Sam Taylor (Australian footballer)

Sam Taylor (born 5 May 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a tall defender. Taylor made his debut in round 11 of the 2018 season against the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval.

Originally from Bullsbrook, Western Australia, Taylor's parents are Susan and Graham. He is the third of the family's seven children and was educated at Guildford Grammar School. He played at colts level for Swan Districts in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) in 2016 and the first half of 2017 before transitioning to league level. He is a graduate of the AFL Academy and played in the AFL Under 18 Championships for Western Australia, receiving All-Australian honours. He was drafted by the GWS Giants with pick 28 in the 2017 national draft.

AFL Career
Taylor made his debut in Round 11, 2018, against Adelaide. He played nearly a full season in 2019, including making an appearance in GWS's first-ever (albeit unsuccessful) AFL Grand Final.

In the COVID-affected 2020 season, after just four games for the year, Taylor was admitted to hospital with what was later diagnosed as septic arthritis in his pelvis and ankle. He was initially only expected to miss a month of football, but he ended up not playing for the rest of the season.

Taylor played from the start of 2021, but he had a six-game break after Round 10 due to an ankle injury.

Taylor played 22 out of 23 games in 2022, but a hamstring injury in 2023 saw him miss seven games.

In Round 5, 2024, Taylor was knocked out cold, causing the game to be paused for about ten minutes until he was subbed out on a medicab. The Age’s Andrew Wu wrote: "Sam Taylor is as brave a player as they come. Broadcasters not showing a replay for good reason. Genuinely frightening stuff." GWS’s head of football, Jason McCartney, provided an update on Taylor following the quarter-time break: "He’s been taken to Canberra hospital for further assessment[,] but he was conscious and speaking as he got in the ambulance. Obviously it didn’t look great, but he’s a courageous kid and he’s in the very best hands and he’ll be fine."

Statistics
Updated to the end of 2022.

! colspan=3 | Career ! 75 !! 1 !! 1 !! 511 !! 436 !! 947 !! 359 !! 168 !! 0.0 !! 0.0 !! 6.8 !! 5.8 !! 12.6 !! 4.8 !! 2.2 !! 1
 * 2018
 * || 15 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 32 || 39 || 71 || 16 || 24 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 4.0 || 4.9 || 8.9 || 2.0 || 3.0 || 0
 * 2019
 * || 15 || 22 || 1 || 0 || 115 || 121 || 236 || 84 || 36 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 5.2 || 5.5 || 10.7 || 3.8 || 1.6 || 0
 * 2020
 * || 15 || 4 || 0 || 1 || 10 || 22 || 32 || 11 || 10 || 0.0 || 0.3 || 2.5 || 5.5 || 8.0 || 2.8 || 2.5 || 0
 * 2021
 * || 15 || 19 || 0 || 0 || 164 || 109 || 273 || 116 || 39 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.6 || 5.7 || 14.4 || 6.1 || 2.1 || 0
 * 2022
 * || 15 || 22 || 0 || 0 || 190 || 145 || 335 || 132 || 59 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.6 || 6.6 || 15.2 || 6.0 || 2.7 || 1
 * - class=sortbottom
 * || 15 || 19 || 0 || 0 || 164 || 109 || 273 || 116 || 39 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.6 || 5.7 || 14.4 || 6.1 || 2.1 || 0
 * 2022
 * || 15 || 22 || 0 || 0 || 190 || 145 || 335 || 132 || 59 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.6 || 6.6 || 15.2 || 6.0 || 2.7 || 1
 * - class=sortbottom
 * - class=sortbottom
 * - class=sortbottom
 * }

Notes

Honours and achievements
Individual
 * All-Australian team: 2022