Flynn Appleby


Flynn Appleby is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for Collingwood in the Australian Football League.

State football

As a junior, Appleby played for local club Cohuna Kangas. In 2014 he moved to Ballarat, playing junior football in the Ballarat Football League with Ballarat in 2015 and with North Ballarat City in 2016. He also played with the Greater Western Victoria Rebels in the TAC Cup, being named among the best players 12 times in the 18 matches he played, as well as playing one Victorian Football League game with North Ballarat. He tested at the Rookie Me Combine in October 2017, then trained with Collingwood's affiliate in the VFL. Due to this, Collingwood were fined $20,000, since players are not allowed to train with an AFL club or state-league counterpart if they attend a combine, with half of the fine being suspended until 31 October 2018.

AFL career

Appleby was drafted by Collingwood with the sixth pick of the 2018 rookie draft, which was their first selection. He made his debut in round 6 of the 2018 season against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as a late replacement for Tom Langdon. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Appleby returned to his parents' dairy farm in Cohuna, helping out with the farm-work while training four times a week at the Cohuna Football Oval with Melbourne player Marty Hore, whose family has a dairy farm near in Leitchville.

Personal life

Appleby grew up in Cohuna, Victoria and is the cousin of golfer Stuart Appleby. His parents, Graham and Megan, own a dairy farm in Cohuna. After moving to Ballarat, Appleby studied and boarded at Ballarat Clarendon College.

Statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019
! colspan=3| Career
! 10
! 0
! 1
! 75
! 41
! 116
! 38
! 13
! 0.0
! 0.1
! 7.5
! 4.1
! 11.6
! 3.8
! 1.3