Fabian Francis
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Fabian Francis, (born October 24, 1973) is a former Australian rules football player, most notably playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Born in Darwin, Francis played for Northern Territory Football League club Southern Districts before moving to Adelaide in 1992 to play for Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League. Although he did not play a senior game for Port, Francis sufficiently impressed Australian Football League (AFL) club Melbourne to draft him and Francis made his AFL debut in 1993.
Francis did not enjoy living in Melbourne and after one season returned to Darwin to play Rugby Union. Brisbane coach Robert Walls convinced Francis to return to Australian rules with Brisbane and Francis played for Brisbane from 1994-95 before returning to Port Adelaide for the 1996 season, where he was runner-up in the Magarey Medal. He was then named as an inaugural member of Port Adelaide's AFL team in 1997.
Following a pay dispute, Francis was delisted by Port Adelaide at the end of the 2001 AFL season. Soon after being appointed coach of the Fremantle Dockers for the 2002 season, Chris Connolly suggested that Francis could be drafted by the Dockers with their number one selection at the upcoming preseason draft. A deal was soon struck between Fremantle and Francis, that he would be drafted, and he moved from Adelaide to Perth, with his family, and began training with the Dockers. Shortly before the preseason draft, the AFL informed Fremantle that they had exceeded Total Player Payments (TPP) for season 2001 - despite finishing last with only two wins for the year, and they would be barred from the upcoming draft, preventing them from selecting Francis. It is understood that the breach of TPP occurred due to an excess of injury payments - several regular players had been injured and a greater than expected number of players on match payments had needed to be played.
Fremantle then struck a deal with a clearly upset and disillusioned Francis, that he play the 2002 season in the WAFL for South Fremantle, and then be guaranteed to be drafted by Fremantle in the 2002 AFL draft[1].
During the 2002 season, Francis suffered a serious knee injury playng for South Fremantle, and never played senior football again. He was not drafted by Fremantle later in the year, and a cash settlement was agreed upon in lieu of drafting him.
Francis now works with Unemployed Indigenous Australians in finding jobs.
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