Christian Salem

Christian Salem (born 15 July 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.83 metres (6.0 ft) tall and weighing 82 kilograms (181 lb), Salem plays primarily as a half-back flanker, with the ability to push into the midfield and forward line. He was recognised as a talented footballer at a young age when he represented Victoria at under 12 level. He played top-level football early when he played in both the TAC Cup and AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player. His achievements as a junior saw him selected with the ninth pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the Melbourne Football Club and he made his AFL debut during the 2014 season.

Early life

Salem was born to Alex and Mary Salem, and is of Lebanese descent with his father being born in Lebanon.^[1] His talent was recognised from a young age and he received state selection in the under-12 Victorian side.^[2] He attended Brighton Grammar and played with the Robert Shaw coached first XVIIIs side from year nine, generally playing against year twelves.^[3]

Salem played his junior career with the Hampton Rovers Football Club and played for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup in both 2012 and 2013.^[4] He was selected to play for Victoria Metro in the 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player and played in the winning final, kicking two goals.^[5] He received a scholarship through the AIS-AFL Academy as part of their level two squad in the 2012 intake,^[6] and travelled to Europe for two weeks in 2013.^[1] He received mid-year state honours for the second consecutive year and played for Victoria Metro in the 2013 AFL Under 18 Championships.^[7]

Salem was rated highly heading into the 2013 AFL draft and was predicted to be drafted inside the top ten due to his decision making and kicking precision, in addition, he drew comparisons to Luke Hodge, Nick Dal Santo and Daniel Hannebery.^[3][7][8]

AFL career

Salem was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their first selection and ninth overall in the 2013 national draft.^[9] During the pre-season, he suffered from a thyroid issue which saw him lose six kilograms in the month following the draft.^[10] He played the start of the season in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions,^[11] and after strong form in the VFL, including a thirty-two possession game in the week before his first AFL match,^[12] he made his debut in the thirty-one point loss against Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round six.^[13] In his seventh match, Salem was pivotal in Melbourne's comeback victory against Essendon in round thirteen,^[14] after marking the ball thirty metres directly in front of goal, he kicked the winning goal with nineteen seconds left of the match, giving Melbourne a one-point lead.^[15] He finished his debut season with twelve matches^[16] and was labelled by senior Herald Sun football writer, Jay Clark, as potentially one of Melbourne's best players.^[17]

After playing his debut season in the forward line and a majority of matches as the substitute,^[18] Salem changed positions in 2015 and played predominantly on the half-back line.^[19][20] After playing the first seven matches of the season, he injured his hamstring in the round seven loss to Hawthorn and was initially ruled out for a month,^[21] however, after injuring his other hamstring,^[22] he ultimately missed two months and returned to play in the VFL in round sixteen,^[23] before returning to the senior side in round twenty-one in the twenty-three point loss against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[24] He played the remainder of the season and finished with ten matches overall.^[25]

After declaring his intentions to play in the midfield,^[26][27] Salem retained his spot on the half-back line whilst also playing on the wing and prior to the season, he was labelled as one of the players who would have a breakout season by AFL Media journalist, Ben Guthrie.^[28] Entrusted with the kick-ins for the season^[29] due to his elite kicking skills,^[30] Salem played the first six matches of the season before suffering from a concussion as a result of a head clash during the thirty-nine point loss against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in round six.^[31] He returned two weeks later for the thirty-two point loss against the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[32] After being omitted the next week and playing for Casey in the VFL, a recurrence of his thyroid issue would see him miss two months of any form of football,^[33] and he returned for Casey when he played against Coburg in round seventeen of the VFL season.^[34] After playing the next three weeks in the VFL, he returned to the senior side for the final match of the year in the 111-point loss against Geelong at Simonds Stadium, which saw him finish with eight matches for the season.^[35] His time in the VFL saw him qualify for the finals, and he played in the winning preliminary final against Williamstown in which he was stretchered off in the second quarter after losing consciousness from a tackle where his head hit the ground heavily.^[36] He subsequently missed the grand final where Casey lost to Footscray by thirty-one points at Etihad Stadium.^[37]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season^[25]

References

External links

• Christian Salem's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
• Christian Salem's statistics from AFL Tables
• Christian Salem on Twitter
• Christian Salem's profile from Demonwiki