Ivan Maric

Ivan Maric (Croatian: Ivan Marić, /ˈiːvɑːn ˈmæriːtʃ/ ee-vahn mar-itch; born 4 January 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was Richmond's vice-captain in 2015 and 2016.[1] In 2017 he began working as a ruck coach at Richmond.

Not to be confused with Ivan Marić (footballer, born 1994).

Ivan Maric
Maric in July 2015
Personal information
Full name Ivan Marić
Date of birth (1986-01-04) 4 January 1986
Place of birth Victoria, Australia
Original team(s) Keilor (EDFL)
Calder Cannons (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 40, 2004 national draft
Debut Round 6, 2006, Adelaide
vs. Port Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Ruck
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2005–2011 Adelaide 077 (28)
2012–2017 Richmond 080 (33)
Total 157 (61)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2017.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Junior and state league football

A late starter to the game, Maric didn't play competitive football until he was 16 because of a blossoming basketball career. Maric nearly quit in his second season with the Calder Cannons because of his frustration with the technical aspects of the game. However Maric was talked into playing on and was drafted by the Crows with pick 40 in the 2004 AFL Draft only months later. Maric was assigned to the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL where he quickly became the number one ruckman in 2005.

AFL playing career

Adelaide (2005–2011)

Maric made his AFL debut in round six of the 2006 season, in the Showdown against Port Adelaide. He had seven disposals and kicked 1 goal on in the match. Maric played a total of eight matches in his debut season, averaging six disposals and nine hitouts per-game.[2]

In 2007, a hip injury meant that he missed the early part of the season and returned to the senior side for the round 14 match against Hawthorn. In the round 19 clash with the Geelong Football Club Maric was promoted to the number 1 ruckman but was then dropped for the round 20 clash with the Western Bulldogs. In 2008, a pre-season injury and form delayed his return to midway through the season. He played out the rest of the season in the ruck, cementing his spot as the new number one ruck. 2009 saw Maric continued as Adelaide's clear number one ruckman.

In 2011 the combination of the new interchange rules and the arrival of Sam Jacobs at the Crows saw Maric given limited opportunities. Maric played just six games for the season. At the season's end it was reported Maric was keen to leave the Crows, with strong interest from Richmond.[3] He was traded to Richmond in the 2011 Trade Week period, with Adelaide accepting Richmond's second-round pick (no. 37) for him, which was then subsequently on-traded to St. Kilda for Tom Lynch.

Richmond (2012–2017)

Maric joined Richmond in 2012 and established himself as the club's number one ruckman. In his first year, he played 21 games and finished third in the club's best and fairest award, the Jack Dyer Medal.[4] In November 2012, he was voted onto the club's seven player leadership group by his peers, for the 2013 season.[5] In 2013, Maric missed three games through injury, but still played 20 games.[6]

Maric was returned to the club's (now five man) leadership group ahead of the 2014 season.[7]

In January 2015, Maric was appointed joint vice-captain for the 2015 season, along with Brett Deledio.[1] He played 22 matches that season, including an appearance in the club's elimination final against North Melbourne.[2]

Maric fell out of Richmond's core playing group in 2016, being replaced as the team's premier ruck by Shaun Hampson. As a result, Maric played only three AFL matches that season.[2] Despite speculation he was considering retirement, he signed a one-year contract extension to play on at the club through the end of the 2017 season.[8]

He did not play a match at senior level in 2017, instead leading the club's reserves side in the VFL. He was a member of that side's losing grand final team.[9]

In June 2017, Maric announced he would retire from football at the conclusion of the 2017 season.[10]

Coaching career

In 2017 Maric worked as a playing coach at Richmond, serving as ruck coach in addition to playing reserves football in the VFL.[11] Upon announcing his retirement, Maric accepted a permanent off-field role at Richmond, as a player development and ruck coach.[12]

Playing statistics
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles  H/O  Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2006 Adelaide 20810202848815730.10.02.53.56.01.01.99.1
2007 Adelaide 206511924431815480.80.23.24.07.23.02.58.0
2008 Adelaide 20161045810115943512740.60.33.66.39.92.73.217.1
2009 Adelaide 2020546712919657483580.30.23.46.59.82.92.417.9
2010 Adelaide 2021417214521762413700.20.03.46.910.33.02.017.6
2011 Adelaide 206313332651914730.50.25.55.310.83.22.312.2
2012 Richmond 20217615817533392796520.30.37.58.315.94.43.831.0
2013 Richmond 202010711913825767504640.50.46.06.912.93.42.523.2
2014 Richmond 20145210110020147403560.40.17.27.114.43.42.925.4
2015 Richmond 202211414714028764615580.50.26.76.413.02.92.825.4
2016 Richmond 203001091946870.00.03.33.06.31.32.029.0
2017 Richmond 200————————————————
Career[2] 157 61 30 804 1021 1825 481 420 3313 0.4 0.2 5.1 6.5 11.6 3.1 2.7 21.1

Personal life

Born in Australia, Maric is of Croatian descent.[13][14] Maric is a committee member of St Albans Saints.

References
  1. "Maric joins Deledio as vice-captain". Richmond Football Club. Richmond Football Club. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  2. "Ivan Maric". AFL Tables. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  3. Zac Milbank, The Advertiser 8 Sept. 2011.
  4. "Trent Cotchin wins second Jack Dyer Medal as Richmond best-and-fairest". Herald Sun. News Ltd. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. Paton, Al (30 November 2012). "Richmond promotes Ivan Maric, Dylan Grimes to leadership group". News.com.au. News Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  6. James, Matthew (2 August 2013). "Tiger tall can still shine". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  7. "Richmond drops Jack Riewoldt from leadership group". The Age. Fairfax Media. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  8. Laughton, Max (5 October 2016). "Ruckman Ivan Maric signs one-year contract extension with Richmond to stay at Tigerland until end of 2017". Fox Sports. News Ltd. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  9. Prime, Toby (24 September 2017). "Port Melbourne wins VFL premiership as Ben Lennon misses kick after final siren". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  10. Olle, Sarah (29 June 2017). "Emotional Ivan Maric announces retirement to teammates at Punt Road on Thursday". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  11. Schmook, Nathan (10 July 2017). "Coaching greats inspire retiring Maric's next move". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. AFL Media. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  12. "Richmond list changes". richmondfc.com.au. Bigpond. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  13. Katrina Gill. "Moonlighting:Ivan Maric". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  14. Katrina Gill (2007). "Pre-season snapshot: Adelaide". Archived from the original on 24 December 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.