Paul Salmon

Paul Salmon
Personal information
Full name	Paul Salmon
Date of birth	(1965-01-20) 20 January 1965 (age 52)
Original team(s)	North Ringwood
Height	206 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Weight	112 kg (247 lb)
Position(s)	Full Forward, Ruckman
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1983–1995	Essendon	209 (509)
1996–2000	Hawthorn	100 0(41)
2002	Essendon	015 0(11)
Total		324 (561)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1984–1997	Victoria	14 (45)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 2002.
Career highlights
Club 2× VFL/AFL premiership player: 1985, 1993 2× Peter Crimmins Memorial Trophy: 1996, 1997 All Australian team: 1997 7× Essendon leading goalkicker: 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993 3× pre-season premiership: 1990, 1994, 1999 Michael Tuck Medal: 1999 Hawthorn Team of the Century Representative Tassie Medal: 1988 2× All Australian team: 1987, 1988 Overall Australian Football Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Club

Representative

Overall

Paul Salmon (born 20 January 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played in the Australian Football League, for Essendon and Hawthorn. Recruited from North Ringwood, Salmon had a prolific career, with many accolades such as being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, as well as being the 4th highest goal kicker for Essendon, among other things.

At 206 cm (6 ft 9 in), Salmon was at the time, along with Carlton's Justin Madden, the tallest man to play in the AFL. Also known as "Fish", Salmon was a well-known Full Forward and Ruckman in the Australian Football League over a long period of time.

He made his debut in 1983 with Essendon, however it was during the 1984 VFL season in which he established himself as the league's leading full forward kicking 63 goals in 13 games. Essendon's leading ruckman at the time was Simon Madden, which allowed Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy the luxury of playing the accurate kicking "Fish" up forward. His effectiveness in the position was due to his athleticism and ability to win one-on-one marking contests, using his superior height and mobility. At the time, Salmon was the VFL's equal tallest player alongside Carlton's Justin Madden (Simon Madden's younger brother), and one of only a handful of VFL players who stood over 200 cm (6'7") tall.

When leading the goalkicking, halfway through the season, a serious knee injury which required a full reconstruction left him sidelined for over a year, he then recovered to kick 6 goals 4 behinds in the 1985 premiership side. From this point onward he would rotate between full forward and his favoured ruck position with Simon Madden, who was in the twilight of his glittering career. He endured further minor complications with his knee injury and numerous soft tissue injuries over the next few years and was never allowed to settle in a specific role on field, despite this he played a vital role for the team, becoming Vice Captain in 1992, and culminating in leading the Bombers season goal kicking tally on seven occasions, as well as playing in Essendon's 1993 premiership where he kicked 5 goals in helping Essendon to a 20.13 (133) to 13.11 (89) win over Carlton in the Grand Final in front of 96,862 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

...
Wikipedia