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Paul Puopolo
Puopolo playing for Hawthorn in April 2017
Personal information
Nickname(s) Pug, Poppy.
Date of birth (1987-12-02) 2 December 1987 (age 36)
Original team(s) Hope Valley / Norwood
Draft No. 66, 2010 national draft
Debut Round 7, 2011, Hawthorn vs. Port Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 78 kg (172 lb)
Position(s) Forward[1]
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2011–2020 Hawthorn 196 (185)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Paul Puopolo (born 2 December 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A man small in stature, he is known to jump into packs and take marks against much taller opponents. He is a 3-time premiership player having played in Hawthorn's back-to-back-to-back Grand Final triumphs in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Norwood

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Puopolo made his debut for Norwood in 2007 and started out as a small forward/midfielder. Puopolo, who hails from Hope Valley, South Australia quickly built a reputation as the South Australian National Football League's best lockdown small defender. He was converted into a defender by former Norwood coach Trevor Hill in 2008. Despite his lack of height, he has always had the strength and speed to counter his rivals.[2] In 2008 he was a SANFL Coca-Cola Star Search Award Nominee.[3] By the time he got drafted by Hawthorn at the end of 2010 he had played 68 senior games and kicked 13 goals for the Redlegs.[4]

Hawthorn (2011–2020)

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Puopolo made his debut for the Hawks in round 7 of the 2011 AFL season against Port Adelaide.[5][6] At his debut he was the AFL's tenth shortest player, standing at 173 cm.[7] In his debut game, Puopolo had a reasonable performance, having nine kicks, six handballs and laying two tackles.[8]

After making his debut in round 7, Puopolo went on to play Hawthorn's remaining 19 games of the 2011 season, including three finals. His goal late in the round 24 final quarter against Gold Coast sealed the match, along with his tackle soon after which thwarted a forward 50 entry - the win secured Hawthorn a top 4 ladder position for the finals ahead. Puopolo kicked 3 goals in the Semi-Final against Sydney, and 1 goal against Collingwood in the Preliminary Final. He finished his debut season with 20 games and 8 goals, gaining much experience in a brilliant first season. He was awarded Hawthorn's Best First Year Player Award.[9]

In the 2012 season, Puopolo played in 21 out of 25 games and kicked 24 goals. He played in Hawthorn's loss to Sydney in the 2012 AFL Grand Final.[10]

In the 2013 season Puopolo played in 22 out of 25 games and kicked 15 goals. Puopolo achieved his first premiership during that season when Hawthorn defeated Fremantle in the 2013 AFL Grand Final.[11]

In the 2014 season, Puopolo was the recipient of his second premiership, as Hawthorn triumphed over the Sydney Swans in the Grand Final.[12]

Puopolo had what was widely regarded as a good year in 2015, kicking 29 goals and picking up his third premiership as Hawthorn defeated the West Coast Eagles in the Grand Final.[13] He played his 100th game during the 2015 season, in round 15 against Fremantle.[14]

Puopolo had another good season in 2016, kicking a career high 34 goals.[15] At the end of year he re-signed for an extra year with Hawthorn, ensuring he would remain at the club until at least 2018.

In the middle of the 2017 season, Puopolo suffered a groin injury that limited him to 15 games for the year. Despite this, he was considered to have put in good performances in the games he did play, setting a career-high tackling average.[16] Puopolo suffered a hamstring injury early in the 2018 season that kept him out for over a month,[17] but was still regarded as a high-quality pressure forward and was resigned for another year at the end of the season.[18]

Puopolo managed to play all 22 games in the 2019 season, wherein his performances were marked by a shift away from goalkicking to defensive pressure, kicking a career low 10 goals but laying 99 tackles, a number generally considered impressive.[19]

After struggling for form and falling out of the team, Puopolo announced he would retire from the AFL at the end of 2020.[20]

Statistics

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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
2011 Hawthorn 28 20 8 5 175 172 347 72 68 0.4 0.3 8.8 8.6 17.4 3.6 3.4 0
2012 Hawthorn 28 21 24 14 118 105 223 38 64 1.1 0.7 5.6 5.0 10.6 1.8 3.0 0
2013# Hawthorn 28 22 15 6 182 194 376 48 96 0.7 0.3 8.3 8.8 17.1 2.2 4.4 0
2014# Hawthorn 28 25 22 16 205 191 396 69 109 0.9 0.6 8.2 7.6 15.8 2.8 4.4 0
2015# Hawthorn 28 23 29 12 151 155 306 47 114 1.3 0.5 6.6 6.7 13.3 2.0 5.0 0
2016 Hawthorn 28 22 34 15 154 155 309 48 100 1.6 0.7 7.0 7.1 14.1 2.2 4.6 3
2017 Hawthorn 28 15 19 4 97 92 189 27 87 1.3 0.3 6.5 6.1 12.6 1.8 5.8 0
2018 Hawthorn 28 20 20 6 130 118 248 42 84 1.0 0.3 6.5 5.9 12.4 2.1 4.2 1
2019 Hawthorn 28 22 10 10 116 148 264 41 99 0.5 0.5 5.3 6.7 12.0 1.9 4.5 0
2020[a] Hawthorn 28 6 4 1 27 27 54 7 15 0.7 0.2 4.5 4.5 9.0 1.2 2.5 0
Career[21] 196 185 89 1355 1357 2712 439 836 0.9 0.5 6.9 6.9 13.8 2.2 4.3 4

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

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Duxson, Nick. "No challenge too big for Paul Puopolo". Hawthorn FC. Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  2. ^ Bednall, Jai (26 May 2010). "Tall order for Norwood's small defender". Leader Messenger. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  3. ^ "SANFL News". South Australian National Football League. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  4. ^ "NFC Annual Report: Season 2010" (PDF). Norwood Football Club. p. 8. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  5. ^ Diamond, Brett (2 May 2011). "Paul Puopolo set to make his debut". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  6. ^ Staff Writer (4 May 2011). "Paul Puopolo will make his debut against Port". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  7. ^ Macgugan, Mark (5 May 2011). "Paul Puopolo winning for tiny players". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Round 7: Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn Basic Stats". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  9. ^ "First-year front runners". Hawthorn Football Club. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. ^ Baldwin, Adam (23 September 2013). "What's driving Paul Puopolo". AFL Players. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  11. ^ Baldwin, Adam" (2 October 2013). "The path less traveled to the Grand Final". AFL Players. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  12. ^ Rucci, Michaelangelo (28 September 2014). "Paul Puopolo continues to defy the odds to become dual premiership player". The Advertiser. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Season review: Paul Puopolo". Hawthorn Football Club. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  14. ^ "'Hard work and sacrifice' see Puopolo to 100". AFL Players. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. ^ Hill, Jeremy (15 October 2016). "Season Review: Paul Puopolo". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Season review: Paul Puopolo". Hawthorn Football Club. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  17. ^ Cavanagh, Chris (17 April 2018). "Double blow: Cyril, Puopolo hit for six". The Morning Bulletin. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  18. ^ Gabelich, Josh (5 September 2018). "Snap, crackle, Pop: Hawthorn locks in star small forward Paul Puopolo for 2019". Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. ^ "'19 Rewind: Paul Puopolo". Hawthorn Football Club. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Hawks to farewell two champions this Sunday". www.hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  21. ^ Paul Puopolo's player profile at AFL Tables
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