Alistair Nicholson

Alistair "Big Jack" Nicholson (born 4 March 1978) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

For the judge, see Alastair Nicholson.

Alistair Nicholson
Nicholson with Melbourne in 2005
Personal information
Full name Alistair Nicholson
Nickname(s) Big Jack
Date of birth (1978-03-04) 4 March 1978
Original team(s) Claremont (WAFL)
Draft 22nd overall, 1996 National Draft
Height 197 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1997–2006 Melbourne 110 (3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2006.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Nicholson was schooled at Scotch College, Perth, where he was school captain in his final year of 1995. He was also co-captain of the school's hockey team. Fellow AFL footballer Rowan Jones followed Nicholson as school captain in 1996.

Making his debut in 1997 in the number 44 guernsey, the large figure of the man known as "Big Jack" was a strong presence in defence for the Demons. Nicholson, a specialist key position defender, was most suited to full-back and was much maligned during his career, described by critics as "old, slow and useless" and "unfashionable".[1] However, Nicholson was shown a lot of faith by coach Neale Daniher, and was signed on until the end of the 2007 season.

The next year, however, saw a sharp decline in Nicholson's career. Due to the emergence of much-improved fullback Nathan Carroll, Nicholson was relegated to the Sandringham Zebras, Melbourne's VFL affiliate, for the entirety of the 2006 season. At the end of the year, he was delisted and his contract was paid out (which still had a year to run), effectively ending his AFL career.

During his time with Melbourne he served on the AFL Players' Association executive committee and began working with Gemba, a sports consulting firm. After his retirement from the AFL he continued with Gemba, working up to the position of head of entertainment strategy. In September 2014 Nicholson was announced as the new chief executive officer of the Australian Cricketers' Association.[2]

Playing statistics

[3]

Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles  H/O  Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
1997 Melbourne 441002242000.00.02.02.04.02.00.00.0
1998 Melbourne 440————————————————
1999 Melbourne 4413002231531751070.00.01.72.44.11.30.48.2
2000 Melbourne 44160052811334521340.00.03.35.18.32.81.32.1
2001 Melbourne 82210761161926524450.00.03.55.38.73.01.12.0
2002 Melbourne 81121413879401370.20.13.73.57.23.61.20.6
2003 Melbourne 81000353772301030.00.03.53.7723.01.00.3
2004 Melbourne 823008198179602540.00.03.54.37.82.61.10.2
2005 Melbourne 81400474390361940.00.03.43.16.42.61.40.3
2006 Melbourne 80————————————————
Career 110 3 1 356 446 802 295 117 204 0.0 0.0 3.2 4.1 7.3 2.7 1.1 1.9

References
  1. Walls, Robert (18 June 2005). "Jack is Back". The Age.
  2. Coverdale, Brydon (11 September 2014). "Alistair Nicholson named ACA CEO". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  3. "Alistair Nicholson". AFL Tables.
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