37 Facts About Martin Mattner

Martin Mattner was born on 6 August 1982 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League.

Martin Mattner was traded to Sydney from the Crows in October 2007 in exchange for draft pick number 28.

Martin Mattner was Adelaide's leading tackler in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Martin Mattner retired midway through the 2013 AFL season, succumbing to an ongoing hip injury.

Martin Mattner took up a coaching role with the Sydney Swans as a development coach until the end of the 2015 season.

In October 2015, Martin Mattner was announced as the head coach of Sturt.

Martin Mattner is one of only a few to win a SANFL Premiership as a player, a SANFL Premiership as a coach and an AFL Premiership as a player.

Martin Mattner grew up in the tiny southeast South Australian town of Ki Ki.

Martin Mattner attended Coomandook Area School and played some junior football with the Peake and Districts Football Club.

Martin Mattner then sought to further develop his game and progressed to play with the Imperial Football Club in 1997, and later Sturt, until he was recruited to the Adelaide Football Club for the 2002 season, off of the rookie list.

Martin Mattner picked up 11 disposals in his first game, and then 13 disposals in a win over St Kilda.

Martin Mattner averaged eight disposals a match over his seven games, and had an impressive average of just over three tackles a game.

Martin Mattner was able to play ten games in the 2003 season, averaging nine disposals a match, including 21 in a game against the Kangaroos, in the same game as he kicked his first goal.

In 2005, Martin Mattner came of age and so did a younger Crows outfit.

Martin Mattner played all but one match for the season and failed only once to gather more than ten disposals in a disappointing effort against Melbourne.

Martin Mattner had 98 tackles, which was the highest of any Crows player in the season.

Martin Mattner missed just one game in the season, which was in round 22, but failed to have a 15 disposal plus game in any of the Crows' three finals.

In 2006, Martin Mattner started to play on a half-back flank, keeping a smaller player relatively quiet and gaining many possessions of his own.

Martin Mattner had a career high 27 disposals against St Kilda, and followed that performance with 25 disposals against Geelong playing on the likes of Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel.

Also in the game against St Kilda, Martin Mattner had a career high number of kicks and marks playing further in the midfield.

Martin Mattner continued to play well during the season, picking up 21 disposals against Fremantle in round 19 and again against Melbourne three weeks later in round 22.

Martin Mattner picked up 12 Brownlow Medal votes, beating the likes of veterans Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod and Mark Ricciuto.

Martin Mattner kicked five goals for the season, including a career high two goals in a game against the Bulldogs in round 5.

Martin Mattner has been praised by coach Neil Craig after he wanted him to take some parts of his game to a higher level.

Martin Mattner managed 19 of 23 games for Adelaide in 2007, though his statistics were well down on previous years.

Martin Mattner was traded to the Sydney Swans at the end of the 2007 season and quickly found his feet in the Swans' backline.

Martin Mattner had a terrific first year at his new club and consequently placed 3rd in the Bob Skilton Medal behind Jarrad McVeigh and Brett Kirk.

Since then, Martin Mattner has played some very consistent football in defence and has established himself as a clear best 22 player in Sydney.

Martin Mattner has only missed one game in his time at the Sydney Swans, that being round 15,2010 against North Melbourne.

Martin Mattner played his 200th AFL game in round 9,2012, against St Kilda.

Martin Mattner went on to play in the Swans' side that won the club's fifth premiership with a victory over Hawthorn.

Martin Mattner played an important role in the team, including a ferocious run down tackle on Hawthorn's Grant Birchall in the dying minutes.

Martin Mattner played the first seven rounds of the season in reasonable form however was sidelined for 3 rounds midway through the season.

Just prior to round 11, Martin Mattner announced his retirement effective immediately, due to a degenerative hip condition that had caused him constant pain for several years.

Martin Mattner stated that to continue playing football would aggravate the injury and could lead to a life of crippling pain.

Martin Mattner became the senior coach of Sturt in the South Australian National Football League in 2016.

Martin Mattner joined the Adelaide Football Club post 2018 SANFL season with Sturt and took up an assistant role, Martin Mattner will be in charge of the defenders with Adelaide.