Tom Stewart Set for 200th AFL Game Against Collingwood
tom stewart will play his 200th AFL game against Collingwood this weekend, a marker that puts his climb from local leagues to Geelong’s backline in sharp focus. He arrived at the club at 23 as a mature-aged recruit taken with pick No. 40 in the 2016 National Draft.
The milestone comes after a career that moved far beyond the path he once saw for himself. Stewart now has five All-Australian selections, a premiership in 2022 and two best-and-fairest awards, but he said he was still a long way off AFL football when he was 18.
Stewart and Scarlett
Stewart said the people around him sit at the centre of this week, not the number itself. “I have (reflected). Obviously in the off-season you understand that game 200 is not too far into the season. I’ve taken a few quiet moments this week to let some know that are close to me how much they mean to me.”
He also plans to ring Matthew Scarlett, the former Geelong great he says changed the way he viewed his own ceiling. “I’ll give ‘Scarlo’ (Matthew Scarlett) a call... I’m looking forward to, once again, letting him know the impact that he had on me when I was a young fella (and) let him understand the significance of the role he played in the infancy years of my career.”
Local Football to Geelong
That belief began when Stewart was content playing local football. “He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I was happy just playing local football, and he really gave me belief in myself that I could play at a high level; whether that was VFL or where my career’s landed now.”
The contrast between where he started and what followed is the story of his career. Stewart said he was “a long way off it” as an 18-year-old, yet he is now preparing for a major milestone at the top level after turning himself into one of Geelong’s defining defenders.
Geelong's Milestone Week
Stewart said last year was “a bit of an anomaly” with his body, but he believes he is in a strong place to keep going. “I like to think that outside of last year, which was a bit of an anomaly with my body, that I’m in a really good spot mentally and physically to continue to play the game.”
For Geelong, the 200-game mark adds another layer to a defender who reached elite status after arriving with little fanfare. For Stewart, this weekend is a reminder that the career he once thought was far away has become long enough to measure in milestones.
