, and at no time he was the best midfielder in the game. And in a way, the Dockers went backwards when he inherited the captaincy in 2007. Pavlich got more of the ball as a forward, but team performance suffered. The Dockers have long had tunnel vision with regards to Pavlich in the forward line. Players will pass to him no matter how many players are defending him. I read a stat last year about Pavlich over x number of years having the ball kicked to him in the forward line more often than any other player. With the great number of opportunities he's given to mark the ball in the forward line, you would expect him to have strong goal kicking numbers. I think you could fairly accuse him of playing for stats at times. He's not the ultimate, selfless team player like Nat Fyfe. But the stats do hold up. And he has had big game performances. His finals numbers are far more impressive than his contemporaries Tredrea, Riewoldt and Brown. Boofhead Brown was 'On the Couch' a year ago saying Pavlich needs to have a big finals series after failing in the 2013 Grand Final. Pavlich in 15 finals has kicked 36 goals at an impressive 2.4 goals per game, despite midfield stints. He also kicked 3 goals in a low scoring Grand Final. Brown by comparison was a total big game dud. 17 finals, 32 goals, which is acceptable. But Brown could only muster 5 goals from 4 Grand Finals. When Lynch was injured early in 2004 GF, Brown needed to stand up but went goalless.
Damo
Guest
I hope the the doggies lay off him long enough so he can get that 700th goal (though there's no guarantee Pav's teammates will actually be able to hit him with a kick/handball). Then they can run rampant over them.
AR
Guest
It's a shame that players like Pavlich won't retire as premiership players, but that's the way it goes. Pav is a star and a gentleman, on and off the field. Will be missed by all.
me too
Guest
Imagine a Freo without Pav for all those years - thankfully he stayed loyal and gave the suffering fans belief in their legitimacy as a club. champion and club stalwart in the form of unrewarded greats like flower at melbourne and barker at the saints - there through the lean times.