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Byron Pickett (born 11 August 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club, Port Adelaide Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was known as a big game player as well as for his strength, hard bumps and tough approach to the game. Pickett is one of 12 players with two premiership medallions, a Norm Smith Medal and over 200 AFL games. In 2005, Pickett was acknowledged as one of the finest Aboriginal players in the history of the game, with his selection to the Indigenous Team of the Century. AFL'S 'INDIGENOUS TEAM OF THE CENTURY He announced his retirement from AFL at the end of the 2007 season.
After his retirement from the AFL in 2007, he continued playing semi-professionally, including some time with the Port Adelaide Magpies in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
He is the uncle of fellow Melbourne player Kysaiah Pickett. Byron's cousin Thomas was the father of Richmond player Marlion Pickett.
Although Pickett never played higher than the under-19s with Port Adelaide, Port senior coach John Cahill was eager to name Pickett in Port Adelaide's squad for their inaugural Australian Football League (AFL) season in 1997. However, Pickett, citing homesickness, turned down this offer, although he later nominated for the 1996 AFL draft, where he was taken by North Melbourne.
At only 178 cm and 86 kilograms, Pickett was not a large Australian Rules player, however he is solidly built and unquestionably tough. Pickett developed a reputation as a 'tough' player for his aggressive attack on the ball, with a frequent tendency to cause opponents serious injuries. Pickett was known for hard bumps and was consequently suspended three times from 2001.
Kickett was known to kick clutch Torpedo punt goals during his tenure at the Kangaroos.
In 1999, he played in a premiership team with the Kangaroos, before switching to the club he originally played for in the SANFL, Port Adelaide Football Club, in 2002.
In the last days of his playing career with North Melbourne, he famously broke the Clavicle of Geelong's Darren Milburn in a hard clash.
In a Round 7, 2006, clash with Fremantle at the MCG, Pickett sent Ryan Crowley to hospital with a broken Zygomatic bone.
Pickett suffered successive hamstring injuries in 2006 which sidelined him for several games.
2007 began slowly for Pickett, not selected in the initial rounds due to poor pre-season match fitness; however, he returned in Round 4. In April, he laid a heavy tackle on Tadhg Kennelly which tore Kenelly's anterior cruciate ligament. Kennelly, Ablett hit by injury by Michael Gleeson for The Age. 29 April 2007 On 5 May 2007, Pickett laid a strong tackle on Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes, which left him concussed and taken from the ground on a stretcher.
After Round 6 in 2007, the Demons suspended Pickett to a minimum of four weeks at the Sandringham Football Club for the official reason of failing to attend a game. Unofficially, there were club concerns surrounding Pickett's weight and pre-season work ethic and him turning up to training under the influence of alcohol.
Despite drawing criticism late in his career for being increasingly overweight and slow, he maintained an impact in matches, continuing to score goals and make game-turning plays.
Byron Pickett announced his last game of football on Sunday 2 September, in the match against Carlton, retiring along with Demons teammates Clint Bizzell and Nathan Brown. He kicked a goal in his final game against the Blues.
In 2000, Byron was admitted to a mental health clinic with fears of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other mental illnesses. Pickett was released from the clinic with reports that his mental health was fine.
In 2005, he received a six-week suspension for a clash which accidentally knocked out James Begley in a pre-season match with both players chasing for the ball. The incident sparked controversy; and, in response, many football commentators, including premiership player Robert Walls, controversially called to ban the bump. Many cynics felt that Pickett had been singled out over the incident and his style of play unfairly made an example of, with the rules changing in response to the incident.
He received a two-week suspension for a hip-and-shoulder on Carlton's Simon Wiggins as he completed a mark, after slowing down and pulling up to reduce the collision. In the 2005 semi-final between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, a bump on Adelaide Football Club's Rhett Biglands knocked the 104 kg ruckman out cold, seeing Biglands stretchered from the field. Crows claim Port carcass with third-term slaughter However, he was not suspended for the collision. 'Pickett off the hook for Biglands bump'
Pickett has also made numerous appearances in court-related to drink-driving offences. 'Pickett charged over car accident'
In 2007, Pickett was suspended by Melbourne for failure to attend a game against the Western Bulldogs; he was listed as an emergency. It was later revealed he sent a phone text message to his coach Neale Daniher to inform him that he was too hungover to play.
|- | 1997 || || 28 | 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0 |- | 1998 || || 28 | 25 || 0 || 3 || 211 || 94 || 305 || 64 || 71 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 8.4 || 3.8 || 12.2 || 2.6 || 2.8|| 3 |- | scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C | 1999# || || 28 | 25 || 0 || 2 || 294 || 95 || 389 || 69 || 48 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 11.8 || 3.8 || 15.6 || 2.8 || 1.9 || 11 |- | 2000 || || 28 | 25 || 4 || 3 || 263 || 92 || 355 || 76 || 73 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 10.5 || 3.7 || 14.2 || 3.0 || 2.9 || 1 |- | 2001 || || 28 | 22|| 37 || 10 || 201 || 88 || 289 || 72 || 96 || 1.7 || 0.5 || 9.1 || 4.0 || 13.1 || 3.3 || 4.4 || 4 |- | 2002 || || 28 | 22 || 40 || 20 || 175 || 56 || 231 || 73 || 73 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 8.0 || 2.5 || 10.5 || 3.3 || 3.3 || 5 |- | 2003 || || 15 | 25 || 43 || 25 || 225 || 84 || 309 || 92 || 75 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 9.0 || 3.4 || 12.4 || 3.7 || 3.0 || 8 |- | scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C | 2004# || || 15 | 15 || 20 || 11 || 109 || 44 || 153 || 45 || 34 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 7.3 || 2.9 || 10.2 || 3.0 || 2.3 || 0 |- | 2005 || || 15 | 15 || 17 || 9 || 128 || 41 || 169 || 49 || 25 || 1.1 || 0.6 || 8.5 || 2.7 || 11.3 || 3.3 || 1.7 || 0 |- | 2006 || || 33 | 20 || 9 || 7 || 215 || 80 || 295 || 102 || 45 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 10.8 || 4.0 || 14.8 || 5.1 || 2.3 || 5 |- | 2007 || || 33 | 9 || 7 || 3 || 64 || 19 || 83 || 26 || 30 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 7.1 || 2.1 || 9.2 || 2.9 || 3.3 || 0 |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3| Career ! 204 !! 177 !! 93 !! 1886 !! 694 !! 2580 !! 668 !! 570 !! 0.9 !! 0.5 !! 9.2 !! 3.4 !! 12.6 !! 3.3 !! 2.8 !! 37 |}
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