Michael Frederick

Minairo "Michael" Frederick (born 17 May 2000) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life Fredrick was born in Adelaide, South Australia to South Sudanese migrant parents. He was named Minairo at birth, but prefers to be known by his baptised name, Michael. His twin brother Manguru (Martin) formerly played for Port Adelaide. He completed school at Christian Brothers College, Adelaide in 2018. He was drafted with the 61st selection in the 2019 AFL draft from Woodville-West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), where he had won the Alan Stewart Medal as the best player in the 2019 SANFL Under 18 Grand Final.

Professional career

2020–2021: Early career

Frederick made his AFL debut for Fremantle during round seven of the 2020 AFL season in the Western Derby at Optus Stadium, kicking a goal on debut. Frederick finished his debut year having played 10 games and kicked four goals.

On 7 March, in a pre-season practice match against West Coast, Frederick suffered a low-grade calf strain. As a result, he missed Fremantle's opening game of the season against Melbourne, before returning to the line-up in Round 2. In Round 8 against Brisbane, Frederick suffered an ankle injury during a marking contest in the first quarter and was substituted out of the game. It was later confirmed to be an ankle syndesmosis injury. He required surgery, with an estimated recovery time of 10–12 weeks, effectively ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

2022: Breakout season

Frederick made his return in Round 1 of the 2022 AFL season against at Adelaide Oval, recording 8 disposals and kicking 1 goal. He was quiet the following week, recording just the 6 disposals and 1 behind before starting to find some consistency, kicking 2 goals in each of his next 3 games. Frederick again had a strong performance the following week in Fremantle's top four clash against Brisbane, kicking 3 goals and amassing 18 disposals, 7 score involvements and 10 marks in the 14-point win.

Later that month, Frederick was handed a one-match ban by Fremantle after consuming alcohol during a six-day break. As a result, he missed Fremantle's Round 13 game against Hawthorn. Frederick was again one of Fremantle's best players in Round 17 in a 41-point win over , kicking an equal game-high 3 goals. In July, Frederick signed a three-year contract extension, keeping him at Fremantle until at least 2026. Frederick finished the season having played a career-high 22 games, including both of Fremantle's finals appearances, in a breakout season.

2023–2024

Frederick made a memorable impact in Round 20 of the 2023 AFL season in Fremantle's 7-point win over Geelong at Kardinia Park, kicking an "unbelievable goal" at a crucial stage in the game from a difficult angle to help win the match. Despite being labeled "one of the goals of the season" by Fox Sports journalist Mark Howard, He kicked two goals the next week against at Marvel Stadium.

2025 In Round 20 of the 2025 AFL season, Frederick kicked 4 goals against West Coast, both a career-high and a game-high. He finished the season having played every game and with a career-best 30 goals, which placed him fourth in the leading goalkicker award. He also finished seventh in the best and fairest award count, the Doig Medal.

Statistics Updated to the end of round 22, 2026.

118 !! 136 !! 93 !! 831 !! 442 !! 1273 !! 416 !! 218 !! 1.2 !! 0.8 !! 7.0 !! 3.7 !! 10.8 !! 3.5 !! 1.8 !! 0