Sam Draper (born 28 September 1998) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by Essendon with the 1st draft pick in the 2017 AFL rookie draft.[1][2]
Draper was born in South Australia, but he lived in Brede in East Sussex for six years, where he enjoyed playing association football.[3]
Draper attended Reynella East College and played for South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) for the 2016 season.[4]
Having initially played soccer throughout his youth, Draper switched codes to play Australian Rules Football in his final year of high school in 2016.[5] Draper played for South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Having only started playing the sport in February, Draper was drafted by the Essendon Football Club only 9 months later in the rookie draft to join the club for the 2017 AFL season.[6]
In 2019, while playing a match for Essendon's reserves team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), Draper tore his ACL.[7] He missed nearly 12 months of football in his recovery, but signed a four-year contract extension in August of 2019.[3]
Draper debuted in Round 9 of the 2020 AFL season in Essendon's 63-point loss against the Brisbane Lions.[3][8] On debut, Draper picked up 9 disposals, 2 marks and 2 tackles, and kicked a behind.[9] He quickly became a fan favourite through the remainder of the 2020 season due mostly to his extremely physical style of play and mullet hairstyle. He went on to play 8 games and win the club's Lindsay Griffith's Rising Star award at the conclusion of the season.[10]
Draped switched his number 38 guernsey for number 2 prior to the 2021 season. He suffered a syndesmosis injury in Round 2 of 2021 after a good start to the beginning of the season.[11] He was out of the team for 12 weeks before returning to the lineup in Round 14.[12]
Playing every game of 2022, a highlight came when Draper kicked Goal of the Year against Gold Coast in Round 18. Eddie Betts called it Goal of the Year during Fox Footy's live commentary.[13]
The following season, Draper was the target of controversy for an umpiring decision involving Adelaide forward Taylor Walker. Walker's tackle on Draper was not called holding the ball by the match officials in the dying seconds of the match. The AFL later conceded that the decision was an error.[14] Draper scored the opening goal in 2024's ANZAC Day draw with Collingwood, but did not play again until June after he underwent a knee surgery.[15]
Draper started the 2025 season in what he and the club described as "career best form",[16] forming a strong ruck partnership with Nick Bryan and spending plenty of time up kicking goals up forward. Draper caused a stir by choosing to snap kick all his set shots, even when directly in front of goal;[17] however, it proved highly successful, not missing any of his snaps across the first five rounds of the season.[18] However, Draper suffered a ruptured achilles tendon in round 6, ending his season.[19][20] At the conclusion of Essendon's season, Draper announced his intention to exercise his free agency rights and leave Essendon for a new club for the 2026 AFL season and beyond,[21] with his club of choice later revealed to be Brisbane.[22]
Draper's move to the Lions was confirmed on 4 October.[23]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | H/O
|
Hit-outs |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | |||||
| 2017 | Essendon | 38 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2018 | Essendon | 38 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2019 | Essendon | 38 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Essendon | 38 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 20 | 66 | 15 | 15 | 148 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 8.3 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 18.5 | 0 |
| 2021 | Essendon | 2 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 85 | 46 | 131 | 31 | 23 | 316 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 10.0 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 24.3 | 4 |
| 2022 | Essendon | 2 | 22 | 12 | 7 | 140 | 74 | 214 | 35 | 33 | 523 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 9.7 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 23.8 | 1 |
| 2023 | Essendon | 2 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 101 | 53 | 154 | 37 | 28 | 282 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 7.2 | 3.8 | 11.0 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 20.1 | 0 |
| 2024 | Essendon | 2 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 122 | 57 | 179 | 49 | 31 | 306 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 7.6 | 3.6 | 11.2 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 19.1 | 2 |
| 2025 | Essendon | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 36 | 31 | 67 | 18 | 14 | 103 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 13.4 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 20.6 | 0 |
| Career | 78 | 43 | 39 | 530 | 281 | 811 | 185 | 144 | 1677 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 6.8 | 3.6 | 10.4 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 21.5 | 7 | ||
Notes
Draper is a host of the 200 Plus podcast with Network 10 sports journalist Nick Butler and North Melbourne Football Club player Charlie Comben.[25]
