Mabior Chol

Mabior Chol
Chol with Richmond's VFL team in May 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-01-29) 29 January 1997
Place of birth South Sudan
Original team(s) Aspley (NEAFL)
Draft No. 30, 2016 rookie draft
Debut Round 23, 2016, Richmond
vs. Sydney, at SCG
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Position(s) Forward / Ruck
Club information
Current club Richmond
Number 41
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016– Richmond 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2018 season.
Career highlights

VFL

  • VFL grand finalist: 2017
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Mabior Chol (born 29 January 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Richmond in the 2016 rookie draft and made his debut in round 23, 2016.

Early life and junior football

Chol was born in present-day South Sudan, before his family fled to Egypt to avoid the ongoing civil war when he was two years old.[1] They moved to Australia in 2005, settling in the Brisbane suburb of Acacia Ridge.[2][3]

After playing soccer and basketball at a younger age, Chol took up Australian rules football when he joined his school team at age 12.[4] After playing in the state school final at The Gabba, he committed to playing the game at junior level the next year and joined the Yeronga South Brisbane Devils.[5]

In 2013 Chol played for the World 18 team at the national under 16 championships.[4] He later entered the junior Queensland development pathway and the Brisbane Lions Academy where he would play in 2014 and 2015. Chol also played for Aspley and the Lions' reserve team in the NEAFL in addition to the Lions' under 18 team.[6] In 2015 he played with the Allies in an under 18 match as a curtain raiser to the year's AFL Grand Final.[5]

Chol was a strong performer in the 2015 AFL draft combine, recording the number one standing vertical jump score (334cm), as well as placing second in the running vertical jump test (357cm) and fourth in the relative running vertical jump test (90cm). He also came second to future teammate Daniel Rioli in the 30 metre repeat sprint test (24.3 seconds).[7] Prior to the draft he was also lauded by Queensland academy coach Adrian Fletcher for his positional versatility and his marking prowess.[8]

AFL career

Chol was drafted by Richmond with the club's second selection and 30th selection overall in the 2016 rookie draft.[9]

He first represented Richmond in the club's 2016 pre-season match against Fremantle.[10] He failed to gain selection at senior level as a result though, instead playing a majority of his season with the club's reserves side in the VFL.[11] There he played in a myriad of roles, including as a key defender, key forward and as a ruck.[12] He eventually made his AFL debut in Richmond's last match of the season, in round 23 against Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[3] Chol thereby became the fourth player of Sudanese descent (after Majak Daw, Aliir Aliir and Reuben William) to play senior AFL football.

Over the 2017 pre-season Chol focused on developing his body, looking to add muscle weight and to improve his endurance running.[13] Injuries to key forwards early in the season saw Chol in contention for a senior call-up, but coach Damien Hardwick told the media he was hesitant to play the "inexperienced" Chol.[14] In late July Chol was involved in a training mishap, accidentally poking forward Jack Riewoldt in the eye and causing him to miss two matches as a result.[15] By season's end Chol had failed to play senior football that year.[16] He did however contribute in the reserves, kicking 13 goals over 22 matches including in the team's losing grand final.[17]

Chol played his first football of 2018 in February, travelling to Sydney to play in Richmond's AFLX squad for that year's exhibition series.[18] In the pre-season tournament he played in one match and kicked one goal, playing a majority of the game as Richmond's lead ruck after Toby Nankervis suffered concussion early in that match.[19] His performance earnt the praise of Seven Network commentator Tim Watson, who predicted he would be playing AFL level football for Richmond by season's end.[20][21] While he did not earn immediate selection, he would be named as an emergency for the first time in round 3.[22] In early June Chol suffered a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his foot while landing from a mark in training.[23][24] The surgery and resulting recovery was expected to see him in a stablising moon boot for three weeks and sideline him from matches for eight to ten weeks.[23] By early-July he had resumed walking free of the boot and by late-August he was approaching the final stages of aerobic conditioning prior to a footballing return.[25][26] Chol eventually made his return to VFL football in Richmond's semi-final loss to Essendon, which brought to an end his and the club's reserves season after playing eight matches and kicking 11 goals.[27][28] He had failed to earn a senior match that year.[16]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season[16]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2016Richmond41101202110.01.02.00.02.01.01.0
2017 Richmond 410——————————————
2018 Richmond 410——————————————
Career 1 0 1 2 0 2 1 1 0.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 1.0

References

  1. ↑ Quayle, Emma (1 July 2014). "From Sudan to the AFL: three teenagers hoping to make the big time". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Heslehurst, Brayden (2015-10-22). "Yeronga South Brisbane Devils player Mabior Chol is a good chance to be picked in AFL Draft". Quest Community Newspaper. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  3. 1 2 Heslehurst, Brayden (2 September 2016). "Mabior Chol realises his AFL dream with famous Victorian club Richmond". Courier Mail. News Corp Australia. Quest Newspapers. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Mabior's long road to Tigerland". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 Cherny, Daniel (7 November 2015). "AFL draft 2015: Sudan-born Mabior Chol puts family first". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "Rookie Draft: Pick 30, Mabior Chol". Richmond FC. Bigpond. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  7. ↑ Twomey, Callum (11 October 2015). "Sudan-born ruck equals Nic Nat record". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "High praise for Chol". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Phelan, Jennifer (27 November 2015). "Sudanese players making their mark in the AFL". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Edmund, Sam (2 March 2016). "Mabior Chol a bolter for Richmond's Round 1 blockbuster against Carlton". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ↑ Guthrie, Ben (19 November 2017). "I'm very lucky to have Rancey around: Chol". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. AFL Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Mann, Brenton (6 June 2016). "VFL Tigers out-muscled by Lions". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Chol charts rapid rise". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Olle, Sarah (20 June 2017). "Talls Tigers must chase to increase vertical limit: The players Richmond could use to complement forward line". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Lerner, Ronny (3 August 2017). "Jack Riewoldt confident of taking on Hawthorn Hawks after freak eye injury". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  16. 1 2 3 "Mabior Chol". AFL Tables. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Scoring Summary". Peter Jackson VFL 2017. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  18. ↑ Ralph, Jon (14 February 2018). "AFLX squads announced for inaugural exhibition games". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "Coaches' Corner: Mabior Chol". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  20. ↑ Moir, Andrew (25 February 2018). "Richmond's trademark pressure humbles understrength Essendon by 87 points". The Border Mail. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Tim Watson says Mabior Chol could become a regular in Richmond's team in 2018". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "WATSON CHALLENGES RICHMOND BIG MAN TO STEP UP". SEN. Croc Media. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  23. 1 2 "Round 13 injury update". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  24. ↑ Cleary, Mitch (3 June 2018). "Tigers forward to miss weeks with broken foot". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "Round 17 injury update". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  26. ↑ "Townsend injury blow". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  27. ↑ Mann, Brenton (7 September 2018). "VFL Preview: Semi Final v Essendon". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  28. ↑ "Scoring Summary". Peter Jackson VFL 2018. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
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