Arriving with much fanfare due to his 10-goal haul in the TAC Cup grand final, Steele Sidebottom looked at home in the black and white jumper. His round one VFL match outlined what this kid is capable of with 27 disposals including 16 in the third quarter.
His debut on the senior stage was marred by the big loss to St Kilda (round seven) but nevertheless, Sidebottom put in a beauty with 22 possessions, four marks and three tackles. He played the next five AFL matches before returning to the VFL.
The midfielder made it tough for the selection committee to oversee him for the finals as he hit the 30 disposal mark for three consecutive weeks in the VFL.
Sidebottom played in all three finals matches for the Magpies and was most impressive in the semi final win over Adelaide with the 18-year-old collecting 25 disposals, 10 tackles and seven marks.
2009 highlights
Round 18 v Williamstown: In a dark day for the VFL side, Sidebottom shined with 36 disposals and 11 tackles. In wet conditions he was extremely clean with the ball with Gavin Brown declaring Sidebottom best on ground in the loss.
Semi final v Adelaide: Collingwood supporters will be uttering the phrase, “I remember when…” to describe Sidebottom’s breakout performance in his first year of footy. Not only did he collect 25 disposals and 10 tackles but his shutdown role on Adelaide’s Bernie Vince after the main break, who was off to a flyer in the first half with 24 touches to half time, was pivotal to Collingwood’s classic win.
Paul Hudson: Spent a bit of time in the reserves. He is a class player. He has great decision making and awareness. We would like to see him kick more goals. He needs to take more marks in the forward line but that's probably a confidence thing.
2009 AFL statistics
| G | K | H | D | M | G | B | T | C |
| 11 | 7.5/72.0% | 7.7/90.6% | 15.2/81.4% | 3.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 1.5 |
2009 VFL statistics
| G | K | H | D | M | T |
| 11 | 14.0 | 12.1 | 26.1 | 3.6 | 7.4 |
CTV
