AFL Career
Gibbs was named in Carlton's leadership group for the 2007 AFL season without having played a single AFL match, which is the first time in history this has happened.
He made his debut in round one against Richmond and kicked a goal with his first kick while becoming the 1100th player to play for Carlton. 17 disposals at 100 percent efficiency and a great shut-down role on Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis in Round 10 earned Gibbs his nomination for the NAB Rising Star award.
Gibbs played every game of the 2007 season and kicked five goals. Most of his development and experience has been in the backline where he has played as a half back flanker.
In 2008, new coach Brett Ratten reduced the size of the leadership group, and Gibbs was excluded from the new group. Gibbs played games as both an attacking midfielder and as a tagger throughout the season, playing very well in both roles. As a tagger, he convincingly beat several top-class opponents, including Chad Cornes (nine disposals), Heath Shaw (six disposals) and Adam Goodes, whom he held to seven disposals while collecting 26 of his own. In the midfield, he showed strong team ethic, very accurate disposal by foot, strong tackling, and very good football smarts and awareness. He collected seven Brownlow votes during the season and finished 5th in the club Best and Fairest.
In 2009, Gibbs began playing mainly as an attacking midfielder, and much less as a tagger. He finished the season with a total of 615 disposals (averaging 26.7) which was ranked ninth in the league, and polled 15 votes in the Brownlow Medal to finish equal ninth, and finished third in the club Best and Fairest.
In 2010, Gibbs began to divide his time between the midfield and the half-back line, playing as a rebounding defender. In Round 10, his 45 disposals tied Greg Williams' efforts as the most by a Carlton player in a single game (since records were kept in 1984). Gibbs finished fourth in the club Best and Fairest for 2010.
In 2011, Gibbs celebrated his 100 games for Carlton against the Brisbane Lions.
In June 2012, Gibbs re-signed with Carlton for a further 2 years.
Read more about this topic: Bryce Gibbs (Australian Rules Footballer)
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