| Barnaby French | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | (1975-11-25)25 November 1975 (age 49) | ||
| Original team(s) | Ironbank | ||
| Height | 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) | ||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1999–2002 | Port Adelaide | 62 (20) | |
| 2003–2006 | Carlton | 71 (20) | |
| Total | 133 (40) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2006. | |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Barnaby French (born 25 November 1975) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer.
French attendedPembroke School inAdelaide. A champion juniorrower, French was a member of theAustralian under 23s rowing team. He gave up rowing when his studies interfered.[1]
After rowing, French played local football for Ironbank in the Adelaide regionalHills Football League from 1996 to 1997. Despite having relatively little junior experience as a footballer, French won the club best and fairest both years,[2] and was impressive enough to be drafted byPort Adelaide Football Club as arookie at the1997 AFL Draft.
French spent the1998 AFL season playing forSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL) clubSturt.[1] He was also selected in the SANFL representative team that season.[3]
Port Adelaide elevated French to its senior list for1999 and he made his AFL debut as a 23-year-old, playing 62 games and kick 20 goals for the club. However, French was generally the club's number three or fourruckman behindMatthew Primus,Dean Brogan andBrendon Lade, at the time, and this limited his opportunities with Port. French continued to play SANFL football with Sturt when not selected for Port Adelaide, winning a SANFL premiership in 2002.[4]
At the end of the2002 AFL season, French was traded to theCarlton Football Club in exchange for a second-round draft selection (#16 overall). There, he took the position of number one ruckman, and proved weekly to be one of Carlton's most important players. French spent four seasons at Carlton, but as time went on he began to struggle to keep his place in the team. French announced his retirement at three quarter time of the Blues' Round 22,2006 match against theSydney Swans, which they lost by 92 points.[5]
