Nic Newman

As a junior, Newman played underage suburban football for Mornington in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League, and was not part of the TAC Cup or any other AFL elite talent pathways until age 19, when he played one season as an overage player with the Dandenong Stingrays. Playing primarily as a half-forward before switching to half-back, Newman went on to play for {{VFL Fra}} in the Victorian Football League. He won the Fothergill–Round Medal as best young player in the VFL,{{cite web|publisher=Fox Sports Pulse|access-date=25 August 2014|date=18 August 2014|title=Newman named Fothergill–Round Medallist|url=http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-118-0-0-0&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=31089947|archive-date=26 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120029/http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-118-0-0-0&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=31089947|url-status=live}} and was named in the VFL Team of the Year,{{cite web |title=2014 VFL Team of the Year |url=https://websites.mygameday.app/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-118-0-0-0&sID=60264&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=31291246 |website=mygameday.app |access-date=22 July 2024 |date=1 September 2014}} in 2014. He played one further season for Frankston. Outside football, Newman had left school in Year 11 and was earning a living in landscaping and other trades.{{cite web|title=Newman: Non-traditional pathway taught me resilience, gratitude|url=https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/1311821/newman|date=20 April 2023|publisher=Carlton Football Club|author=Rose Zarucky|accessdate=18 January 2025}}

Newman was drafted by the Sydney Swans with a second selection and thirty-fifth overall in the 2015 rookie draft.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/sport/frankston-dolphins-defender-nic-newman-continues-his-rapid-rise-taken-by-sydney-in-the-afl-rookie-draft/news-story/9077cd7a0b37d7a7d0e07b6c28f5cca2|title=Frankston Dolphins defender Nic Newman continues his rapid rise, taken by Sydney in the AFL rookie draft|last=Amy|first=Paul|date=3 December 2014|work=Frankston Standard Leader|publisher=News Corp Australia|access-date=4 April 2017}} Newman spent his first two seasons playing entirely for the reserves in the NEAFL, including selection in the NEAFL Team of the Year in 2016 and winning the Andrew Ireland Medal as best on ground in the grand final, to earn a contract extension and elevation to the senior list.{{cite web|url=https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/106559/season-review-nic-newman|date=4 November 2016|publisher=Sydney Swans|accessdate=18 January 2025 |title=Season Review: Nic Newman }} He made his senior AFL debut aged 24 in round 2, 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/teams/e\/sygege\dney-swans-name-three-debutants-for-grand-final-rematch-against-western-bulldogs/news-story/df1b193a0190d22b7a038c2db602be6e|title=Sydney Swans name three debutants for Grand Final rematch against Western Bulldogs|last=Cordy|first=Neil|date=30 March 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|publisher=News Corp Australia|access-date=4 April 2017}}

Out of contract after the 2018 season, Newman was traded to Carlton for a fourth-round draft pick.{{Cite tweet |user=AFL_House|number=1052490169486475266|date=17 October 2018|title=Trade paperwork officially lodged. Sydney trade Nic Newman to Carlton for its Future Rd 4 Selection.}} He made an impressive debut for Carlton in the first match of 2019, gathering 26 disposals and a classy goal,{{cite news|url=http://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/2018-10-17/blues-welcome-newman|title=Blues welcome Newman|work=Carlton Media|publisher=www.carltonfc.com.au|access-date=17 October 2018}} and was a regular in Carlton's half-back line. He missed almost the entire pandemic-interrupted 2020 season with injury, suffering an elbow injury in round 1, then rupturing his right patella tendon three months later;{{cite web|url=https://www.krock.com.au/national/afl/season-blue-newman/|title=Season over for Blue Newman|publisher=KRock|date=14 June 2020|accessdate=18 January 2025}} despite this, he won the Best Clubman award for the season, an award he later also won in 2022 and 2023.

Newman remained a solid contributor until, at age 30 in the 2023 season, he established himself as an elite half-back defender, regularly taking on difficult defensive roles and contributing as a rebounding half-back. Newman finished runner-up in Carlton's best and fairest in both 2023 and 2024.{{cite news|url=https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/1449235/weitering-a-dual-john-nicholls-medallist|title=Weitering a dual John Nicholls Medallist|date=8 October 2023|accessdate=3 December 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/1673996/cripps-joins-nicholls-as-carlton-history-makers|title=Cripps joins Nicholls as Carlton history makers|date=6 October 2024|accessdate=3 November 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/1037102/the-turning-point-that-steered-carlton-blue-nic-newman-on-a-path-to-the-top|title=Like a New man: The turning point that steered Blue on a path to success|date=23 September 2023|publisher=Australian Football League|author=Riley Beveridge|accessdate=18 January 2025}} Newman ruptured his left patella tendon in the 2025 pre-season, and is expected to miss the entire season.{{cite web|url=https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/1708126/injury-news-newman-to-miss-2025-season|title=Injury news: Newman to miss 2025 season|date=17 January 2025|publisher=Carlton Football Club|accessdate=18 January 2025}}

: Statistics are correct to end of 2024{{cite web|url=https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/N/Nic_Newman.html|title=AFL Tables - Nic Newman statistics|website=AFL Tables|access-date=17 January 2025}}

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start}}

|-

| 2015

| {{AFL Syd}}

| 28 || 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

|-

| 2016

| {{AFL Syd}}

| 28 || 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

|-

| 2017

| {{AFL Syd}}

| 28 || 20 || 7 || 7 || 260 || 146 || 406 || 95 || 75 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 13.0 || 7.3 || 20.3 || 4.8 || 3.8

|-

| 2018

| {{AFL Syd}}

| 28 || 11 || 1 || 0 || 127 || 66 || 193 || 60 || 33 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 11.5 || 6.0 || 17.5 || 5.5 || 3.0

|-

| 2019

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 20 || 6 || 2 || 328 || 100 || 428 || 135 || 66 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 16.4 || 5.0 || 21.4 || 6.8 || 3.3

|-

| 2020

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 13 || 2 || 15 || 4 || 2 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 6.5 || 1.0 || 7.5 || 2.0 || 1.0

|-

| 2021

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 14 || 0 || 1 || 199 || 76 || 275 || 86 || 54 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 14.2 || 5.4 || 19.6 || 6.1 || 3.9

|-

| 2022

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 19 || 0 || 1 || 252 || 120 || 372 || 118 || 44 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 13.3 || 6.3 || 19.6 || 6.2 || 2.3

|-

| 2023

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 24 || 3 || 3 || 376 || 185 || 561 || 183 || 85 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 15.7 || 7.7 || 23.4 || 7.6 || 3.5

|-

| 2024

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 24 || 1 || 3 || 413 || 153 || 566 || 194 || 92 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 17.2 || 6.4 || 23.6 || 8.1 || 3.8

|-

| 2025

| {{AFL Car}}

| 24 || 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 134

! 18

! 17

! 1968

! 848

! 2816

! 875

! 451

! 0.1

! 0.1

! 14.7

! 6.3

! 21.0

! 6.5

! 3.4

|}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Carlplayer}}
• {{AFL Tables|ref=N/Nic_Newman.pdfl}}

{{Carlton player squad}}

{{2015 AFL rookie draft}}

{{Fothergill–Round Medal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Nic}}

Category:1993 births

Category:Living people

Category:Carlton Football Club players

Category:Sydney Swans players

Category:Frankston Football Club players

Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)

Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen

{{AFL-bio-1990s-stub}}