Christian Salem

Christian Salem

Salem during training in July 2015
Personal information
Full name Christian Salem
Date of birth (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995
Original team(s) Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup) / Hampton Rovers (VAFA)
Draft No. 9, 2013 national draft
Debut Round 6, 2014, Melbourne
v. Sydney, at MCG
Height/Weight 183 cm / 82 kg
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 3
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014– Melbourne 28 (8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 6, 2016 season.

Christian Salem (born 15 July 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Salem was born to Alex and Mary Salem, and is of Lebanese descent with his father being born in Lebanon.[1] His talent was recognised from a young age and he received state selection in the under-12 Victorian side.[2] He attended Brighton Grammar and played with the Robert Shaw coached first XVIIIs side from year nine, generally playing against year twelves.[3]

Salem played his junior career with the Hampton Rovers Football Club and played for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup in both 2012 and 2013.[4] He was selected to play for Victoria Metro in the 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player and played in the winning final, kicking two goals.[5] He received a scholarship through the AIS-AFL Academy as part of their level two squad in the 2012 intake,[6] and travelled to Europe for two weeks in 2013.[1] He received mid-year state honours for the second consecutive year and played for Victoria Metro in the 2013 AFL Under 18 Championships.[7]

Salem was rated highly heading into the 2013 AFL draft and was predicted to be drafted inside the top-10 due to his decision making and kicking precision, in addition he drew comparisons to Luke Hodge, Nick Dal Santo and Daniel Hannebery.[3][7][8]

AFL career

Salem was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their first selection and ninth overall in the 2013 national draft.[9] After strong performances in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions,[10] including a 32-possession game in the week before his first AFL match,[11] he made his debut in round six against Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[12] In his seventh match, Salem was pivotal in Melbourne's comeback victory against Essendon in round 13,[13] after marking 30 metres directly in front of goal, he kicked the winning goal with nineteen seconds left of the match, giving Melbourne a one-point lead.[14] He finished his debut season with twelve matches[15] and was labelled by a senior Herald Sun football writer, Jay Clark, as potentially one of Melbourne's best players.[16]

After playing his debut season in the forward line and a majority of matches as the substitute,[17] Salem changed positions in 2015 and played predominantly in the half-back line.[18][19] After playing the first seven matches of the season, he injured his hamstring in the round seven loss to Hawthorn and was initially ruled out for a month,[20] however, after injuring his other hamstring,[21] he ultimately missed two months and returned to play in the VFL in round 16,[22] before returning to the senior side in round 21.[23] He played the remainder of the season and finished with ten matches overall.[24]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of round 6, 2016[24]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2014 Melbourne 3 12 6 6 57 24 81 24 22 0.5 0.5 4.8 2.0 6.8 2.0 1.8
2015 Melbourne 3 10 1 3 101 57 158 34 35 0.1 0.3 10.1 5.7 15.8 3.4 3.5
2016 Melbourne 3 6 1 0 66 37 103 14 16 0.2 0.0 11.0 6.2 17.2 2.3 2.7
Career 28 8 9 224 118 342 72 73 0.3 0.3 8.0 4.2 12.2 2.6 2.6

References

  1. 1 2 Twomey, Callum (3 May 2013). "Footy in the blood for young Salem". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Quayle, Emma (18 November 2013). "AFL draft will split four close friends and families". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Clark, Jay (8 November 2013). "Collingwood circles midfield dynamo Christian Salem". Herald Sun (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Salem, Amon and Hunt picked up in AFL Draft". HamptonRovers.com.au (CV Media). 22 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Guthrie, Ben (4 July 2012). "Vics victorious". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "AIS-AFL Academy Kicks Off". TACcup.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 Twomey, Callum (25 October 2013). "27 days to the draft: Meet gun prospect Christian Salem". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "AFL-AIS Academy Player Profiles". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Burgan, Matt (21 November 2013). "Salem eager to make an impact". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. ↑ King, Travis (20 April 2014). "Around the state leagues: Salem pushes for debut, Brock in form". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Guthrie, Ben (28 April 2014). "Salem's lot for new Demon on debut". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Murnane, Matt (24 April 2014). "Demons unleash Christian Salem". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Cherny, Daniel (15 June 2014). "Late Christian Salem goal leads Demons to stirring comeback victory over Essendon". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Phelan, Jennifer (15 June 2014). "Salem's cool head saves the day for Demons". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  15. ↑ Burgan, Matt (5 November 2014). "Salem relishes first year taste". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Clark, Jay (16 November 2014). "Melbourne Blueprint: Demons believe they’re setup to succeed in 2015". Herald Sun (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  17. ↑ Burgan, Matt (9 February 2015). "Salem ready to make his mark". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Burgan, Matt (19 February 2015). "Salem relishes half-back opportunity". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Edmund, Sam (15 March 2015). "Nathan Jones hails Melbourne young gun Christian Salem". Herald Sun (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Phelan, Jason (20 May 2015). "Salem's lot: Demon defender out for a month". AFL.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Burgan, Matt (11 June 2015). "Salem to miss another month". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Burgan, Matt (15 August 2015). "Sick Salem bailed out by Rohan". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Harringotn, Anna (20 August 2015). "Salem and Stretch return for round 21". MelbourneFC.com.au (Bigpond). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Christian Salem". AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 May 2014.

External links

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