Travis Colyer (born 24 August 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Travis Colyer
Colyer playing for Essendon in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Travis Colyer
Date of birth (1991-08-24) 24 August 1991 (age 33)
Original team(s) Claremont (WAFL)
Draft No. 26, 2009 national draft
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2010–2018 Essendon 087 (54)
2019–2023 Fremantle 059 (32)
Total 146 (86)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 24, 2023.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

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Colyer was selected by Essendon with the 26th pick in the 2009 AFL Draft. He previously played for Claremont in the WAFL and Trinity College, Perth.[1] He also represented Western Australia in the 2009 AFL National Under 18 Championships and was named in the 2009 U18 All Australian team.[2]

AFL career

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Colyer played his first AFL game against Carlton in round 3 of the 2010 AFL season.

Colyer, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his team-mates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal,[3] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 AFL season.[4]

The 2017 AFL season saw Colyer have one of his best seasons to date, playing 22 of a possible 23 games and averaging 17 disposals and four marks a game.[5]

Colyer had a frustrating start to 2018 missing half of the 2018 AFL season due to an ankle injury, which required surgery. He made his return for Essendon in round 15 playing eight of the final nine games.[6] On 17 October 2018, in the final minutes of the 2018 AFL Trade Period, Colyer was traded to the Fremantle Football Club, for a future fourth-round selection, after nine seasons and eighty-seven games with Essendon.[7]

The 2021 AFL season saw Colyer have a career best season in which he played every game and kicked fifteen goals. Colyer signed a one-year contract extension at the end of the 2021 tying him to Fremantle until at least 2022.[8]

Colyer continued his run of career best form into 2022 playing 18 games in a wing/half-forward role, and kicking multiple goals against GWS and Hawthorn, the latter of which he was arguably best on ground.[9] Colyer signed a one-year contract extension at the end of the season.[10]

Colyer missed the first 5 games of the 2023 AFL season after a knee injury sustained during preseason saw him undergo surgery.[11] However, he was not selected by Fremantle for the remainder of the season. Instead, he played for their WAFL affiliated side, Peel Thunder. He kicked two goals in the WAFL Grand Final against East Fremantle.[12] In August, following the final game of Fremantle's season, Colyer along with teammate Nathan Wilson were informed that they would not be offered contracts in 2024, seemingly ending Colyer's football career after 14 years in the AFL.[13]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of round 24, 2023[14]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2010 Essendon 32 11 7 10 102 100 202 31 33 0.6 0.9 9.3 9.1 18.4 2.8 3.0
2011 Essendon 32 10 7 7 73 32 105 25 18 0.7 0.7 7.3 3.2 10.5 2.5 1.8
2012 Essendon 32 6 3 4 50 22 72 15 15 0.5 0.7 8.3 3.7 12.0 2.5 2.5
2013 Essendon 32 7 5 3 57 32 89 26 10 0.7 0.4 8.1 4.6 12.7 3.7 1.4
2014 Essendon 32 12 7 8 143 60 203 56 29 0.6 0.7 11.9 5.0 16.9 4.7 2.4
2015 Essendon 32 11 11 4 113 65 178 41 30 1.0 0.4 10.3 5.9 16.2 3.7 2.7
2016 Essendon 32 0
2017 Essendon 32 22 12 13 208 160 368 86 63 0.5 0.6 9.5 7.3 16.7 3.9 2.9
2018 Essendon 32 8 2 2 60 47 107 31 16 0.3 0.3 7.5 5.9 13.4 3.9 2.0
2019 Fremantle 33 10 5 6 91 54 145 32 23 0.5 0.6 9.1 5.4 14.5 3.2 2.3
2020[a] Fremantle 33 9 3 2 54 26 80 16 9 0.3 0.2 6.0 2.9 8.9 1.8 1.0
2021 Fremantle 33 22 15 19 195 83 278 75 44 0.7 0.9 8.9 3.8 12.6 3.4 2.0
2022 Fremantle 33 18 9 6 148 54 202 63 31 0.6 0.2 8.7 3.2 11.9 3.1 2.1
2023 Fremantle 33 0
Career 146 86 84 1294 735 2029 497 321 0.6 0.6 8.9 5.2 14.1 3.4 2.3

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

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  1. ^ O'Donoghue, Craig (1 October 2011) WA schoolboy stars brace for big stage
  2. ^ Phelan, Jason (4 July 2009). "WA dominates U18 All-Australian team". www.afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
  3. ^ Twomey, Callum (31 March 2015). "Thirty-four present and former Bombers cleared of all drug charges". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ^ Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. ^ Meldrum, Ethan. "Travis Colyer Could Make Way To Help Essendon Land Their Trade Targets". triplem.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  6. ^ King, Travis. "Dockers pounce on Bombers speedster". afl.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Freo add speed with Colyer". Fremantle Football Club. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  8. ^ "Freo confirm Colyer deal". Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Travis Colyer". www.fremantlefc.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  10. ^ Barrett, Jackson. "Fremantle Dockers lock away wingman Travis Colyer for a fifth season at the club with one-year extension". perthnow.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  11. ^ McArdle, Jordan. "Fremantle Dockers injury update: Travis Colyer, Michael Walters, Nathan O'Driscoll, Hugh Davies and more". thewest.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  12. ^ Barrett, Jackson (16 September 2023). "WAFL finals 2023: De-listed Fremantle Dockers players Travis Colyer and Nathan Wilson praised for finals push". The West Australian.
  13. ^ Smith, Martin (31 August 2023). "Dockers delist veteran pair as off-season changes begin". AFL.com.au.
  14. ^ "Travis Colyer statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
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