| Mal Michael | ||
 Michael in Essendon colours
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Malcolm Roberto Michael | |
| Date of Birth | 24 June 1977 | |
| Place of Birth | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | |
| Recruited from | Morningside | |
| Draft | 1996 Rookie Draft Collingwood 2nd overall, 2006 Pre-season draft Essendon |
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| Height/Weight | 190 cm / 100kg | |
| Position | Full-back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Essendon | |
| Number | 22 | |
| Playing career1 | ||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) |
| 1997 – 2000 2001 – 2006 2007 – 2008 Totals |
Collingwood Brisbane Lions Essendon |
61 (23) 140 (5) 37 (5) 238 (33) |
| ¹ Playing statistics to end of Round 1, 2008 season. | ||
| Career highlights | ||
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Malcolm Roberto "Mal" Michael (born 24 June 1977 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) is an Australian rules footballer who usually plays at full-back and currently plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League. He is best known as a triple premiership full-back player with the Brisbane Lions.
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Michael was born in Papua New Guinea. His mother Alice is from Delena, Central Province a village near Port Moresby.[1] and his father Peter is a Melbourne-born civil engineer and former Ormond Amateurs (VAFA) player.[2] He was instrumental in developing AFL in PNG and founded the Bomana demons FC near Sogeri in Port Moresby. Michael moved to Brisbane with his parents at the age of 3 and later played junior football in Brisbane with the Kenmore Bears. He attended Kenmore South State School before finishing off his schooling at St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane, Australia
As a teenager, Michael was recruited by Queensland Australian Football League club Morningside. While at that club he was invited to train with the Brisbane Bears Australian Football League (AFL) club, with a view to potentially drafting him—an exciting prospect for him as he was a Bears supporter at the time. However, the Bears did not draft him, with Melbourne-based rival club Collingwood drafting him to their rookie list in 1996.
Michael debuted in 1997 as the first player in the AFL to be elevated to the seniors from the rookie list. He finished eighth in the club champion voting and earned a Norwich Rising Star Award nomination, but over ensuing seasons he was tried at both fullback and full-forward and struggled for consistency.
In 1999, he had the unfortunate honour of being the full-back playing on Sydney Swans champion full-forward Tony Lockett in the match that Lockett broke the record to become the greatest goalkicker in the game's history. Michael managed 61 games with the magpies, injuries grounding his rise in each of his five season at Victoria Park. Unfortunately, the Collingwood faithful never saw the best of him.
At the end of 2000 he was traded to the Brisbane Lions along with a draft pick for Jarrod Molloy.
Michael debuted for the Brisbane Lions in 2001. At the Lions he bulked up substantially and became one of the AFL's strongest players, and was a fearsome fullback. Michael fitted in well with the other Lions hard men, such as Chris Scott and Chris Johnson under the guidance of fearsome coach Leigh Matthews.
He played fullback in each of the Lions' three successive premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003, achieving his first premiership in his first year with the club.
Surprisingly during these years, despite being unanimously regarded as the most consistent fullback in the competition, he was unlucky to miss All-Australian selection. It is widely believed that this is due to the majority of his work being one percenters not generally credited by umpires or the stat sheets as much as actual possessions. Michael played 140 out of a posiible 145 games for the Lions during his six years with the club, as well as all pre-season competition games and two International rules series games against Ireland in 2004.
In the Round 14, 2006 game against Melbourne, Michael conceded a rushed behind in an unorthodox and notable fashion. He is not the first player to deliberately rush a behind with a kick between the goal posts, however his emphatic kick from over 20 metres out was quite remarkable. This attracted wide scrutiny in the media and was oft-replayed.
The next week, a leak in the media speculated that Michael was "burnt out" and disillusioned at the club, and was considering retirement. However, coach Leigh Matthews later spoke out saying he had convinced Michael to stay on until the end of the season.
Michael claimed that the club was not giving him enough time for his community and charity initiatives in Papua New Guinea before. He claimed he had failing to negotiate a reduced training schedule so he could pursue his personal interests[3], something however which his coach Leigh Matthews later denied.
Michael announced his retirement on October 5, 2006 at only 29 years of age.[4]
After his retirement it was speculated that he wanted return to Melbourne to base himself there while playing football semi-professionally for a local club.
However, on 24th November, 2006, Michael shocked the football community by reconsidering his retirement. To the anger of the Brisbane Lions, he announced that he had been signed by the Essendon Football Club and had reached an agreement whereby he will be selected by them in the pre-season draft for the 2007 season.[5] The decision infuriated the Lions, who believed that Michael had exploited a loophole in the draft to change clubs and they questioned the sincerity of his retirement.
Michael debuted with Essendon wearing the number 22 guernsey which was vacated by Tristan Cartledge, who was delisted by the Bombers at the end of season 2006. Following his debut, the Brisbane Lions, who weren't given any sort of compensation for the loss of Michael, continued to express feelings of betrayal to the media and frustration with the AFL's loose drafting rules.
In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, he has since featured in the backline alongside veteran Dustin Fletcher and emerging youngster Paddy Ryder, however after the appointment of new coach Matthew Knights who made his youth policy clear, Michael spend lengthy periods playing with the Bendigo Bombers reserves side alongside fellow veterans Damien Peverill and Jason Johnson. He did not return to the seniors until much later in the season.
On 15 ,August 2008 Michael announced his Second Retirement from AFL football but would play until seasons end. In the Round 22 match Essendon vs St.Kilda Micheal was chaired off the ground by the players at the end of the match.
Michael was the first Papua New Guinean to play senior AFL football, acting as an ambassador for the game when he visits his homeland. He is possibly the only AFL player who is more famous in a country other than Australia. He has appeared on a series of biscuit commercials in PNG as "the secret of Mal's success". In 2004, he hosted a popular football segment on a weekly PNG television show.[6]
In early 2006, he established the Mal Michael Foundation, aimed at raising money to help give young Papua New Guineans the opportunity to play Aussie rules.
In 2007 Michael made a strategic deal with mining company Hannans Reward (ASX:HNR) aimed at appealing the company to the Papua New Guinea market.[7] Michael's consultancy company M&M Synergy Ltd, deals in the natural resource sector in Papua New Guinea. They represent land owner incorporated companies to help them develop their assets. M&M Synergy Ltd specialise in joint venture projects and capital raising for timber, mining and petroleum projects.
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