Sam Menegola (born 7 March 1992) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He had previously been listed by Hawthorn and Fremantle, but didn't play a senior game for either club. He is related to former Swan Districts premiership winner and Richmond player, Todd Menegola.

Sam Menegola
Menegola playing for Geelong in April 2019
Personal information
Full name Sam Menegola
Date of birth (1992-03-07) 7 March 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Original team(s) East Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft No. 19, 2011 rookie draft
No. 44, 2012 rookie draft
No. 66, 2015 national draft
Debut Round 18, 2016, Geelong vs. Adelaide, at Simonds Stadium
Height 189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / Forward
Club information
Current club Geelong
Number 27
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016–2023 Geelong 117 (81)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

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Originally from East Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), Menegola was first drafted in the 2011 rookie draft by Hawthorn with their first selection and nineteenth overall.[1] He spent one season with Hawthorn before being delisted at the end of the 2011 season.[2]

He was drafted again in the 2012 rookie draft by Fremantle, with their third selection and forty-fourth overall.[3] He spent three injury interrupted seasons with Fremantle without playing an AFL match and was delisted at the end of the 2014 season.[4] In 2013, he only played two games in the WAFL due to a knee injury and in 2014 was transferred to Peel Thunder due to Fremantle's alignment with Peel. After being delisted by Fremantle he moved to Subiaco for the 2015 WAFL season. Despite being unable to play due to an ankle injury until Round 11, Menegola finished third in the Sandover Medal, only 4 votes behind the winner, Aidan Tropiano.[5] He was then one of the best players in Subiaco's 2015 WAFL Grand Final winning team.[6]

AFL career

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Menegola was on Hawthorn Football Club's rookie list in 2011 and also on Fremantle Football Club's rookie list from 2012 to 2014.

Geelong then drafted Menegola with their second selection and sixty-sixth overall in the 2015 national draft.[7] He made his AFL debut in the thirty-point win against Adelaide in round 18, 2016 at Simonds Stadium.[8]

In 2017 Menegola had cemented his place in the midfield along with Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood.

Menegola was selected in the 2020 All Australian 40 man squad but did not make the final team.[9] In the same year he played for Geelong in the Grand Final. He was delisted at the end of the 2023 afl season.

Statistics

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Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[10]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016 Geelong 27 8 6 2 89 103 192 33 30 0.8 0.3 11.1 12.9 24.0 4.1 3.8 2
2017 Geelong 27 22 17 20 255 272 527 109 129 0.8 0.9 11.6 12.4 24.0 5.0 5.9 6
2018 Geelong 27 23 22 12 283 259 542 126 103 1.0 0.5 12.3 11.3 23.6 5.5 4.5 7
2019 Geelong 27 12 3 6 127 101 228 58 38 0.3 0.5 10.6 8.4 19.0 4.8 3.2 0
2020[a] Geelong 27 21 16 5 261 184 445 118 32 0.8 0.2 12.4 8.8 21.2 5.6 1.5 5
2021 Geelong 27 23 12 12 324 209 533 125 52 0.5 0.5 14.1 9.1 23.2 5.4 2.3 3
2022 Geelong 27 7 5 4 87 38 125 87 38 0.7 0.6 12.4 5.4 17.9 4.0 1.1 2
Career 116 81 61 1426 1166 2592 597 392 0.7 0.5 12.3 10.1 22.3 5.1 3.4 25

Notes

  1. ^ 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.

Honours and achievements

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Team

References

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  1. ^ McNicol, Adam (23 July 2016). "Menegola career timeline". GeelongCats.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  2. ^ Coetsee, Alexa; Leitch, Chris; Prestipino, David (21 October 2011). "Menegola sacked from Seven News Perth". Perth Now. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Rookie Draft - Pick 44: Sam Menegola". FremantleFC.com.au. Bigpond. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  4. ^ Conway, Mark (1 October 2014). "Fremantle cuts two rookies from its list". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  5. ^ Pike, Chris (22 September 2015). "Sandover Medal 2015: Aidan Tropiano wins WAFL's best and fairest award". PerthNow.
  6. ^ Pike, Chris (27 September 2015). "WAFL Grand Final 2015: Subiaco win premiership as Sam Menegola, Shane Yarran shine". PerthNow. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  7. ^ Connolly, Rohan (29 November 2015). "AFL draft 2015: Maybe third time lucky for Geelong recruit Sam Menegola". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  8. ^ Waterworth, Ben (23 July 2016). "After five and a half years waiting Geelong's Sam Menegola makes the most of his AFL debut against Adelaide". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  9. ^ "Revealed: 20yo bolter Zak Butters joins superstars in 40-man All-Australian squad". Fox Sports. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Sam Menegola statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
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