Tim Smith (Australian footballer)

Timothy Smith (born 20 February 1991) is a former Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, 1.92 metres (6 ft 4 in) tall and weighing 95 kilograms (209 lb), Smith plays primarily as the full-forward or centre half-forward. After spending five seasons with the Casey in the Victorian Football League, Dave Zennaro convinced him to take the next step in which he garnered team of the year honours and state representation, he was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2017 rookie draft and made his AFL debut in the 2017 season.

Tim Smith
Smith with Melbourne in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Timothy Smith
Nickname(s) Bull[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-20) 20 February 1991
Original team(s) Casey (VFL)
Draft No. 25, 2017 rookie draft
Debut Round 3, 2017, Melbourne vs. Geelong, at Etihad Stadium
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 38
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2019 Melbourne 13 (11)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Pre-AFL career

Playing with the Upper Ferntree Gully Football Club in the Eastern Football League, Smith won a senior premiership with the club at nineteen years of age, he then joined the Casey in the Victorian Football League (VFL) prior to the 2012 season.[2][3] At the end of the 2015 season, experienced Casey players, Evan Panozza, Mitch Gent and Will Petropoulos left the club, and Smith consequently became the oldest player on the list at twenty-five years of age and the most experienced with fifty-two games.[4] He was named the vice-captain for the 2016 season,[5] and after playing as the key forward for a majority of his career at Casey, he played the 2016 season as a smaller forward due to Melbourne-listed players Chris Dawes, Liam Hulett and Sam Weideman featuring as the key forwards for the season.[4] His new role saw him kick a career best thirty-one goals for the year and as a result, he became Casey's leading goalkicker and finished sixth overall in the league.[6]

After playing nineteen matches for the year, he helped the club secure the minor premiership and his performance in the preliminary final—which garnered a game-high three goals—saw the club qualify for the grand final for the first time since 1999.[7] Although Casey headed into the grand final as heavy favourites and he kicked three goals in the match, Casey ultimately lost the grand final to Footscray by thirty-one points at Etihad Stadium.[8][9] His performances during the year led to state honours when he represented Victoria against South Australia[10] and he was named as the centre half-forward in the VFL team of the year.[11] At the conclusion of the season, he was considered a "roughie" to be recruited in the upcoming AFL draft by Cranbourne Leader journalist, Paul Amy, due to his breakout season in the VFL.[12]

AFL career

After his emergence for the Casey Scorpions in the VFL, Smith was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club (Casey's affiliate team) with their second selection and twenty-fifth overall in the 2017 rookie draft.[13] He was predicted by AFL Media reporter, Dinny Navaratnam, as the draftee who would have the greatest impact at Melbourne for the 2017 season.[14] After "impressing" in VFL pre-season matches,[15] in which Casey-coach, Justin Plapp, said he was playing at an "exceptional level",[16] he made his AFL debut in the twenty-nine point loss against Geelong at Etihad Stadium in round three, in which he kicked his first AFL goal.[17] Smith retired at the conclusion of the 2019 season.[18]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season[19]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Melbourne 382127310360.51.03.51.55.01.53.0
2018 Melbourne 3843321305114240.80.85.37.512.83.56.0
2019 Melbourne 3877642327424191.00.96.04.610.63.42.7
Career 13 11 11 70 65 135 41 49 0.8 0.8 5.4 5.0 10.4 3.2 3.8

References
  1. Burgan, Matt (28 November 2016). "Rookie selection No.25: Tim Smith". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  2. "Tim Smith". CaseyDemonsFC.com.au. 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  3. Burgan, Matt (29 January 2017). "Hard work pays off for Smith". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  4. "Scorpion Smith finds his sting". VFL.com.au. SportsTG. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  5. Burgan, Matt (8 April 2016). "2016 Casey Scorpions preview". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  6. "2016 VFL Scoring Summary". VFL.com.au. SportsTG. 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  7. Amy, Paul (18 September 2016). "Casey Scorpions power past Williamstown to go into the VFL grand final". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  8. Harrington, Anna (20 September 2016). "The extraordinary statistics that showcase Casey's dominance ahead of the VFL grand final". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  9. Burgan, Matt (25 April 2016). "Quarter by quarter: Casey v Footscray". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  10. Amy, Paul (22 May 2016). "A Chris Dawes goal lifts Casey Scorpions over the line against Box Hill Hawks". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  11. "Peter Jackson VFL Team of the Year". VFL.com.au. SportsTG. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  12. Amy, Paul (28 October 2016). "The forward they call 'Bull' is a roughie for the AFL drafts". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  13. Amy, Paul (28 November 2016). "Casey Scorpions favourite and key forward Tim Smith gets a shot at the AFL". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  14. Navaratnam, Dinny (22 January 2017). "Early impressions: How your club's first-years are faring". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  15. Burgan, Matt (6 April 2017). "Smith to debut against the Cats". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  16. Burgan, Matt (3 April 2017). "Rookies earn strong praise from Plapp". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  17. Schmook, Nathan (6 April 2017). "Dees to blood 26-year-old rookie Tim Smith against Cats". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  18. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2019-09-16/tim-smith-decides-to-call-time%7Ctitle=Tim Smith decides to call time|last=Gibson|first=Ben|date=16 September 2019|work=MelbourneFC.com.au|accessdate=30 September 2019
  19. "Tim Smith". AFL Tables. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
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