Bayley Fritsch

Bayley Fritsch (born 6 December 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, 1.88 metres (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighing 81 kilograms (179 lb), Fritsch has the ability to play as both a high marking and small crumbing forward. Considered a late bloomer, he missed out on selection with the Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup as a junior. After winning the league rising star in the Eastern Football League, he joined the Casey Scorpions in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he spent three seasons. The 2017 VFL season saw him win the Fothergill–Round Medal, play for Victoria in the state representative match, be named in the VFL Team of the Year, and finish runner-up in the league leading goalkicker and Casey's best and fairest award. His season saw him drafted by the Melbourne Football Club in the second round of the 2017 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2018 AFL season.

Bayley Fritsch
Fritsch with Melbourne in June 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-12-06) 6 December 1996
Original team(s) Casey Demons (VFL)
Draft No. 31, 2017 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2018, Melbourne
vs. Geelong, at MCG
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 81 kg (179 lb)
Position(s) Utility
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 31
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2018– Melbourne 61 (59)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 18, 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Fritsch was born to Pauline and Scott Fritsch on 6 December 1996.[1] After missing out on selection with the Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup, he played twenty-two games from 2013 to 2014 with the Coldstream Football Club seniors in the Eastern Football League, a club which his father played a record 360 games and his grandparents, Dianne and John Jefcott, are life members.[1][2] At seventeen years of age, he was named the league rising star for division three and four for the 2014 season in which he played twelve games and kicked forty-one goals for the under 19s, and ten games and thirty-two goals for the seniors.[3] He then joined the Casey Scorpions (now known as the Casey Demons) in the Victorian Football League (VFL) at the start of the 2015 season, but experienced two injury-plagued seasons with a back fracture in 2015 and a knee injury in 2016.[4]

Fritsch enjoyed continuity in the 2017 VFL season when he played nineteen matches and kicked forty-two goals for the season to finish as the runner-up in the Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal as the VFL leading goalkicker.[5] His performances for the first half of the season saw him selected for Victoria in a state representative match against Western Australia[6] and he was named in Victoria's best players by The Leader and The Courier.[7][8] His first injury-free season at Casey saw him receive the Fothergill–Round Medal as the VFL's best young player and he was named on the half-forward flank in the VFL Team of the Year.[9] Furthermore, he finished second in Casey's best and fairest behind then-Melbourne player, Jack Trengove.[10] Towards the end of the season, he was being touted as a potential AFL draftee when he was one of ten VFL players invited to the Victoria combine,[11] with Casey Demons coach, Justin Plapp, saying Fritsch could become a "serious player" in the AFL if given the chance.[12]

AFL career

Fritsch was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club, Casey's AFL affiliate team, with their second pick and thirty-first overall in the 2017 national draft.[13] A few days after the draft, it was announced his guernsey number would be 31, which was made famous by Australian Football Hall of Fame legend and Melbourne Hall of Fame legend, Ron Barassi, a six-time premiership player with the club.[14] He competed for Melbourne for the first time in the AFLX competition, in which he kicked three goals in the second match with the Herald Sun's Glenn McFarlane writing the early glimpse of Fritsch showed he has strong composure in attack.[15] He played in both of Melbourne's JLT Community Series matches[16] and after the first match, in which he kicked three goals and was the standout player according to Fox Sports Australia's Riley Beveridge,[17] widespread media were noting he was a strong chance to make his AFL debut in round 1.[18][19][20][21] He made his debut in the three point loss to Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the opening round of the 2018 season.[22]

Playing style

Described as a classy player by The Leader's Paul Amy,[23] Fritsch is a high-marking forward and has a "penetrating left-foot with sure ball handling."[24][25] With ESPN's Christopher Doerre writing he is untapped and "has the scope to develop into anything,[26] Fox Sport Australia journalist, Riley Beveridge, further stated that he has the ability to add immediate X-factor.[27]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season [28]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2018 Melbourne 31231712236138374121590.70.510.36.016.35.32.6
2019 Melbourne 31222016246118364132390.90.711.25.416.56.01.8
2020[lower-alpha 1] Melbourne 311622241284817681171.41.58.03.011.05.11.1
Career 61 59 52 610 304 914 334 115 1.0 0.9 10.0 5.0 15.0 5.5 1.9

Notes

  1. 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
  1. Prime, Toby (19 March 2018). "Coldstream product Bayley Fritsch emerges as Round 1 bolter for Melbourne". Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  2. Landsberger, Sam (22 March 2018). "Bayley Fritsch rises from Eastern Football League Div 4 to AFL debut for Melbourne". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. Amy, Paul (23 May 2017). "His kicking is long, his marking his strong, and Bayley Fritsch is one of the VFL's best prospects". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. McGowan, Marc (29 October 2017). "VFL star attracting interest from a dozen clubs". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  5. Prime, Toby (13 September 2017). "Casey Demons forward Bayley Fritsch named Fothergill-Round Medal winner". Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  6. "Former AFL stars set to shine in VFL v WAFL state game". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  7. Amy, Paul (28 May 2017). "Ben Saunders lights up North Port as WAFL runs away from VFL". Caulfield Glen Eira Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  8. "WAFL breaks Victorian drought". The Courier. Fairfax Media. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  9. Burgan, Matt (12 September 2017). "Casey youngster wins VFL award". MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. Bowen, Nick (24 November 2017). "Dees give Lions academy reject second chance". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  11. Amy, Paul (28 May 2017). "Ten VFL players invited to test at AFL State Combine". Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  12. Prime, Toby (22 August 2017). "Coldstream product Bayley Fritsch continues rise to the big time with VFL club Casey Demons". Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  13. Amy, Paul (26 November 2017). "The rise and rise of Casey Demon Bayley Fritsch". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  14. Burgan, Matt (15 December 2017). "Bayley cheers Plapp for guidance". MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  15. Edmund, Sam; McFarlane, Glenn; Wood, Lauren; Ralph, Jon; Landsberger, Sam (17 February 2018). "Players who caught the eye as Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne and St Kilda play AFLX". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  16. Ralph, Jon (13 March 2018). "on Ralph goes inside the Jack Watts trade and looks at the VFL star who could replace him". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  17. Beveridge, Riley (24 February 2018). "AFL pre-season, JLT Community Series Week 1: North Melbourne v Melbourne". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  18. Guthrie, Ben (24 February 2018). "Dees play it safe with veteran's tight calf". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  19. Burgan, Matt (24 February 2018). "Fritsch in the round one frame". MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  20. "Fritsch pushes case for Demons AFL debut". SBS Online. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  21. "AFL Wrap:AFLW Round 4 / JLT Week 1". VFL.com.au. Sports TG. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  22. Navaratnam, Dinny; Cleary, Mitch (22 March 2018). "Confirmed debutants: Who's locked in for R1?". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  23. Amy, Paul (7 August 2017). "Casey coach Justin Plapp labels gritty win over Sandringham as 'one of the best' he's been involved in". Cranbourne Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  24. Amy, Paul (26 May 2017). "VFL v WAFL at North Port Oval: Every Victorian player profiled". Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  25. Landsberger, Sam (24 November 2017). "Expert analysis of every club's draft picks and who is set to star in 2018". Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  26. Doerre, Christopher (17 October 2017). "Knightmare's Draft Wrap: The best mature-age draft prospects". ESPN. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  27. Beveridge, Riley (19 February 2018). "The young guns every AFL club must unleash during the 2018 JLT Community Series". Fox Sport Australia. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  28. "Bayley Fritsch". AFL Tables. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
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