BIO

Sam Rowe grew up around the Albury-Wodonga area on the border of Victoria and NSW. He played for the Walla Walla Hoppers in the Hume Football League, and came under notice in his one season with the Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup).

Rowe was drafted by the Sydney Swans as a rookie in 2006. At the Swans he was in the reserves team that played in the AFL Canberra League, and was part of two flags; he was elected as a ruckman/centre-half forward/ centre half-back.

He was delisted at the end of 2007 after two years with Sydney, and joined Norwood as a 20 year old the following season.

Rowe teamed up at The Parade with former Sydney Swans players Matt Davis, Stephen Doyle and Simon Phillips in 2008, playing 19 league games in his debut season.

In 2009 he played 20 games, kicked 40 goals to lead the club's goal-kicking and was named Norwood's most improved.

He followed that up with another 24 games in 2010, and again kicked 40 majors to lead the club's goal-kicking. He played his 50th game for the Redlegs during the year and was named at centre-half forward in the Norwood team that narrowly lost the Grand Final to Central District.

After another 23 games in 2011 he was drafted by Carlton (AFL).

Early in the 2012 season he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but after an operation and rehabilitation returned to training in October of that year. Rowe went on to make his AFL debut in 2013. A solid contributor for the Blues, he played 99 games mainly as a defender/ruckman before, somewhat surprisingly, being delisted after the 2018 season.

In 2019 Rowe moved to St Kilda as a pre-season supplementary selection, and was able to reach his 100 AFL game milestone in his only appearance for the Saints.

R Cialini February 2021