Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premier AFL centre half-forwards of the modern era, achieving All-Australian selection six times between 2002 and 2008, twice representing Australia in the International Rules Series and representing the Dream Team in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match. Pavlich played his entire AFL career at Fremantle after making his debut for the club in 2000. Over his 17-year career, he was a six-time best and fairest winner, eight-time leading goalkicker and was the club captain between 2007 and 2015. In 2014, he became the first player from a Western Australian based club to reach 300 AFL games. Early life Pavlich was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He is a fifth-generation Australian of Croatian-Scottish descent. His mother, Jan, is of Scottish and German descent, while his father, Steve, is of Irish and Croatian descent. His father and two uncles played for West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL. Pavlich played school football at Sacred Heart College in Adelaide and followed the footsteps of his father, playing senior football for the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles before he was drafted into the AFL. In 1999, he was the club's leading goalkicker. AFL career Drafting Pavlich was recruited by Fremantle with the fourth selection in the 1999 AFL national draft. Pavlich had nominated for the 1998 draft, but was overlooked by all clubs. Most notably Adelaide instead drafted 17-year-old Ken McGregor who went on to play 158 games between 1999 and 2008, and cross town rival Port Adelaide who instead chose 17-year-old Adam Morgan who played only 3 games between 2002 and 2003 for Port. Early career (2000–2001) With the 2000 AFL season starting earlier than normal due to the 2000 Summer Olympics later that year in Sydney, Pavlich only played one game for South Fremantle in the Westar Rules before making his AFL debut in Round 5 against Melbourne. Pavlich achieved the rare feat of kicking 2 goals with his first 2 kicks in the AFL. He went on to play the remaining 18 games for the season, earning himself a Rising star nomination in Round 17 while contributing consistently and finished ninth in the club's best and fairest award. The 2001 Season saw Pavlich spend