AFL Player 35: Matt Guelfi

[Lore]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2026
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 23, DERO

 

[Sporno 4 Pyros]

184cm
79kg
Claremont/WA
14/08/97

19 Games- Seniors
Avg Dispoals: 15
Avg Marks: 3.5
Avg Tackles: 3
Goals: 20

Quote from Claremont footy manager
"Matt's got a fair bit of class. He is another who missed out last year but played every game in the league team this season. He's got super strong hands he is an inside midfielder by trade but can go forward and mark it. He's a beautiful long kick, crashes in hard, tackles well, but because of the high-collision style he plays, he was often sore going into games, so he probably just needs to get stronger and his body a bit harder. They are easy things to do in an AFL program"

Welcome Matt

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Any highlights of him? like the sound of this kid

 

[TDay]

Here is a mid!
For a pick 76, some extra hard work could pay off for him early

 

[JT_the_Man]

Not going to lie, probably the one I'm most excited about.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Not going to lie, probably the one I'm most excited about.

Hoping he's one of those types that just needed a chance and is going to grab it by the horns and not let go.

 

[Yoda_]

Not going to lie, probably the one I'm most excited about.

Yep, absolutely agree. Houlihan could be another Langford/Laverde or he could be our very own Fyfe.

 

[TDay]

This is his third crack at the draft! Love the persistence.

Here's some 2015 highlights.Looks like a bit of inner mid pack breaking potential, good overhead, 60m kick, burst of speed out of the middle. Lucky the lions didn't grab him ahead of Rayner
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-11-07/draft-prospect-matt-guelfi

 

[eth-dog]

Hope he does well.

 

[carnthedons]

He’s not a KPP or a flanker. Why did we draft him?

Srs tho, I’m excited.

 

[Blind Turn]

This is his third crack at the draft! Love the persistence.

Here's some 2015 highlights.Looks like a bit of inner mid pack breaking potential, good overhead, 60m kick, burst of speed out of the middle. Lucky the lions didn't grab him ahead of Rayner
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-11-07/draft-prospect-matt-guelfi

Things I liked;
- can kick over fiddy.
- wins his own ball.
- releases players into better position from a contest

 

[Zach Package]

Got very little idea about Houlihan and less about Zerk-Thatcher, but this I like, very much an in and under workhorse type of that's already got something close to an AFL body.

Young enough to have a 10 year career if good enough, mature enough to play round 1 next year. I was really surprised he didn't get picked up when he was 18, and that's not just me being revisionist.

 

[DaniFletch]

Good little write up from a few weeks ago!

http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2017-10-30/wa-draft-gun-matt-guelfi

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Can play anywhere according to his WAFL club

Claremont football manager Darcy Coffey believes “Mr. Fix It” Matt Guelfi ticks every box as a draft prospect.
He’s skillful, tough, wins his own ball, kicks goals, is a strong contested mark for his size and can play almost anywhere – which he proved against men at WAFL senior level this year.

The talented junior track and field athlete is also blessed with that rare blend of pace and endurance.

Guelfi clocked a sub-three second 20m sprint at the WA Combine, before buttering up to record a gut-busting 21.7 in the Yo-Yo test – which would’ve placed him seventh overall at the national Combine.

But Coffey worries that AFL recruiters will overlook the 184cm youngster because he’s not part of the next group of teenagers coming through the ranks.

“I think he’s ahead of plenty of the 18-year-olds, but AFL clubs seem to go to the next batch and put more energy into them, which is a real shame,” Coffey told AFL.com.au.

"I don’t know how many of them could put together a full season of League footy and impact the way he did.

“Everyone knows about him, but whether they will grab him, I’m not sure.”

Guelfi, 20, feels his anxiety rising ahead of next month’s NAB AFL Draft.

He believed he was a chance to make it onto a list after testing at last year’s national Combine, but now reckons he is better placed than ever.

“It’s my third shot at it, so I’m probably more nervous than I’ve ever been,” he said.

"I’ve worked really hard for this.

“I think senior footy helped me a lot this year, showing I can play at that level, and I really wanted to prove I could play multiple positions, which I think I did.”

Guelfi was a regular senior player at Claremont this season, booting 20 goals in 19 games while averaging 15 touches and three tackles.

After being pigeonholed as an inside midfielder, he relished plugging gaps wherever the coach needed him most – even if chopping and changing between roles wasn’t always the best thing for his consistency.

“He’s a victim of his own versatility,” Coffey said.

"At different times he’d be shutting down the other team’s best small forward, playing high half-forward, he played on a wing, he played inside at times.

"He was a bit of a ‘Mr Fix It’. When we needed a goal, or needed to stop someone we’d throw him around.

“It’s pretty high praise for a kid.”

Coping with working full-time and meeting the demands of senior football were also challenges Guelfi had to juggle.

While he enjoys working an apprentice electrician, the dream is to become a professional footballer and Coffey has no doubt the emerging Tiger has what it takes – if an AFL club gives him that chance.

“Guelfi has got big upside. I think he’s got weapons in terms of his kicking and contested marking for a guy his size,” Coffey said.

"He was obviously bitterly disappointed last year to miss out and I can see why, he does everything pretty well spot on.
"The way he plays his footy and goes about it – he’s as hard as a cat’s head - working full-time as a sparky this year I think he’s found that balance difficult at times.
“I think in a full-time environment he would absolutely thrive.”

 

[ghostdog]

Welcome to Essendon, Matt Guelfi.

Get under that pack!

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Good little write up from a few weeks ago!

http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2017-10-30/wa-draft-gun-matt-guelfi

Seems determined to make it like him a lot.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Sensible hair cut

 

[citizen-erased]

liking the pick
He and Mutch have me excited for same late draft mid gems.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

liking the pick
He and Mutch have me excited for same late draft mid gems.

Both should play round 1 imo

 

[Mad Bomber Sean]

This guy is going to be our Sam Mitchell. This kid can play. I love this pick...

 

[Haychh]

Sensible hair cut

But can you set your watch to it?

 

[citizen-erased]

Both should play round 1 imo

Guelfi has WAFL experience. Mutch was very good in the VFL.
But i reckon Myers, Laverde and Langford are ahead for Rd.1

 

[Phone]

i think he should be made captain

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

This guy is going to be our Sam Mitchell. This kid can play. I love this pick...

I feel another Orazio pick coming.

 

[Capt Hindsight]

Welcome Guelfi.
Seems like a good choice to give him a chance.
Like the fact he can play inside mid and has some pace.

 

[BrunoV]

Weird that a player with his set of attributes lasted to 76 in the third draft he nominated for.

There is a lot to like about inside mids with his running power.

We haven't recruited a lot of Western Australians in recent years.