Tom Papley Biography

Tom Papley could miss the rest of the 2024 home and away season after suffering an ankle injury that is likely to sideline him for up to six weeks.

Tom Papley signs a five-year deal to remain at Sydney until the end of 2028.

"The contract didn’t take that long to be honest, it all happened pretty quickly during the finals and got it signed off," Papley said.

"One of the main reasons I signed on was because of this young group. They’re still learning and I think only half played in their first final this year. So we can’t wait to get back to pre-season and start working hard again.”

Tom Papley is developing a reputation as the best celebrator in the AFL.

The Swans star's energised runs after goals combined with outstretched arms, open mouth, extended finger and a roar have become part of the Papley package.

"The adrenaline kicks in," Papley told AFL.com.au this week. "I tell myself 'Just take it easy' before the game, but it just comes out, and the passion in me comes out. That's just the way I am.

"Usually, when I watch them back, I shake my head thinking, 'What am I doing?' Anyway, it's what I love doing – kicking goals and having fun."

Jake Lloyd, Tom Papley and Harry Cunningham have been added to Sydney's eight-man leadership group for 2021.

Tom Papley opens up about his father's mental health issues that drove him to seek a trade to Carlton in 2019.

"During the year I went home and had a few beers with the old man and we ended up having an argument. He's actually got bipolar, and that (argument) turned into an episode," Papley explained.

"I felt that bit of guilt and at the end of the day. I wanted to be back home, and you want to help mum and be there for your brother and sister. I felt it was my fault a bit. I just wanted to be home and that's it.

"I kept it inside and didn't tell anyone. That's the biggest thing, to speak about it."

Papley is currently an ambassador for mental health and wellbeing organisation Mindfull Aus, which took on even more significance after his friend Tyson Bale committed suicide this year.

Tom Papley says the personal issues which led to his request for a trade in 2019 have been resolved.

"I had a bit of family stuff going on last year. I felt for me the best thing was to try to go back home and be there to support and help what the family was going through and that didn't happen," Papley said.

"This year my family's fixed it up and they're all going well which helps. You want to always help your family and I've been away for a long time and haven't been able to help, but they've fixed it up and it helps."

Tom Papley credits coach John Longmire as a major factor in his decision to stick with the Swans into 2021.

"The care and the role he's given me, he's just a genuine good man. He's caring, very passionate and invested in where the club wants to go and I love that about him. He was a very big reason for why I stayed," Papley said.

Clubs interested in Tom Papley have reportedly been told that the small forward will be staying in Sydney beyond 2020.

Sam Papley says he enjoyed playing for Victoria in the State of Origin for Bushfire Relief match.

"That's the big thing I got out of it, was getting to meet new players and I really enjoyed it. It was good to find out what they do outside of footy, how they warm up and just little things like that," Papley said.

"Playing for the best, against the best was great fun. I've never pulled on the 'Big V' before, I didn't do it as a junior, so I was really grateful to get that honour, it was pretty cool."

Tom Papley says there was no awkwardness when he returned to the club despite requesting a trade to Carlton at the end of 2019.

"It went out the window when I first rocked up to the club, spoke to the boys and said I was committed," Papley said.

"There wasn't much awkwardness, I probably just felt it myself really. The boys are the boys; they're always going to look after you and help you along the way.

"It's just about getting that confidence back and the trust back of the group, I suppose, (teammates) knowing you want to be there."

Lance Franklin is the new face in Sydney's player-voted leadership group for 2020, joining co-captains Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dane Rampe, as well as young gun Callum Mills.

The Swans have slashed the group from eight players to five, with retired pair Jarrad McVeigh and Nick Smith, Isaac Heeney and Tom Papley no longer involved.

Tom Papley opens up about his failed trade request to Carlton during the 2019 trade period.

"I was struggling a little bit with some family stuff, which I don't really need to go into," Papley said.

"I love the club, I love 'Horse' (John Longmire) and love all the boys. I just thought that it was the best thing for me at the time. It was pretty tough telling the captains and 'Horse', but that's what you have to do.

"They've given me the chance to play in the AFL, so asking to walk away was an extremely hard decision. But I'm here now and I'm committed."

Papley admits he was anxious on his return to the club after his intended move to Carlton failed to eventuate.

"I was pretty anxious but I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable now. I think the real banter is yet to come, but that's all part of it, the boys got around me which was really good," he said.

Sydney coach John Longmire describes the process in which wantaway, but contracted, forward Tom Papley ultimately remained at the Swans.

"We made it clear to Tom and his manager that we didn't want to trade him. He's a very valuable player for us, so that's the starting point," Longmire said.

"As the process unfolded, we were working in good faith to see if something could happen.

"When it didn't happen, it's a matter of touching base again and talking about it. It's a pretty simple process, sit down and have a chat about it and get back to training."

Tom Papley's manager Winston Rous says the Sydney forward faces "challenges" heading back to the Swans after his trade request fell through.

Papley's bid to land at Carlton – and return to Victoria for personal reasons – was denied by Sydney, where the lively goalkicker is contracted for a further four years.

The Blues offered the Swans their pick nine, with a swap of later selections also on the table, but the deal got tangled up in Sydney's chase of Essendon's Joe Daniher, with both players staying at their clubs.

"I'm disappointed for Tom and the other players who didn't get to where they wanted to go. But that's the reality of what can happen when a player is contracted," Rous said.

"There are going to be some challenges ahead for Tom in the coming months, and we will look at ways in partnership with Sydney to support him.

"A lot has changed for Tom in the last 12 months since he extended his contract, and hopefully the next 12 months can see him back feeling more settled in Sydney."

Carlton misses out on landing Sydney's Tom Papley during the 2019 Trade Period.

"We always knew (the Papley deal) was going to be difficult," Blues list boss Stephen Silvagni said.

"A lot relied on the Daniher deal to go through … we were told, pretty much from the start, that if the Daniher deal didn't happen that it would be highly unlikely that Tom would get to our football club."

Sydney later confirmed the club's hard-line stance on the contracted Papley's future, saying it opted to keep the small forward after realising it couldn't meet Essendon's valuation of Daniher.

"As you know, Tom is an extremely valuable player. He was our leading goalkicker last year and, as a club, we weren't prepared to lose a player of his calibre without being able to replace him," Swans footy boss Charlie Gardiner said.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to strike a deal that could see us replacing him, so we've held onto Tom and we're really excited about that and what he can do next year."

Sydney CEO Tom Harley tells Telstra AFL Trade Radio that the Swans wish to hang onto contracted Tom Papley despite the small forward's desire to return to Melbourne.

"Tom's got four years on his [existing] contract, he had a trigger which was enacted late in the year, an incentive-based trigger. We would prefer not to talk about contracts, but that is the fact," Harley said.

"As it stands right now, there haven't been any conversations – to the best of my knowledge – between us and any other clubs.

"Our overarching position is clear through the Trade Period is to do the best thing for the club. As that stands right now, that's Tom being a contracted player to us. That's our position."

News Corp reports that Tom Papley's wish to move back to Victoria stems from a desire to be closer to his family.

Papley is originally from Bunyip, a small town in Gippsland to the east of Melbourne, and a family health concern is a driving force behind leaving the Swans.

The 23-year-old's girlfriend is also another pull back home as she currently lives in Melbourne.

News Corp's report said Papley was unhappy and felt isolated living in the city of Sydney, but had no issues with the club itself.

Tom Papley requests a trade to Carlton from Sydney.

However, the Swans reportedly intend to hold Papley, who is contracted until 2023, to his existing deal in the Harbour City.

Papley also had interest from North Melbourne, but has settled on Carlton whose offer is understood to be around $550-650,000 per season.

North Melbourne has joined Carlton in trying to lure goalkicker Tom Papley out of Sydney, with new Kangaroos head coach Rhyce Shaw's relationship with the forward as an assistant coach with the Swans being a factor.

Any Victorian club's ability to prise Tom Papley out of Sydney has been made more difficult by the fact that the Swans goalkicker is contracted to the club until the end of 2023.

Papley quietly extended his deal with the Swans last year for an extra year through to the end of 2021. But that contract also included a trigger clause for an extra two seasons, which he has met.

Sydney coach John Longmire praises Tom Papley's courage after the small forward was badly hurt from going back with the flight of the ball against Brisbane at the Gabba.

The 22-year-old remained on all fours for at least 90 seconds after copping a knee to the ribs, before barely being able to hobble off.

Miraculously he returned not more than 10 minutes later and kicked his fourth goal to help keep Sydney alive in the match.

"It was an incredible effort. He just keeps having a go, Paps. That effort going back in front of a big bloke coming out was just huge, absolutely huge and it saved us a goal," Longmire said.

"That's the sort of standard that's required over a consistent four-quarter performance. To get up and still kick a goal afterwards was really gutsy."

Tom Papley says he was shocked to be voted into the Swans leadership group.

"It was a massive surprise, I didn't really think I was even on the verge of making it into the leadership group," he said.

"For my peers to vote me in shows they think highly of me, and that’s really special. I've really worked on my training standards over the last couple of years to earn the respect of the group."

Tom Papley will deepen his family connection at Sydney when he wears his grandfather's No.11 from 2018.

Max Papley – one of two of the 21-year-old's grandfathers who played for South Melbourne in the 1960s – wore No.11 for 45 of his 59 matches before switching to No.17 in his final season.

"Max is on the locker, so I thought it'd be a good bit of history if one day I could get a premiership cup next to my name and get my name up there as well, which would be pretty special," Tom said.

Tom Papley signs a new deal with Sydney that will keep him at the club until the end of 2020.

"Tom’s development during his two seasons with the Swans has been significant," Sydney head of football Tom Harley said.

"He came to us via the Rookie Draft to service a specific need and impacted immediately.

"We love his natural competitive drive and see him playing a large role in the future."

Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron denies his club has a discipline problem, but has told Toby Greene and Heath Shaw to control their aggression.

Cameron revealed he had spoken to both men about their onfield behavior over the past two weeks, in particular Greene, who has come close to attracting the attention of the MRP on more than one occasion.

"He's such a competitor (but) he's got to make sure that in the moment he's got to be able to control that aggression," Cameron said of Greene.

"We don't want to lose any players to suspension, let alone guys with the quality of Toby Greene. He's better off playing than sitting on the sidelines, and he knows he has to constantly work on that.

"The one thing that I will say is that I love the way he goes about it, but he does know that when that tipping point comes, he's got to be able to take a deep breath and move onto the next contest."

Cameron said Shaw also knew that his competitiveness could take him over the edge after footage showed the veteran defender sledging Sydney's Tom Papley.

"I was rapt with the way he handled the situation last Saturday night [following the Papley seldge]," Cameron said.

"Heath is a knockabout (guy) but he was genuinely remorseful and upset, and was right on the front foot about it, and we move on."

Heath Shaw has apologised for the offensive comment that took the gloss off the Giants' big win over Sydney at the SCG.

Shaw was recorded by on-field microphones calling opponent Tom Papley a "f---ing ******" as Papley headed to the bench. The Sydney small forward had just been in a contest with Shaw in which he had held Shaw in a headlock.

The audio was broadcast, prompting Fox Footy commentator Jason Dunstall to apologise to viewers.

"I want to apologise for the insensitive comment I made to Tom Papley during last night's game," Shaw said in a statement on the Giants' website.

"Yes I am a fiery person who plays with a lot of passion and emotion but that is no excuse for my actions last night.

"I apologise to Tom and anyone else who took offence to my comments, I deeply regret them.

"There is no place for comments of that nature on or off the football ground. It was an offensive remark that I should never have made and for that I apologise."

Tom Papley is placed on the long-term injury list and will miss at least the opening round of the home and away season after further knee surgery.

Papley had been recovering from an operation last December to relieve bilateral compartment syndrome but felt further knee pain and went under the knife.

"Part of the consideration to operate certainly included where Tom is at with regard to his recovery from compartment syndrome," Swans football manager Tom Harley said.

"We are very confident that by addressing his knee now with minor arthroscopic surgery, he will have the best chance to make an impact when he returns."

Tom Papley faces major interruptions to his pre-season program after undergoing surgery.

Papley faces two months off his legs after surgery to relieve the symptoms of compartment syndrome.

"Tom (Papley) developed compartment syndrome when he started to ramp up his off-season program and he required surgery last week to release the pressure in the compartments in both legs," Sydney’s head of football Tom Harley said.

"There's some wound healing initially that he will need to recover from and he will be off legs for the best part of eight weeks.

"It's disappointing but the success rate for this type of surgery is really high, so we're looking forward to Tom recovering well and hitting the ground running come the new year."

Tom Papley has been rewarded for his promising maiden season, re-signing with the club for a further two years.

"Tom has been an exciting young player for us this season," Swans football manager Tom Harley said.

"He has come into our side and made a solid contribution with his forward pressure and determination in the contest.

"We're really looking forward to watching Tom's progression as he continues to learn and grow in our team."

Tom Papley earns the round five nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star award.

Papley was rejected by every club before being drafted as a rookie by the Swans at the end of 2015, and he is repaying his club's faith in spades this season.

Papley has played every game and produced his best effort against West Coast on Saturday, kicking two goals to go with 20 possessions, six inside 50s and eight marks in the wet.

Tom Papley makes his AFL debut for Sydney at Stadium Australia with 11 disposals (8 kicks and 3 handballs), 5 marks, 5 tackles and 3 goals in an 80-point win over Collingwood.

Former Sydney Swans best and fairest winner Max Papley says he shed tears of joy when his grandson Tom was selected by the Swans in the 2015 NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

"Max was the first person I rang because he's been my biggest supporter over the last couple of years, and we both couldn't stop crying to be honest," Tom Papley said.

"I said I'd call him back and when we saw each other about an hour and a half later, we just gave each other a big hug.

"He just said 'Well done I'm proud of you'."