Chris Masten

Chris Masten (born 2 May 1989) is an Australian rules footballer and former player for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) and was delisted at the end of the 2019 season, after playing a pivotal role in the Eagles premiership in 2018. He was chosen as the first round pick (number 3 overall) in the 2007 AFL Draft by the Eagles, the team he had supported as a child.[1]

Chris Masten
Masten playing for West Coast in July 2019
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Michael Masten
Date of birth	(1989-05-02) 2 May 1989
Original team(s)	East Fremantle (WAFL)West Coast Eagles(AFL)
Draft	No. 3, 2007 national draft
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	77 kg (170 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2008–2019	West Coast	215 (70)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019.
Career highlights
AFL premiership player: 2018 AFL Rising Star nominee 2009
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Career

Masten showed strong leadership in the 2007 Under-18 championships, captaining Western Australia[2] to win the tournament and on an individual level winning All-Australian honours averaging 25 disposals and five clearances across the 3 games. He was also a graduate of the AIS/AFL Academy in 2006.

He made his senior debut for West Australian Football League (WAFL) team East Fremantle in the round 1 win against South Fremantle, gathering 17 disposals and kicking 3 goals. Masten went on to play 15 games and average 14 disposals per game while also kicking 6 goals for the season.

Masten made his professional debut in round 2 of the 2008 season against Adelaide. While in his debut match he gathered 11 possessions, he was dropped for the next match against arch-rivals Fremantle. He returned for the next match against Sydney finishing with 16 possessions, the second highest possession getter for the team in that match, he went to play a further 7 matches of the season including West Coast's win over Adelaide in round 9 of 2008, in that match he also scored his first goal in the AFL before being sent away mid-season to have groin surgery for osteitis pubis.

He returned in 2009 and was awarded an AFL rising star nomination in round 16 against Port Adelaide, with a career-high 38 possession game.[2]

In 2012 Masten played in every game and finished seventh in the club's best and fairest award.[3] He repeated the top 10 finishes for the next two years as he cemented his position in the Eagles midfield.[4][5]

In August 2015, Masten was found guilty of biting Fremantle player Nick Suban by the AFL tribunal.[6] He was suspended for two matches.[7] It was the first biting case in the AFL since former Eagle Chris Lewis was banned for three matches in 1991.[8]

After 215 games with West Coast, Masten and the club parted ways.[9]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of round 7, 2019 [10]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2008	West Coast	13	9	1	4	79	57	136	39	41	0.1	0.4	8.8	6.3	15.1	4.3	4.6
2009	West Coast	13	19	5	11	175	211	386	39	53	0.3	0.6	9.2	11.1	20.3	2.1	2.8
2010	West Coast	7	13	4	3	87	119	206	35	31	0.3	0.2	6.7	9.2	15.8	2.7	2.4
2011	West Coast	7	13	7	4	91	99	190	32	42	0.5	0.3	7.0	7.6	14.6	2.5	3.2
2012	West Coast	7	24	20	9	298	223	521	104	78	0.8	0.4	12.4	9.3	21.7	4.3	3.3
2013	West Coast	7	19	9	3	282	218	500	84	74	0.5	0.2	14.8	11.5	26.3	4.4	3.9
2014	West Coast	7	21	5	2	272	207	479	101	76	0.2	0.1	13.0	9.9	22.8	4.8	3.6
2015	West Coast	7	22	2	11	252	296	548	86	48	0.1	0.5	11.5	13.5	24.9	3.9	2.2
2016	West Coast	7	21	4	4	231	237	468	83	38	0.2	0.2	11.0	11.3	22.3	4.0	1.8
2017	West Coast	7	13	3	2	126	167	293	55	35	0.2	0.2	9.7	12.8	22.5	4.2	2.7
2018†	West Coast	7	24	7	5	274	190	464	140	42	0.3	0.2	11.4	7.9	19.3	5.8	1.8
2019	West Coast	7	7	1	0	63	38	101	35	12	0.1	0.0	9.0	5.4	14.4	5.0	1.7
Career			205	68	58	2230	2062	4292	833	570	0.3	0.3	10.9	10.1	20.9	4.1	2.8

Off-field incident

On Australia Day in 2008, Masten was arrested for disorderly conduct after drunkenly punching a man to the ground. Masten pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct charge and was fined $750 and ordered to pay costs of $110 and received a spent conviction.[11] Masten was also fined $2000 and suspended by the West Coast Eagles from the pre-season NAB Cup.[12]

References

1. "Eagles fan Chris Masten delighted to be picked by West Coast". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
2. Masten gets rising star nomination
3. "2012 Club Best and Fairest Awards". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
4. "2013 Club Best and Fairest Awards". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
5. "2014 Club Best and Fairest Awards". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
6. Nicholson, Larissa (18 August 2015). "West Coast's Chris Masten found guilty of biting".
7. Hope, Shayne (19 August 2015). "Masten ban doesn't pass "sniff test"".
8. Murnane, Matt (18 August 2015). "Chris Masten facing five-week suspension if found guilty of biting Nick Suban: Garry Lyon".
9. https://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2019-09-17/masten-departs-west-coast
10. "AFL Tables - Chris Masten - Stats - Statistics". afltables.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
11. West Coast Eagle Masten fined $750
12. "Chris Masten in strife over Australia Day allegations". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

External links

• Chris Masten's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Chris Masten's profile on the official website of the West Coast Eagles