Chad Fletcher

DOB

30/8/1979

Height

179cm

Weight

80 kg

Junior club

Subiaco/Karrinyup JFC

Arrived

Pick 27 in the 1998 rookie draft

Number

41 (1998 - 2000)
7 (2001 - 2009)

Debut

Round 15 1999 vs Richmond - 120th Eagles player

Games

179

Goals

74

Honours

Premiership medal (2006)
All-Australian (2004)

B&F Top 10

5 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)

Best Finish

2nd (2004)

Last app.

Round 22 2009 vs Richmond

Departed

Retired at the end of the 2009 season

Other clubs

Subiaco (WAFL) 1997-1998, 2000-2009
Claremont (WAFL) 1999
Balmain (Sydney AFL) 2010

Hard running left-footer Chad Fletcher was one of the unsung contributors to the great Eagles midfield of the mid-2000s.

West Coast career

Despite not playing an AFL game in 1998, he was elevated to the senior list at the end of the year along with Laurie Bellotti.

Fletcher spent most of 1999 playing for Claremont under the host club arrangement, earning a debut against Richmond in the second half of the season, his only senior game for the year. He fared much better in 2000, starting the year in the side and playing 18 games, picking up a Rising Star nomination late in the season.

The left-footed wingman was a regular in the side from then on, playing 20 games in 2001 and finishing equal third in the club champion award. He backed that up with 18 games and another top-ten finish in John Worsfold’s first season in charge, and then another third place finish in 2003, providing an effective link in the star-studded midfield.

Fletcher had his best season in 2004, finishing second in the best and fairest and getting named on the bench in the All-Australian side. He played every game in 2005, earning another top-four finish behind only the big names in Cousins, Judd and Cox.

While he was down on form in 2006, he lifted for the Grand Final, being one of the side’s better contributors in the premiership win. Unfortunately he will be remembered more for the postscript to that victory, the prolific midfielder reportedly almost dying in Las Vegas on the postseason trip.

A knee injury delayed Fletcher’s start to 2007, and after coming back through Subiaco (his first appearances for the Lions in five years) he then missed a handful of games later in the year with a groin problem. While he avoided injury in 2008, his form continued to tail off and he spent time at Subi.

In 2009 it became clear that Fletcher was being used solely as depth. After playing the first three games of the year, he managed just one more game before announcing he would retire at the end of the season. With finals out of the question, Fletcher was recalled for the final round, getting a fitting send-off along with fellow premiership players David Wirrpanda and Adam Hunter.

Post-AFL career

In 2010 Fletcher played for Balmain in the Sydney Football League.^[1] He later moved to Bali, where he worked as a fitness instructor in addition to selling his home-made macrame products.^[2]

Stats

AFL	Gm	G	B	K	M	H	D	T	Cl	WAFL	Gm	G	B	K	M	H	D
1998	0									Subi	17	19
1999	1	0	0	1	1	1	2	0	1	Clar	18	11
2000	17	11	6	181	48	90	271	23	31	Subi	3	2
2001	20	8	7	253	81	126	379	45	54		2	1
2002	18	10	4	212	72	125	337	49	59		3	3
2003	20	10	9	290	71	163	453	61	95		0
2004	22	7	13	277	98	281	558	70	85		0
2005	25	17	13	355	133	234	589	46	92		0
2006	24	5	12	308	116	235	543	59	65		0
2007	10	3	1	129	52	106	235	33	35		5	3	0	64	31	74	138
2008	17	3	1	176	77	213	389	39	59		4	4	2	62	35	47	109
2009	5	0	2	56	30	60	116	7	15		15	7	5	239	90	229	468
Tot	179	74	68	2238	779	1634	3872	432	591
Avg		0.4		12.5	4.4	9.1	21.6	2.4	3.3