Paul Salmon

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, a two-time premiership player, seven-time leading goalkicker at Essendon, and the fourth-highest goalkicker for Essendon.

At , Salmon was, at the time, along with Carlton's Justin Madden, the tallest man to play in the AFL upon debut; however, this record would be broken several times. Also known as "Fish", Salmon was a well-known full-forward and ruckman in the Australian Football League over a long period of time. Essendon's leading ruckman at the time was the illustrious 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 's Justin Madden (coincidentally, Simon Madden's younger brother), and one of only a handful of VFL players who stood over tall at the time. he then recovered to kick 6 goals and 4 behinds in the 1985 premiership side. He became vice-captain in 1998 and also finished in the top ten in every best and fairest in each of his five years at the club. After 5 seasons and 100 games with the Hawks, he retired at the age of 35; and, after his retirement, he was named in Hawthorn's Team of the Century.

In 1987, he performed well, kicking 5 goals and being named in the best players, against Western Australia in Perth. The following year Salmon performed in the State of Origin Carnival, winning the Tassie Medal, kicking 7 goals in the semi-final, and 1 goal in the final.

In 1990, he was picked against New South Wales, on a wet day at the SCG, scoring 1 goal, in an upset loss against favourites Victoria. In 1992, he kicked 5 goals against South Australia and was named in the best players.

In 1993, in the State of Origin Carnival, Salmon kicked 6 goals in the semi-final against the combined New South Wales–Australian Capital Territory side, but he didn't perform in the Grand Final, failing to score a goal. Salmon last played for Victoria in 1997, against South Australia. Being named in the Ruck for the first time, Salmon performed well, being named best on ground.

Statistics

324 561 303 2906 1445 4351 1966 224 3897 1.7 0.9 9.0 4.5 13.4 6.1 0.8 12.0 109

Career after football Salmon has also worked in the media co-hosting Sportsworld for the Seven Network and Time Out for Serious Fun for the Nine Network, and he has released several books. He released an autobiography called The Big Fish: Paul Salmon's Own Story in 2001; Fish Tales, a book recalling humorous on- and off-field incidents, in 2002; and he followed up in 2003 with another book, called More Fish Tales: Favourite Yarns From A Footballing Life.

He also worked as a coach of the First XVIII Football team at Carey Baptist Grammar School; he retired from that position in 2008 to spend more time with his family and concentrate on business interests.

In August 2022, Salmon defeated former Essendon teammate Jason Johnson on the "Lou's Handball" segment of The Sunday Footy Show with a score of 76–74.