Rhys Palmer
Personal information
Full name	Rhys Palmer
Date of birth	13 February 1989 (1989-02-13) (age 20)
Recruited from	East Fremantle (WAFL)
Height/Weight	181cm / 80kg
Club information
Current club	Fremantle
Number	10
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2008 –	Fremantle	25 (13)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2008 season .

Rhys Palmer (born 13 February 1989) is an Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club. He was selected with the seventh pick overall in the 2007 AFL National Draft.

[edit] Early Life

Palmer played junior football for the powerful Bullcreek-Leeming Junior Football Club, who have produced two Brownlow Medalists in Simon Black and Ben Cousins and many AFL and WAFL footballers, including Palmer's Fremantle teammates Matt and Josh Carr.^[1]

He made his WAFL debut for East Fremantle in 2007, playing 14 games, obtaining over 20 possessions in his final 6 games, include 5 goals in one game.^[2]

Palmer was a key member of Western Australia's victorious 2007 AFL National Under 18 Championships side, averaging 32 possessions and 3 goals per game. He finished second by one vote behind Cale Morton in the Larke Medal and was named in the Under 18 All-Australian side.^[3]

Palmer gained attention again at 2007 AFL Draft Camp finishing second in the 3km time trial with a time of 10min 25sec and fifth in the beep test with a score of 14.8.^[4]

[edit] AFL career

Palmer was taken at pick #7 overall in the 2007 AFL Draft by Fremantle.

He put in some impressive performances in the 2008 NAB Cup and after being named as an emergency for the opening round of the 2008 season, Palmer made his debut in Round 2 at Subiaco Oval against Hawthorn. Whilst his debut match was good personally, with 22 possessions and a goal, Fremantle lost the match by 15 points.^[5] In his second match he was awarded the AFL Rising Star nomination for his outstanding performance in the Western Derby,^[6] despite receiving a gash to his head in the opening quarter.^[7]

After being nominated in Round 3, Palmer won the 2008 AFL Rising Star Award ahead of Cyril Rioli from Hawthorn with 8 of the 9 judges voting him as the best emerging player. He missed the 2009 season because of a knee reconstruction.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rhys Palmer's statistics from AFL Tables