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Steele Sidebottom

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steele Sidebottom
Sidebottom playing for Collingwood in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Steele Robert Sidebottom[1]
Nicknames Rusty,[2] Steelo,[3] BlueScope[4]
Born (1991-01-02) 2 January 1991 (age 35)
Tallygaroopna, Victoria
Original teams Congupna Football Club (Murray Football League)
Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 11, 2008 National Draft, Collingwood
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Collingwood
Number 22
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2009–2026 Collingwood 375 (213)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2026 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Steele Robert Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played 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 as Collingwood best and fairest.[5]

Recruited from Congupna Football Club and the Murray Bushrangers, Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the 2008 AFL draft. As a bottom-ager, Sidebottom dominated the 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final earlier in the year with a 10 goal, 32 disposal best-on-ground performance.[6] He was touted as a midfielder who was prolific in overhead marking as well as 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.[7]

A mid/forward in youth, Sidebottom became a star as a pure inside/outside midfielder for Collingwood. He won the Copeland Trophy twice as the club's best and fairest in 2017 and 2018 as well as playing in the team's premierships in 2010 and 2023.[8] Sidebottom was selected in the 2018 All-Australian team, the same year he finished second in the Brownlow Medal.[9] He was the co-vice captain of Collingwood from 2015 until 2022. After retiring at the conclusion of the 2026 season, Sidebottom's games tally sits at 375, second all time for Collingwood, only behind Scott Pendlebury's 442, whom of which he played an AFL/VFL record 340 games alongside.[10] This surpassed the tally of 307 set by Adelaide teammates Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards.[11] They also played in 194 wins together, a figure only surpassed by Geelong pair Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins' 217.

Career

[edit]

Sidebottom made his AFL debut vs St Kilda in Round 7, 2009, in which, Collingwood was defeated by St Kilda by 88 points. After facing losses in his first two AFL games, Sidebottom lost just 29 of his next 117 games.[12]

In the 2009 semi-final against the Adelaide Crows, Collingwood had an impressive come-from-behind win after Adelaide led by 32 points in the 2nd quarter. This was Sidebottom's first real breakout performance, in which he notched up 25 disposals, 10 tackles and 6 inside 50s, playing an important role in the second half turn-around.[13]

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 and 273 days of age, he was the youngest member of Collingwood's 2010 Premiership-winning side.[14]

On 6 October 2017, Sidebottom won his first Copeland Trophy as Collingwood best and fairest with 140 votes, one vote ahead of Taylor Adams.[15]

In a season in which he claimed his first All-Australian blazer, Sidebottom finished in second place at the 2018 Brownlow Medal count with 24 votes, 4 less than winner and eventual teammate Tom Mitchell, both a career best placing and vote tally.[16] He also won his second consecutive best and fairest, tying with Brodie Grundy on 203 votes.[17]

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 in Sidebottom being driven home by police.[18]

In 2023, Sidebottom played his 300th AFL game in round 11, a 105-70 win against North Melbourne, becoming just the fourth Collingwood player to reach the milestone.[19] His match was cut short, as he injured his MCL in the first quarter and did not return to play until Round 18. After playing 8/9 games en route to that year's Grand Final, Sidebottom kicked a 55-metre bomb in the last quarter which ultimately sealed Collingwood's premiership victory. Alongside this goal, he finished the day with 20 disposals, 7 tackles and 7 score involvements.[20]

On 13 August 2026, Sidebottom announced that he would retire at the end of the 2026 AFL season.[21] His 375th and final game would be the first ever wildcard final match, in which Collingwood would lose by 3 points to the Western Bulldogs. Sidebottom finished the night with 8 disposals and 5 marks in 73% time on ground.[22]

Personal life

[edit]

Sidebottom married long-time partner Alisha (née Edwards) in 2022, he credits Alisha for helping him transition from a "part-timer" to a truly professional athlete.[23] They have three kids together - daughter Matilda (born 2020), as well as sons Ned (born 2024) and Beau (born 2025).

Statistics

[edit]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2009Collingwood22 1133828516742440.30.37.57.715.23.84.00
2010#Collingwood22 2524132532094621051011.00.510.18.418.54.24.01
2011Collingwood22 2525132752144891281071.00.511.08.619.65.14.34
2012Collingwood22 241413377258635133890.60.515.710.826.55.53.77
2013Collingwood22 231910361194555120770.80.415.78.424.15.23.37
2014Collingwood22 191414327181508109780.70.717.29.526.75.74.19
2015Collingwood22 167825118643785530.40.515.711.627.35.33.39
2016Collingwood22 20177273241514108900.90.413.712.125.75.44.57
2017Collingwood22 22169344256600115930.70.415.611.627.35.24.214
2018Collingwood22 261214361403764133960.50.513.915.529.45.13.724
2019Collingwood22 23107339253592141840.40.314.711.025.76.13.77
2020[a]Collingwood22 95311210121333380.60.312.411.223.73.74.26
2021Collingwood22 2185272228500114620.40.213.010.923.85.43.00
2022Collingwood22 25127274175449110740.50.311.07.018.04.43.03
2023#Collingwood22 204225716041785720.20.112.98.020.94.33.63
2024Collingwood22 224827013340390690.20.412.36.018.34.13.10
2025Collingwood22 23151028420448897900.70.412.38.921.24.23.911
2026Collingwood22 194216714631380380.20.18.87.716.54.22.00
Career[24] 373213148487936278506182813550.60.413.19.722.84.93.6112

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

[edit]

Collingwood

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Collingwood Football Club [@collingwood_fc]; (8 July 2025). "What's your name and what do your teammates call you? 🤣😭". Retrieved 10 July 2025 – via Instagram.
  2. ↑ McFarlane, Glenn (9 July 2011). "Collingwood's Steele Sidebottom reveals why he loves to return to his band of brothers". Herald Sun.
  3. ↑ Gleeson, Michael (9 September 2022). "Collingwood's man of Steele was rusty". The Age. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  4. ↑ Timms, Daryl; de Kretser, Chris (13 May 2010). "Beg, borrow or Steele". The Daily Telegraph.
  5. ↑ "Collingwood stars Steele Sidebottom and Brodie Grundy can't be split after a countback in the 2018 Copeland Trophy". Fox Sports. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  6. ↑ Edmund, Sam (2 October 2008) Steele Sidebottom dominates under-18 final; Herald Sun
  7. ↑ Sheehan, Kevin (19 July 2008) Shifter's wrap: Under-18 All-Australian team
  8. ↑ "E.W. Copeland Trophy winners: Sidebottom and Grundy". collingwoodfc.com.au. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "AFL All Australian Awards". afl.com.au. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "AFL Tables - Steele Sidebottom - Stats - Statistics". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  11. ↑ "AFL Tables - Miscellaneous Player Records". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "AFL Tables - Steele Sidebottom - Stats - Statistics". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "AFL Tables - Collingwood v Adelaide - Sat, 12-Sep-2009 7:30 PM - Match Stats". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  14. ↑ "AFL Tables - Collingwood v St Kilda - Sat, 2-Oct-2010 2:30 PM - Match Stats". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  15. ↑ McFarlane, Glenn (6 October 2017). "Steele Sidebottom pips Taylor Adams to claim his first Collingwood Copeland Trophy". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia.
  16. ↑ "Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell wins 2018 Brownlow Medal". ABC News. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  17. ↑ "E.W. Copeland Trophy winners: Sidebottom and Grundy". collingwoodfc.com.au. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
  18. ↑ Marc McGowan (1 July 2020). "Pies fume at 'excessive' COVID ban for Steele". Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  19. ↑ "AFL Tables - All Time Player List - Collingwood". afltables.com. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  20. ↑ "AFL - News, Fixtures, Scores & Results". afl.com.au. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  21. ↑ "Magpies legend to retire at the end of the season". afl.com.au. 13 August 2026. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "AFL - News, Fixtures, Scores & Results". afl.com.au. 26 August 2026. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  23. ↑ "I wouldn't change anything: Retiring Pie Sidebottom reflects on storied career". afl.com.au. 14 August 2026. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
  24. ↑ "Steele Sidebottom". AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steele_Sidebottom&oldid=1375102998"