Lachlan Whitfield (born 18 July 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first overall selection in the 2012 AFL draft.
| Lachie Whitfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Whitfield playing for Greater Western Sydney in April 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Lachlan Whitfield | ||
| Date of birth | 18 July 1994 | ||
| Original team(s) | Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No. 1, 2012 national draft | ||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 81 kg (179 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender / wingman | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Greater Western Sydney | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2013– | Greater Western Sydney | 234 (71) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2020 | Victoria | 1 (0) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Early years
editHe played in the TAC Cup for the Dandenong Stingrays.[1] He won the Larke Medal as the best player at the 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships.[2]
Growing up, he supported the Hawthorn Football Club.[3]
AFL career
editIn November 2016, Whitfield was suspended for six months for "bringing the game into disrepute" as a result of taking illicit drugs in May 2015 and attempting to evade drug testing at the time under the guidance of Greater Western Sydney administrators Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert.[4]
At the end of the 2017 season, Whitfield signed a contract extension with the Giants, keeping him at the club until the end of 2020. During the 2018 season Lachie made his way from the midfield into the backline as a running Halfback due to several injuries to teammates and in August 2018, Whitfield was named in the 2018 All-Australian team on Halfback after having a career best year in his new position.[5] Whitfield who was soon to become a free agent in 2020, had ignored rumours and speculation and had signed a 7 year deal, tying him to Greater Western Sydney until 2027.
Personal life
editWhitfield married Adelle Beckwith in October 2024.[6]
Statistics
edit- Statistics are correct to the end 2024[7]
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 | |||||
| 2013 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 174 | 158 | 332 | 103 | 42 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 17.5 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 1 |
| 2014 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 133 | 92 | 225 | 64 | 19 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 12.1 | 8.4 | 20.5 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 2 |
| 2015 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 270 | 185 | 455 | 137 | 38 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 12.9 | 8.8 | 21.7 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2016 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 246 | 187 | 433 | 123 | 73 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 11.7 | 8.9 | 20.6 | 5.9 | 3.5 | 3 |
| 2017 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 246 | 186 | 432 | 109 | 60 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 13.7 | 10.3 | 24.0 | 6.1 | 3.3 | 5 |
| 2018 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 395 | 247 | 642 | 161 | 77 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 16.5 | 10.3 | 26.8 | 6.7 | 3.2 | 16 |
| 2019 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 322 | 191 | 513 | 146 | 53 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 17.0 | 10.1 | 27.0 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 12 |
| 2020[a] | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 224 | 166 | 390 | 111 | 34 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 13.2 | 9.8 | 22.9 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 4 |
| 2021 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 283 | 142 | 425 | 107 | 41 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 16.6 | 8.4 | 25.0 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 6 |
| 2022 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 256 | 153 | 409 | 116 | 56 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 14.2 | 8.5 | 22.7 | 6.4 | 3.1 | 2 |
| 2023 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 407 | 240 | 647 | 139 | 57 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 17.0 | 10.0 | 27.0 | 5.8 | 2.4 | 5 |
| 2024 | Greater Western Sydney | 6 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 489 | 265 | 754 | 177 | 72 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 19.6 | 10.6 | 30.2 | 7.1 | 2.9 | 9 |
| Career | 234 | 71 | 53 | 3445 | 2212 | 5657 | 1493 | 622 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 14.7 | 9.5 | 24.2 | 6.4 | 2.7 | 65 | ||
Notes
- ^ 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.
References
edit- ^ Lachie Whitfield wants to get down to the serious business of being a professional footballer
- ^ Phelan, Jason (4 July 2012). "Whitfield wins Larke Medal". AFL Bigpond Network. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015.
- ^ A fit Lachie Whitfield takes a giant step forwards, AFL.com.au official website, 2 June 2014
- ^ Waterworth, Ben; Niall, Jake (15 November 2016). "Lachie Whitfield cops six-month ban, Graeme Allan, Craig Lambert suspended for one year". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- ^ Curley, Adam; Guthrie, Ben (13 September 2017). "Gun Giant extends his stay until 2020". AFL.com.au. Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ^ Epstein, Jackie (27 October 2024). "Inside the AFL weddings of Connor Rozee, Liam Duggan and Lachie Whitfield". Herald Sun. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ "Lachie Whitfield". AFL Tables. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
External links
edit- Lachie Whitfield's profile on the official website of the Greater Western Sydney Giants
- Lachie Whitfield's playing statistics from AFL Tables