Matthew Connell is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 for the Adelaide Crows

Adelaide Crows

The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....

 and West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

. Educated at Newman College, he has now returned there as a teacher.

Connell did not have a big impact playing for West Coast but when he moved to Adelaide he had a brilliant season winning the Crows Best and Fairest and a position in the Western Australian State of Origin side. In 1996 Connell had a thigh injury early in the season and when he came back he was not at the level he was in 1995. He played in both of Adelaide's Premierships in 1997 and 1998 but never hit the form he had in 1995 again.

He coached the GB Bulldogs Australian rules football team in the 2005 International Cup, held in Melbourne, guiding the team to a 6th place finish.

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