Mathew Stokes

Mathew Stokes (born 22 November 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played with the Geelong Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life Mathew Stokes grew up in Darwin, Australia, with his parents John and Jennifer, and three sisters Jaylene, Anne-Maree and Amy. Stokes' ancestors were Indigenous Australian (Larrakia), Filipino and Spanish. His father is a life member of the Palmerston Magpies, having played 148 games for them in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL). When he was finally eligible to play football as an under-14, Stokes forced his way into the Palmerston Magpies senior team In 2002, he was a member of Palmerston's premiership-winning side, when in the last quarter he suffered a blow to the head after being tackled by Brisbane midfielder Albert Proud. Stokes went on to garner two goals and 12 disposals for the game. At the AFL Tribunal, he accepted a one match suspension for the incident, and stated that:

"Someone had to miss out and the boys played well last week, so I didn't really expect to come back in. I've moved on from the fact I'm not playing and I've dealt with it and I'm quite happy with the decision because I knew the consequences of me not playing in the prelim(inary) final." Geelong re-signed Stokes to a two-year contract extension at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

The Geelong Football Club imposed sanctions against Stokes for his 2010 drug arrest including being banned from playing for Geelong's AFL team until round eight. Stokes was an automatic inclusion to the team in round eight and played a total of 18 games for the season. His best games came in the round 11 win against West Coast at Subiaco (24 disposals, 16 kicks 8 handballs, 5 marks and a goal); the round 14 win over North Melbourne at Skilled Stadium (28 disposals, 10 kicks 18 handballs and 9 marks); the round 15 win against Hawthorn at the MCG (22 disposals, 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 3 marks and 4 goals) and in the Semi Final victory over Fremantle at the MCG, (22 disposals, 10 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks and 3 goals). Stokes was ranked 12th in the AFL for goal assists per game.

On 1 September 2015, Stokes announced the final round clash against would be his last for Geelong and he was subsequently delisted, he announced his official retirement from the AFL on 6 November.

In January 2016, he came out of retirement to sign with the Essendon Football Club as a top-up player due to the club's supplements controversy. He announced in August he would retire after his 200th game in round 22 against at Etihad Stadium.

Personal life Stokes interests outside of football include feral pig shooting, and fishing. His football hero was Nathan Buckley of Collingwood. On 27 April 2010, Stokes pleaded guilty to the possession charge in the Geelong Magistrates' Court after a deal between prosecutors and Stokes' lawyers to drop the trafficking charge. Stokes was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $3000 to the court fund. A conviction was not recorded by the magistrate.

After retiring as a player, Stokes was employed by the AFL as its Indigenous engagement and programs manager. He remained in this role until December 2018, when he returned to the Geelong Football Club as its people and engagement manager.

200 209 107 1979 1904 3883 919 538 1.0 0.5 9.9 9.5 19.4 4.6 2.7

Honours and achievements Brownlow Medal votes Season Votes 2006 2 2007 — 2008 — 2009 — 2010 3 2011 2 2012 - 2013 7 2014 6 2015 - Total 20

Team AFL Premiership (Geelong): 2007, 2011 AFL Pre-Season Premiership (Geelong): 2009 McClelland Trophy (Geelong): 2007, 2008 Dream Team Representative Honours in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match: 2008 NTFL Premiership (Palmerston): 2001