 Bryce Gibbs training at Princes Park in 2007
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| Personal information | |
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| Birth | 15 March 1989 |
| Recruited from | Glenelg, SANFL |
| Height and weight | 187cm / 77kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | 1 April 2007, Carlton vs. Richmond, at MCG |
| Team(s) | Carlton (2007-)
43 games, 19 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2008 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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AFL
Carlton
U/18
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Bryce Gibbs (born 15 March 1989) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League from 2007. He is the son of former SANFL and WAFL player Ross Gibbs.
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Gibbs was an exceptional youth talent, which led to much speculation about his ultimate AFL drafting[1]. In 2004 he won Glenelg's Under 17s Best and Fairest award, despite spending part of the season playing SANFL reserve grade. That year he also captained the South Australian under 16s team at the national championships.
In Round 7 of the 2005 season, at age 16, he debuted in Glenelg's League team and was a regular until the end of the 2006 season. Playing as a teenager against grown men in the SANFL, Gibbs excelled, coming third in the Club's 2006 best and fairest, and dominating recent ex-AFL players such as Damian Cupido[2] during the season.
He featured prominently in the 2006 under-18 national championships where he was captain of South Australia. He was selected as the All-Australian ruck rover and was adjudged South Australia's Most Valuable Player. He also co-captained the Australian youth side against an Irish youth side in an international tournament in Australia in 2006.
Gibbs attended Brighton Secondary School, where he sat his SACE in 2006.
Speculation that Gibbs would be the #1 draft pick began early in the 2006 season. When Essendon and Carlton met in Round 16, the sides were firmly entrenched at the bottom of the ladder, with Carlton having lost its last seven games and Essendon a club-record fourteen. Speculation that the result would decide the wooden spoon (and hence the first draft pick) led to the game jokingly being dubbed the "Bryce Gibbs Cup" by some in the media[3]. The game finished in a draw, a rare result in AFL football.
Despite his father's 253-game career with Glenelg, Gibbs was ineligible to be taken by the Adelaide Crows under the Father-Son Rule, much to the Crows' chagrin, because he had not yet played 200 of those games when the Adelaide Crows entered the Australian Football League in 1991. Gibbs was subsequently selected with the first overall pick in the 2006 AFL Draft (held on 25 November 2006) by Carlton, a selection which was widely expected.
Gibbs wears the number 4 guernsey, formerly worn by club champion and administrator, Stephen Kernahan, a close friend and former Glenelg teammate of Gibbs' father. Gibbs was named in Carlton's leadership group for the 2007 AFL season without having played a single AFL match, which is the first time in history this has happened.
He made his debut in Round 1 against Richmond and kicked a goal with his first kick while becoming the 1100th player to play for Carlton. A 17-disposal performance and effective shut-down role on former Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis in Round 10 earned Gibbs his nomination for the NAB Rising Star award.
Bryce played every game of the 2007 season and kicked 5 goals. Most of his development and experience has been in the backline where he has played as a half back flanker.
In 2008, new coach Brett Ratten reduced the size of the leadership group, and Gibbs was excluded from the new group. Gibbs played games as both an attacking midfielder and as a tagger throughout the season, playing very well in both roles. As a tagger, he convincingly beat several top-class opponents, including Chad Cornes (9 disposals), Heath Shaw (6 disposals) and Adam Goodes, whom he held to 7 disposals while collecting 26 of his own. In the midfield, he showed strong team ethic, very accurate disposal by foot, strong tackling, and very good football smarts and awareness. He collected seven Brownlow votes during the season.
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Marc Murphy |
No.1 Draft Pick 2006 |
Succeeded by Matthew Kreuzer |
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Marc Murphy |
Carlton Best First Year Player 2007 |
Succeeded by Matthew Kreuzer |
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