Steele Sidebottom
{{short description|Australian rules footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Steele Sidebottom
| image = Steele Sidebottom 2017.6.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sidebottom playing for Collingwood in June 2017
| fullname = Steele Sidebottom
| nickname = Rusty,{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/magpies-steele-sidebottom-reveals-why-he-loves-to-return-to-his-brand-of-brothers/news-story/842251483af64e7a057737d754eff061|title=Collingwood's Steele Sidebottom reveals why he loves to return to his band of brothers|first=Glenn|last=McFarlane|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=9 July 2011}} Steelo,{{Cite news |last=Gleeson |first=Michael |date=2022-09-09 |title=Collingwood’s man of Steele was rusty |url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/collingwood-s-man-of-steele-was-rusty-20220908-p5bghf.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The Age}} BlueScope{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/beg-borrow-or-steele/news-story/87e6428974e6e3d2de1f590715d73d85|title=Beg, borrow or Steele|first1=Daryl|last1=Timms|first2=Chris|last2=de Kretser|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 May 2010}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1991|1|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = Victoria
| originalteam = Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
| draftpick = No. 11, 2008 National Draft, {{AFL Col}}
| height = 184 cm
| weight = 86 kg
| position = Midfielder
| currentclub = {{AFL Col}}
| guernsey = 22
| years1 = 2009–
| club1 = {{AFL Col}}
| games_goals1 = 342 (200)
| statsend = round 12, 2025
| sooyears1 = 2020
| sooteam1 = Victoria
| soogames_goals1 = 1 (0)
| careerhighlights = * 2× AFL premiership player: 2010, 2023
- All-Australian team: 2018
- 2× Copeland Trophy: 2017, 2018
- Collingwood co-vice captain: 2015–2022
- Gary Ayres Award: 2018
- 2x Anzac Day Medal: 2016, 2025
- 2× 22under22 team: 2012, 2013
}}
Steele Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.
He made the All-Australian team in 2018 and is a two-time Copeland Trophy winner.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-05 |title=Collingwood stars Steele Sidebottom and Brodie Grundy can’t be split after a countback in the 2018 Copeland Trophy |url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/collingwood-stars-steele-sidebottom-and-brodie-grundy-cant-be-split-after-a-countback-in-the-2018-copeland-trophy/news-story/3c5e3d978796ba2ebd8dfc58829c86b0 |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Fox Sports |language=en}}
Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the 2008 AFL Draft. Sidebottom had a 10-goal best-on-ground performance in the 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final.Edmund, Sam (2 October 2008) [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24433497-19742,00.html Steele Sidebottom dominates under-18 final]; Herald Sun He is strong overhead and in one-on-one contests. An AIS/AFL Academy graduate and Vic Country representative in 2008, Sidebottom also was selected in the All-Australian team following the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships.Sheehan, Kevin (19 July 2008) [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204162117/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/63694/default.aspx Shifter's wrap: Under-18 All-Australian team]
A midfielder, Sidebottom became a star player for Collingwood. He has won the Copeland Trophy twice as the club's best and fairest (2017, 2018) and also played in premierships in 2010 and 2023. Sidebottom has been named in the All-Australian team in 2018 on a wing in addition to finishing second in the 2018 Brownlow Medal. He has been the co-vice captain of Collingwood since the 2015 season to 2022.
Career
Sidebottom made his AFL debut vs St Kilda in Round 7, 2009, where St Kilda defeated Collingwood by 88 points.
In the semi-final against Adelaide of the 2009 AFL Season, Sidebottom had his first major breakthrough, where he notched up 25 disposals in a come-from-behind win.
In 2010, Sidebottom played in all but one game for the Magpies, including both the drawn Grand Final and Grand Final replay. At 19 years of age, he was the youngest member of Collingwood's 2010 Premiership side.
On 6 October 2017, Sidebottom won the Copeland Trophy.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/collingwood/steele-sidebottom-pips-taylor-adams-to-claim-his-first-collingwood-copeland-trophy/news-story/1aa202818a1c315b2dc825be4534a632|title=Steele Sidebottom pips Taylor Adams to claim his first Collingwood Copeland Trophy|first=Glenn|last=McFarlane|newspaper=Herald Sun|publisher=News Corp Australia|date=6 October 2017}}
In the 2018 Brownlow Medal count, Sidebottom finished in second place (his career best).{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-24/tom-mitchell-wins-brownlow-medal-2018/10300390|title=Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell wins 2018 Brownlow Medal|date=2018-09-24|work=ABC News|access-date=2018-09-25|language=en-AU}}
In 2020, Sidebottom was handed a four match suspension for breaching the AFL's COVID-19 protocols, after he and teammate Lynden Dunn had shared an Uber together and visited several homes, with the night concluding with Sidebottom being driven home by police.{{cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/459748/sidebottom-cops-massive-whack-for-covid-breach|title=Pies fume at 'excessive' COVID ban for Steele|date=1 July 2020|access-date=21 August 2020|publisher=Australian Football League|author=Marc McGowan}}
In Round 11 2023, Sidebottom played his 300th AFL game, becoming the fourth Collingwood player ever to do so. In the milestone match, he injured his MCL and did not play again until Round 18. In the Grand Final of that year, Sidebottom kicked a goal with a 60-metre bomb in the last quarter which ultimately proved vital to Collingwood's premiership victory.
Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2024 season.{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/S/Steele_Sidebottom.html|title=Steele Sidebottom's player profile|publisher=AFL Tables|access-date=23 September 2024}}
{{AFL player statistics legend|p=y}}
{{AFL player statistics start with votes}}
|-
| 2009 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 11 || 3 || 3 || 82 || 85 || 167 || 42 || 44 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 7.5 || 7.7 || 15.2 || 3.8 || 4.0 || 0
|-
| bgcolor=F0E68C | 2010# || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 25 || 24 || 13 || 253 || 209 || 462 || 105 || 101 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 10.1 || 8.4 || 18.5 || 4.2 || 4.0 || 1
|-
| 2011 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 25 || 25 || 13 || 275 || 214 || 489 || 128 || 107 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 11.0 || 8.6 || 19.6 || 5.1 || 4.3 || 4
|-
| 2012 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 24 || 14 || 13 || 377 || 258 || 635 || 133 || 89 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 15.7 || 10.8 || 26.5 || 5.5 || 3.7 || 7
|-
| 2013 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 23 || 19 || 10 || 361 || 194 || 555 || 120 || 77 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 15.7 || 8.4 || 24.1 || 5.2 || 3.3 || 7
|-
| 2014 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 19 || 14 || 14 || 327 || 181 || 508 || 109 || 78 || 0.7 || 0.7 || 17.2 || 9.5 || 26.7 || 5.7 || 4.1 || 9
|-
| 2015 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 16 || 7 || 8 || 251 || 186 || 437 || 85 || 53 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 15.7 || 11.6 || 27.3 || 5.3 || 3.3 || 9
|-
| 2016 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 20 || 17 || 7 || 273 || 241 || 514 || 108 || 90 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 13.7 || 12.1 || 25.7 || 5.4 || 4.5 || 7
|-
| 2017 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 22 || 16 || 9 || 344 || 256 || 600 || 115 || 93 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 15.6 || 11.6 || 27.3 || 5.2 || 4.2 || 14
|-
| 2018 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 26 || 12 || 14 || 361 || 403 || 764 || 133 || 96 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 13.9 || 15.5 || 29.4 || 5.1 || 3.7 || 24
|-
| 2019 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 23 || 10 || 7 || 339 || 253 || 592 || 141 || 84 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 14.7 || 11.0 || 25.7 || 6.1 || 3.7 || 7
|-
| 2020{{efn|The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.}} || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 9 || 5 || 3 || 112 || 101 || 213 || 33 || 38 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 12.4 || 11.2 || 23.7 || 3.7 || 4.2 || 6
|-
| 2021 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 21 || 8 || 5 || 272 || 228 || 500 || 114 || 62 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 13.0 || 10.9 || 23.8 || 5.4 || 3.0 || 0
|-
| 2022 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 25 || 12 || 7 || 274 || 175 || 449 || 110 || 74 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 11.0 || 7.0 || 18.0 || 4.4 || 3.0 || 3
|-
| bgcolor=F0E68C | 2023# || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 20 || 4 || 2 || 257 || 160 || 417 || 85 || 72 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 12.9 || 8.0 || 20.9 || 4.3 || 3.6 || 3
|-
| 2024 || {{AFL Col}} || 22
| 22 || 4 || 8 || 270 || 133 || 403 || 90 || 69 || 0.2 || 0.4 || 12.3 || 6.0 || 18.3 || 4.1 || 3.1 || 0
|- class=sortbottom
! colspan=3 | Career
! 331 !! 194 !! 136 !! 4428 !! 3277 !! 7705 !! 1651 !! 1227 !! 0.6 !! 0.4 !! 13.4 !! 9.9 !! 23.3 !! 5.0 !! 3.7 !! 101
|}
Notes
{{notelist}}
Honours and achievements
Collingwood
- 2× AFL Premiership (Collingwood): 2010, 2023
- McClelland Trophy (Collingwood): 2010, 2011
- AFL Minor Premiership (Collingwood) 2010, 2011 2023
- NAB Cup (Collingwood) 2011
Individual
- All-Australian team: 2018
- 2× Copeland Trophy: 2017, 2018
- Collingwood co-vice captain: 2015–
- Gary Ayres Award: 2018
- 2x Anzac Day Medal: 2016, 2025
- 2× 22under22 team: 2012, 2013
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Collplayer|154/steele-sidebottom}}
- {{AFL Tables | S/Steele_Sidebottom }}
{{Collingwood player squad}}
{{2010 Collingwood premiership players}}
{{2023 Collingwood premiership players}}
{{Copeland Trophy}}
{{Gary Ayres Award}}
{{2018 All-Australian team}}
{{2020 Victorian team players}}
{{2008 AFL national draft}}
{{AFL Anzac Medal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidebottom, Steele}}
Category:Collingwood Football Club players
Category:Collingwood Football Club premiership players
Category:Copeland Trophy winners
Category:Australian people of English descent
Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Category:Murray Bushrangers players
Category:All-Australians (AFL)