Matt Taberner

Matthew Taberner (born 17 June 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He mainly plays as a key position forward.

Matt Taberner
Taberner playing for Fremantle in 2016
Personal information
Full name Matthew Taberner
Nickname(s) Crab Stick
Date of birth (1993-06-17) 17 June 1993
Original team(s) Murray Bushrangers, TAC Cup
Debut Round 13, 23 June 2013, Fremantle
vs. North Melbourne, at Patersons Stadium
Height 199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Fremantle
Number 20
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2013– Fremantle 87 (104)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Originally from Bright, Victoria, Taberner played for the Myrtleford in the Ovens & Murray Football League and the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup.[1] He was drafted to Fremantle with the 11th selection at the 2013 Rookie Draft.[2] Taberner missed the start of the 2013 season due to a bout of glandular fever.[3] He made his debut for Peel Thunder in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) in the 6th round of the 2013 WAFL season, and kicking 9 goals from his next 7 matches.

AFL career

Taberner made his AFL debut in Round 13, 2013 against North Melbourne at Patersons Stadium.[4] He struggled to hold his place in the side, playing only four games in 2013 and six in 2014, before an impressive performance against Brisbane Lions in Round 22 earnt him a nomination for the 2014 AFL Rising Star. Playing as Fremantle's only tall forward due to captain Matthew Pavlich's late withdrawal due to injury, Taberner collected 24 disposals, took 10 marks and kicked a goal as Fremantle thrashed Brisbane by 58 points.[5]

Taberner was out of contract at the end of the 2017 season, and due to poor form wasn't selected by Fremantle early in the season. In the second half of the season he lifted his output for WAFL side Peel Thunder, forcing his way into the senior side for the final three matches. He played only eight games for Fremantle and kicked 11 goals in the 2017 season. At the end of 2017, after putting contract talks on hold, he eventually signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of 2019. One of his standout performances came against Essendon at Domain Stadium in round 7. He finished the game with 4 goals, 9 marks and 18 disposals. The dockers beat Essendon in that game by 37 points. Starting off the 2018 season in strong form, he fractured a metatarsal bone in his left foot in the Round 5 clash with the Western Bulldogs. He later returned, after 15 weeks recovering from his injury, in time for the Round 20 Western Derby against West Coast. He finished the season having played 9 games, and kicking 10 goals.[6]

Taberner started 2019 in brilliant fashion, with his strong marking ability displayed regularly. His standout game came against GWS in Round 5, where he kicked 3.3, amassed 21 disposals, took 13 marks, and was arguably Fremantle's best player on the day. Unfortunately, his 2019 season came to an abrupt end as a result of a stress fracture in his left foot, after the Round 9 clash with Essendon. He finished the season having kicked 13.10, and amassing 24 contested marks (avg. of 2.7 per game) from his 9 games.

2020 was a breakout season for Taberner, who finished the season as Fremantle's leading goalkicker with 29 goals (from 16 games), which also placed him in equal 4th for the Coleman medal. Taberner was second in the AFL for contested marks, finishing the season with 38 (an average of 2.4 per game). He was named in the initial 40 man squad for the Virgin All-Australian team but was overlooked in the final team announcement.

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season[7]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2013 Fremantle 424201811291190.50.04.52.87.22.82.2
2014 Fremantle 2097661319240250.80.76.83.410.24.42.8
2015 Fremantle 2015147834212551200.90.55.52.88.33.41.3
2016 Fremantle 20171861218921082411.10.47.15.212.44.82.4
2017 Fremantle 20811665279243201.40.88.13.411.55.42.5
2018 Fremantle 209107884713548121.10.89.85.215.05.31.3
2019 Fremantle 20913101054414972181.41.111.74.916.68.02.0
2020 Fremantle 20162913129371669281.80.88.12.310.45.80.5
Career 87 104 55 670 328 998 439 153 1.2 0.6 7.7 3.8 11.6 5.0 1.8

References
  1. Bourke, Jace (24 May 2013). "Taberner ready for AFL debut".
  2. Mitchell, Chris (12 December 2012). "Dockers had Matt tabbed".
  3. Duffield, Mark; Lewis, Ross (14 February 2013). "Dockers rookie laid low by illness". The West Australian.
  4. Rynne, Nick (22 June 2013). "Rickety Roos need to be brave". The West Australian.
  5. "Taberner earns AFL Rising Star nomination". 25 August 2014.
  6. King, Travis (10 September 2017). "Big Docker fires Peel into another WAFL GF". AFL.com.au. Australian Football League. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. Matthew Taberner's player profile at AFL Tables
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