John Platten

John Platten
Personal information
Full name	John Patrick Platten
Date of birth	(1963-03-17) 17 March 1963
Height / weight	170 cm / 70 kg
Career highlights
VFL/AFL & SANFL Brownlow Medal: 1987 Magarey Medal: 1984 5x All-Australian team: 1985-1988, 1992 4x VFL Team of the Year: 1986-1989 2x Hawthorn Best & Fairest: 1987, 1984 2x Central District Best & Fairest: 1984-1985 4x VFL/AFL Premiership: 1986, 1988-1989, 1991 4x VFL/AFL Night Premiership: 1986, 1988, 1991-1992 Central District Captain: 1998 Australian Football Hall of Fame South Australian Football Hall of Fame: (Inaugural Inductee) Hawthorn Team of the Century - (Forward Pocket) Hawthorn Hall of Fame Representative 2x National Football Carnival Championship: 1988, 1993
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

John Patrick "The Rat" Platten (born 17 March 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer. With his diminutive frame and unruly tangle of curly hair he cut a distinctive if unlikely looking footballer, yet despite this, he enjoyed a career which saw him firmly established as one of the great players of the 1980s and early 90s.

Platten's illustrious career in the game began in his native South Australia, where he won a Magarey Medal with the Central Bulldogs, then continued with the all conquering Hawthorn Hawks team of the late 1980s and early 1990s; where he won four Premiership flags; as well as a Brownlow Medal. John Platten remains a popular and respected figure at both clubs, where he enjoys hall of fame status. He is also an inductee in both the AFL and SANFL halls of fame.

Career

Platten was born in South Australia. He began (and ended) his career with the Central District Bulldogs in the SANFL competition. A junior with Centrals, he commenced in the junior ranks in 1979 and made his league debut in 1981. Platten immediately made an impact with Centrals, becoming a full State Representative in 1982 and continued to be a regular in the State Team throughout his career. Platten's greatest achievement at Centrals was his 1984 Magarey Medal triumph along with two Best & Fairest awards in 1984 and 1985.

Platten was recruited to Carlton but after a protracted legal case eventually joined Hawthorn for the 1986 season. He went on to play for the Hawks between 1986 and 1997, playing 258 games and kicking 228 goals. He was a gutsy rover who won a Brownlow Medal in 1987, tying with Tony Lockett. He played in four VFL/AFL premierships with Hawthorn, in 1986, 1988, 1989, and 1991.

In 1998, Platten retired from the Hawthorn Football Club, and made a dramatic return to Central District along with Gilbert McAdam, another of the Bulldogs' all-time greats. Platten kicked the match winning goal of his comeback match against Glenelg at Elizabeth Oval, however injury plagued his long-awaited comeback and he retired from football altogether after sustaining a knee injury mid-season. His return to Elizabeth Oval wasn't the success it was hoped for, but was a joyous event for long-time Centrals fans regardless. Platten has been a notable attendee at Centrals recent premiership successes, an achievement he was unfortunately never to enjoy with his boyhood club.

Platten now coaches country football in South Australia. He played 113 games for Central District in the SANFL and was the club's best and fairest in 1984 and 1985, and its leading goalkicker in 1981 and 1985. He won All-Australian selection five times: in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, when the team was selected based on interstate carnival performances; and in 1992, when the team was selected based on AFL premiership performances. He also runs his own business called The Safety Hub; specializing in the supply of safety equipment.

Playing Statistics

†	Denotes seasons in which Platten won an AFL Premiership
	Led the league for the Season only*
	Led the league after finals only*
	Led the league after Season and Finals*

*10 games required to be eligible.

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1986†	Hawthorn	44	25	31	36	332	175	507	61	–	1.2	1.4	13.3	7.0	20.3	2.4	–
1987	Hawthorn	44	26	33	30	411	222	633	64	49	1.3	1.2	15.8	8.5	24.3	2.5	1.9
1988†	Hawthorn	44	22	21	18	383	141	524	56	39	1.0	0.8	17.4	6.4	23.8	2.5	1.8
1989†	Hawthorn	44	22	16	22	406	134	540	80	42	0.7	1.0	18.5	6.1	24.5	3.6	1.9
1990	Hawthorn	44	19	19	13	249	76	325	48	20	1.0	0.7	13.1	4.0	17.1	2.5	1.1
1991†	Hawthorn	44	23	25	24	390	161	551	56	65	1.1	1.0	17.0	7.0	24.0	2.4	2.8
1992	Hawthorn	44	22	20	16	371	137	508	51	38	0.9	0.7	16.9	6.2	23.1	2.3	1.7
1993	Hawthorn	44	18	15	15	267	95	362	45	43	0.8	0.8	14.8	5.3	20.1	2.5	2.4
1994	Hawthorn	44	23	16	8	333	151	484	67	58	0.7	0.3	14.5	6.6	21.0	2.9	2.5
1995	Hawthorn	44	19	9	9	246	99	345	41	44	0.5	0.5	12.9	5.2	18.2	2.2	2.3
1996	Hawthorn	44	21	9	12	254	117	371	56	54	0.4	0.6	12.1	5.6	17.7	2.7	2.6
1997	Hawthorn	44	18	14	10	208	111	319	56	34	0.8	0.6	11.6	6.2	17.7	3.1	1.9
Career			258	228	213	3850	1619	5469	681	486	0.9	0.8	14.9	6.3	21.2	2.6	2.1

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season	Votes
1986	14
1987	20
1988	12
1989	20
1990	11
1991	13
1992	11
1993	3
1994	14
1995	5
1996	15
1997	5
Total	143
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Team

• AFL Premiership (Hawthorn): 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991
• McClelland Trophy (Hawthorn): 1986, 1988, 1989
• Pre-season Cup (Hawthorn): 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992

Individual

• All-Australian: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992
• Peter Crimmins Medal: 1987, 1994

Other Achievements

• John Platten was one of 113 inaugural inductees into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2003 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

External links

• Central District Football Club website
• Hawthorn team of the Century
• John Platten's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• John Platten's business [1]