Tom Phillips (Australian footballer)

Tom Phillips (born 7 May 1996) is an Australian rules footballer who most recently played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early and personal life
Phillips grew up in Melbourne. He participated in the Auskick program at Milgate Primary School in Doncaster East, Victoria. He attended Caulfield Grammar School, where he excelled at Australian rules football and running. His uncle, Andrew Phillips played 42 games for Carlton. His younger brother Ed Phillips played for St Kilda.

State football
Phillips played for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup, appearing in 12 games and winning a premiership with them in the 2014 season. The next season he returned as an overage player, making the most of his final year in the development league. He kicked 23 goals in 16 games and selected as one of the best players half the time. In the Grand Final he tallied 18 disposals and kicked two goals to help them claim back-to-back premierships. In 2015, Phillips spent time with Victorian Football League (VFL) club Port Melbourne, collecting 20 disposals and laying six tackles against Collingwood, the club which would draft him to the Australian Football League (AFL).

AFL career
After being overlooked in the 2014 national draft, Phillips was drafted by Collingwood with their 2nd pick of the 2015 national draft, which was the 58th pick overall. He impressed in pre-season during the annual time-trial beating "time-trial king" Steele Sidebottom. He made his debut for Collingwood in round 12 of the 2016, against Melbourne in the Queen's Birthday clash. Two rounds later, he scored his first goal, against Fremantle. Phillips was named the AFL Rising Star nominee for round 9 of the 2017 season, after gathering 24 disposals in Collingwood's comeback win over Hawthorn at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the 2018 season, Phillips was selected by the AFL Players Association for the 22 Under 22 team.

Following the 2020 season, Phillips along with Jaidyn Stephenson and Adam Treloar were put up for trade by Collingwood due to salary cap issues. Phillips would eventually be traded to Hawthorn in exchange for Pick 65 in the 2020 AFL draft.

Phillips played one pre-season game in the number 16 guernsey before the retirement of Tom Scully prior to the start of the 2021 AFL season allowed him to continue wearing his old number 21 for Hawthorn.

Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2022 season.

! colspan=3| Career ! 115 !! 57 !! 41 !! 1435 !! 971 !! 2406 !! 546 !! 279 !! 0.5 !! 0.4 !! 12.5 !! 8.4 !! 20.9 !! 4.7 !! 2.4 !! 2
 * 2016 || || 21
 * 6 || 3 || 4 || 57 || 45 || 102 || 33 || 17 || 0.5 || 0.7 || 9.5 || 7.5 || 17.0 || 5.5 || 2.8 || 0
 * 2017 || || 21
 * 18 || 9 || 7 || 213 || 167 || 380 || 88 || 52 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 11.8 || 9.3 || 21.1 || 4.9 || 2.9 || 0
 * 2018 || || 21
 * 26 || 15 || 8 || 391 || 273 || 664 || 147 || 62 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 15.0 || 10.5 || 25.5 || 5.7 || 2.4 || 0
 * 2019 || || 21
 * 24 || 12 || 10 || 372 || 200 || 572 || 128 || 53 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 15.5 || 8.3 || 23.8 || 5.3 || 2.2 || 0
 * 2020 || || 21
 * 15 || 5 || 7 || 141 || 104 || 245 || 46 || 35 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 9.4 || 6.9 || 16.3 || 3.1 || 2.3 || 2
 * 2021 || || 21
 * 22 || 13 || 5 || 241 || 165 || 406 || 93 || 47 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 11.0 || 7.5 || 18.5 || 4.2 || 2.1 || 0
 * 2022 || || 21
 * 4 || 0 || 0 || 20 || 17 || 37 || 11 || 13 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.0 || 4.3 || 9.3 || 2.8 || 3.3 || 0
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * 2021 || || 21
 * 22 || 13 || 5 || 241 || 165 || 406 || 93 || 47 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 11.0 || 7.5 || 18.5 || 4.2 || 2.1 || 0
 * 2022 || || 21
 * 4 || 0 || 0 || 20 || 17 || 37 || 11 || 13 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.0 || 4.3 || 9.3 || 2.8 || 3.3 || 0
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * 4 || 0 || 0 || 20 || 17 || 37 || 11 || 13 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.0 || 4.3 || 9.3 || 2.8 || 3.3 || 0
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * }

Personal life
Phillips is studying for a Bachelor's degree in communication at Deakin University.

Notes

Honours and achievements
Individual
 * 22under22 team: 2018
 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017