How Brownlow winner Matt Rowell’s school fostered an AFL champion

Year 12 PE teacher Jack Joslin knew his student, Matt Rowell, was destined for AFL stardom.

The young Rowell, who used to return to his classroom after recess with mud on his knees and buttons missing from his shirt, wasn’t the best student, Joslin said. But his attention to detail when it came to footy was second to none.

If Joslin hadn’t already been proven right by his former charge’s success on the AFL stage, it became undisputable on Monday night, when Rowell won the Brownlow Medal as the best and fairest player in the AFL. He beat last year’s runner-up and Collingwood favourite son Nick Daicos, Geelong star Bailey Smith and Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson.

Joslin – now the head of sport at Rowell’s old school, Carey Baptist Grammar – said the school was ecstatic and incredibly proud. As well they should be: Carey produced three of the top 10 players in this year’s count.

“Matt would be the first to attest he was probably couldn’t concentrate as well as others could in class,” Joslin said. “His attention to detail was always in the footy space. So if there was a video review around footy, he’d sit and attend to that like no one else.”

Joslin has seen plenty of emerging footy stars in his time at Carey.

One of the of state’s biggest producers of football talents, Carey’s alumni include Collingwood superstars Daicos and Darcy Moore and Gold Coast’s Rowell and Noah Anderson.

He attributes Carey’s AFL success to investment in the year 7 to 9 programs, which he says are often neglected.

“It’s often left to [clubs] to do the education piece of those year groups and by the time they get to year 10, it can sometimes be too late,” he said. “But we made a pointed [effort] to spend time and energy developing the program at that young year level.”

Rowell and Anderson both made history in 2019 as the first players ever picked at No.1 and No.2 from the same school in the national draft.

Joslin said the pair were like “chalk and cheese” but were both brilliant footballers.

“They both applied themselves throughout their schooling, but always knew deep down that footy was the path that they were going to take,” he said.

“They were first on the training track and often the last to leave, and they’d always pair up together. They’d do their pre- and post-training sessions together to try and make themselves the best that they could be.”

During his Brownlow Medal acceptance speech, Rowell spoke fondly of his junior football club, the Canterbury Cobras.

His former under-10s and under-11s coach Craig Spagnol was unsurprised to see Rowell win on Monday night, describing the Gold Coast star as “quiet leader” who always had a ball under his arm and who won the club’s best-and-fairest award nearly every year.

“He’s won awards all his life, so it’s always sort of felt destined that he was going to keep winning them,” Spagnol joked. “He’s always been respected by officials and his opponents … you still see it in the way he plays. It’s no fuss, no big talk.”

Despite Rowell’s individual accolades and success, Spagnol said the young footballer never wanted to be treated differently to anyone else.

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“If it was in junior football and it was his time to be off the ground, he always did so without objection,” he said. “He always understood what it meant to be a good teammate.”

Spagnol said everyone at Canterbury was “delighted with the win” and thrilled that Rowell recalled his time at the club with so much affection.

“You can just imagine that every boy and girl that’s ever worn the red gold and the black is just is a little prouder of their club because of the way Matt speaks about it.”

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