Steele Sidebottom
FullnameSteele Robert Sidebottom[1]
Birth date2 January 1991 (age 35)
Birth placeVictoria
OriginalteamCongupna Football Club (Murray Football League) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
DraftpickNo. 11, 2008 National Draft,
Height184 cm
Weight86 kg
PositionMidfielder
Guernsey22
Years 12009–
Games goals 1365 (211)
Statsendround 12, 2026
Sooyears 12020
Sooteam 1Victoria
Soogames goals 11 (0)
Careerhighlights

Steele Robert Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.

He made the All-Australian team in 2018 and is a two-time Copeland Trophy winner.[2]

Recruited from Congupna Football Club and the Murray Bushrangers, Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the 2008 AFL draft. Sidebottom had a 10-goal best-on-ground performance in the 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final.[3] He is strong overhead and in one-on-one contests. An AIS/AFL Academy graduate and Vic Country representative in 2008, Sidebottom also was selected in the All-Australian team following the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships.[4]

A midfielder, Sidebottom became a star player for Collingwood. He has won the Copeland Trophy twice as the club's best and fairest (2017, 2018) and also played in premierships in 2010 and 2023. Sidebottom has been named in the All-Australian team in 2018 on a wing in addition to finishing second in the 2018 Brownlow Medal. He has been the co-vice captain of Collingwood since the 2015 season to 2022.

Career

Sidebottom made his AFL debut vs St Kilda in Round 7, 2009, where St Kilda defeated Collingwood by 88 points.

In the semi-final against Adelaide of the 2009 AFL Season, Sidebottom had his first major breakthrough, where he notched up 25 disposals in a come-from-behind win.

In 2010, Sidebottom played in all but one game for the Magpies, including both the drawn Grand Final and Grand Final replay. At 19 years of age, he was the youngest member of Collingwood's 2010 Premiership side.

On 6 October 2017, Sidebottom won the Copeland Trophy.[5]

In the 2018 Brownlow Medal count, Sidebottom finished in second place (his career best).[6]

In 2020, Sidebottom was handed a four match suspension for breaching the AFL's COVID-19 protocols, after he and teammate Lynden Dunn had shared an Uber together and visited several homes, with the night concluding with Sidebottom being driven home by police.[7]

In Round 11 2023, Sidebottom played his 300th AFL game, becoming the fourth Collingwood player ever to do so. In the milestone match, he injured his MCL and did not play again until Round 18. In the Grand Final of that year, Sidebottom kicked a goal with a 75-metre bomb in the last quarter which ultimately proved vital to Collingwood's premiership victory.

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 12, 2026.[8]

|- | 2009 || || 22 | 11 || 3 || 3 || 82 || 85 || 167 || 42 || 44 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 7.5 || 7.7 || 15.2 || 3.8 || 4.0 || 0 |- | bgcolor=F0E68C | 2010# || || 22 | 25 || 24 || 13 || 253 || 209 || 462 || 105 || 101 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 10.1 || 8.4 || 18.5 || 4.2 || 4.0 || 1 |- | 2011 || || 22 | 25 || 25 || 13 || 275 || 214 || 489 || 128 || 107 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 11.0 || 8.6 || 19.6 || 5.1 || 4.3 || 4 |- | 2012 || || 22 | 24 || 14 || 13 || 377 || 258 || 635 || 133 || 89 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 15.7 || 10.8 || 26.5 || 5.5 || 3.7 || 7 |- | 2013 || || 22 | 23 || 19 || 10 || 361 || 194 || 555 || 120 || 77 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 15.7 || 8.4 || 24.1 || 5.2 || 3.3 || 7 |- | 2014 || || 22 | 19 || 14 || 14 || 327 || 181 || 508 || 109 || 78 || 0.7 || 0.7 || 17.2 || 9.5 || 26.7 || 5.7 || 4.1 || 9 |- | 2015 || || 22 | 16 || 7 || 8 || 251 || 186 || 437 || 85 || 53 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 15.7 || 11.6 || 27.3 || 5.3 || 3.3 || 9 |- | 2016 || || 22 | 20 || 17 || 7 || 273 || 241 || 514 || 108 || 90 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 13.7 || 12.1 || 25.7 || 5.4 || 4.5 || 7 |- | 2017 || || 22 | 22 || 16 || 9 || 344 || 256 || 600 || 115 || 93 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 15.6 || 11.6 || 27.3 || 5.2 || 4.2 || 14 |- | 2018 || || 22 | 26 || 12 || 14 || 361 || 403 || 764 || 133 || 96 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 13.9 || 15.5 || 29.4 || 5.1 || 3.7 || 24 |- | 2019 || || 22 | 23 || 10 || 7 || 339 || 253 || 592 || 141 || 84 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 14.7 || 11.0 || 25.7 || 6.1 || 3.7 || 7 |- | 2020[a] || || 22 | 9 || 5 || 3 || 112 || 101 || 213 || 33 || 38 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 12.4 || 11.2 || 23.7 || 3.7 || 4.2 || 6 |- | 2021 || || 22 | 21 || 8 || 5 || 272 || 228 || 500 || 114 || 62 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 13.0 || 10.9 || 23.8 || 5.4 || 3.0 || 0 |- | 2022 || || 22 | 25 || 12 || 7 || 274 || 175 || 449 || 110 || 74 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 11.0 || 7.0 || 18.0 || 4.4 || 3.0 || 3 |- | bgcolor=F0E68C | 2023# || || 22 | 20 || 4 || 2 || 257 || 160 || 417 || 85 || 72 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 12.9 || 8.0 || 20.9 || 4.3 || 3.6 || 3 |- | 2024 || || 22 | 22 || 4 || 8 || 270 || 133 || 403 || 90 || 69 || 0.2 || 0.4 || 12.3 || 6.0 || 18.3 || 4.1 || 3.1 || 0 |- | 2025 || || 22 | 23 || 15 || 10 || 284 || 204 || 488 || 97 || 90 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 12.3 || 8.9 || 21.2 || 4.2 || 3.9 || 11 |- | 2026 || || 22 | 11 || 2 || 1 || 88 || 80 || 168 || 52 || 19 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 8.0 || 7.3 || 15.3 || 4.7 || 1.7 || |- class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 | Career ! 365 !! 211 !! 147 !! 4800 !! 3561 !! 8361 !! 1800 !! 1336 !! 0.6 !! 0.4 !! 13.2 !! 9.8 !! 22.9 !! 4.9 !! 3.7 !! 112 |}

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.

Honours and achievements

Collingwood

Individual

References

  1. ^ Collingwood Football Club (2025-07-08). "What’s your name and what do your teammates call you? 🤣😭". Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  2. ^ "Collingwood stars Steele Sidebottom and Brodie Grundy can’t be split after a countback in the 2018 Copeland Trophy". Fox Sports. 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  3. ^ Edmund, Sam (2 October 2008) Steele Sidebottom dominates under-18 final; Herald Sun
  4. ^ Sheehan, Kevin (19 July 2008) Shifter's wrap: Under-18 All-Australian team
  5. ^ McFarlane, Glenn (6 October 2017). "Steele Sidebottom pips Taylor Adams to claim his first Collingwood Copeland Trophy". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia
  6. ^ "Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell wins 2018 Brownlow Medal". ABC News. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  7. ^ Marc McGowan (1 July 2020). "Pies fume at 'excessive' COVID ban for Steele". Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Steele Sidebottom". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 June 2026.