# List of AFL debuts in 1997

The 1997 AFL season was the one hundred and first season of the Australian Football League/Victorian Football League. Ninety eight players made their senior debut in the 1997 season, while another 56 players debuted for a new club having previously played in the AFL.

## Debuts

| Name | Club | Age at debut | Round debuted | Games | Goals | Notes |
| Simon Goodwin | Adelaide | 20 years, 94 days | 1 | 275 | 162 | All-Australian 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2009. Adelaide captain 2008–2010. |
| Brett James | Adelaide | 24 years, 105 days | 1 | 76 | 26 | Previously played for Collingwood. Brother of Roger James. |
| Trent Ormond-Allen | Adelaide | 20 years, 298 days | 2 | 42 | 2 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Clay Sampson | Adelaide | 21 years, 153 days | 17 | 24 | 16 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Chad Rintoul | Adelaide | 22 years, 242 days | 1 | 23 | 16 | |
| Barry Standfield | Adelaide | 27 years, 46 days | 2 | 13 | 23 | Previously played for Footscray. |
| Tim Cook | Adelaide | 23 years, 45 days | 2 | 8 | 5 | |
| Brent Williams | Adelaide | 19 years, 46 days | 1 | 7 | 4 | |
| Aaron Keating | Adelaide | 22 years, 310 days | 1 | 6 | 1 | Brother of Clark Keating. |
| Tom Gilligan | Adelaide | 18 years, 161 days | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| Chris Johnson | Brisbane Lions | 20 years, 304 days | 1 | 205 | 105 | Brisbane Lions captain 2007. All-Australian 2002 and 2004. Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Jarrod Molloy | Brisbane Lions | 20 years, 322 days | 1 | 61 | 104 | Son of Shane Molloy. Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Brett Voss | Brisbane Lions | 19 years, 65 days | 8 | 35 | 11 | Brother of Michael Voss. |
| Scott Bamford | Brisbane Lions | 22 years, 287 days | 2 | 24 | 17 | Previously played for Fitzroy |
| Brad Boyd | Brisbane Lions | 25 years, 288 days | 9 | 15 | 8 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Nick Trask | Brisbane Lions | 19 years, 116 days | 10 | 12 | 3 | |
| John Barker | Brisbane Lions | 22 years, 74 days | 6 | 8 | 1 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Nick Carter | Brisbane Lions | 19 years, 14 days | 7 | 5 | 1 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Shane Clayton | Brisbane Lions | 18 years, 199 days | 18 | 5 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Lance Whitnall | Carlton | 17 years, 220 days | 1 | 216 | 348 | Carlton captain 2007, All-Australian 2000, Carlton Best and Fairest 2006 and AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 1). |
| Darren Hulme | Carlton | 19 years, 324 days | 10 | 110 | 56 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 10). |
| Anthony Franchina | Carlton | 19 years, 309 days | 20 | 105 | 26 | |
| Mark Porter | Carlton | 20 years, 281 days | 16 | 55 | 13 | |
| Adam White | Carlton | 21 years, 89 days | 2 | 44 | 21 | |
| Ben Nelson | Carlton | 20 years, 81 days | 3 | 40 | 6 | |
| Jacob Anstey | Carlton | 19 years, 104 days | 7 | 16 | 5 | |
| Mick McGuane | Carlton | 29 years, 92 days | 1 | 3 | 1 | Previously played for Collingwood. |
| Andrew Balkwill | Carlton | 25 years, 20 days | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sam Smart | Carlton | 22 years, 114 days | 21 | 1 | 0 | |
| Anthony Rocca | Collingwood | 19 years, 226 days | 1 | 220 | 404 | Collingwood Leading Goalkicker 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2007. Brother of Saverio Rocca. Previously played for Sydney. |
| Mal Michael | Collingwood | 19 years, 319 days | 7 | 61 | 23 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 18). |
| Luke Godden | Collingwood | 18 years, 316 days | 18 | 36 | 0 | |
| Richard Osborne | Collingwood | 32 years, 286 days | 1 | 29 | 26 | Previously played for Fitzroy, Sydney and Footscray. |
| Josh Mahoney | Collingwood | 19 years, 226 days | 12 | 19 | 8 | |
| Brad Fuller | Collingwood | 18 years, 324 days | 13 | 19 | 12 | |
| John Barnett | Collingwood | 21 years, 226 days | 1 | 8 | 4 | Previously played for North Melbourne. |
| Jason Taylor | Collingwood | 28 years, 193 days | 2 | 4 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy and Hawthorn. |
| Brad Cassidy | Collingwood | 21 years, 31 days | 21 | 2 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Jason Johnson | Essendon | 19 years, 189 days | 18 | 184 | 109 | Best and Fairest 2001 and 2005. All-Australian 2001. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998. |
| Blake Caracella | Essendon | 20 years, 30 days | 3 | 126 | 151 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 13). |
| Chris Heffernan | Essendon | 18 years, 194 days | 19 | 123 | 46 | |
| Andrew Ukovic | Essendon | 18 years, 204 days | 12 | 19 | 8 | |
| Andrew Bomford | Essendon | 22 years, 268 days | 3 | 13 | 5 | |
| Daniel McAlister | Essendon | 19 years, 1 days | 21 | 6 | 0 | |
| Matthew Banks | Essendon | 20 years, 279 days | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| Matthew Watson | Essendon | 20 years, 264 days | 21 | 1 | 0 | |
| Heath Black | Fremantle | 17 years, 326 days | 4 | 138 | 61 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 4). |
| Jess Sinclair | Fremantle | 18 years, 280 days | 10 | 50 | 26 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 5). |
| Trent Carroll | Fremantle | 19 years, 27 days | 9 | 33 | 1 | Brother of Nathan Carroll. |
| Matthew Clucas | Fremantle | 19 years, 47 days | 6 | 11 | 1 | |
| Martin Whitelaw | Fremantle | 21 years, 94 days | 21 | 1 | 0 | |
| Darren Milburn | Geelong | 19 years, 349 days | 1 | 292 | 94 | All-Australian 2007. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 22). |
| Adam Houlihan | Geelong | 19 years, 14 days | 4 | 61 | 75 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 6). Brother of Damian and Ryan Houlihan. |
| Paul Corrigan | Geelong | 19 years, 243 days | 1 | 53 | 6 | |
| Daniel Lowther | Geelong | 20 years, 92 days | 16 | 34 | 9 | |
| Tim Hargreaves | Geelong | 21 years, 310 days | 2 | 20 | 12 | Previously played for Hawthorn. |
| Cameron Roberts | Geelong | 18 years, 266 days | 10 | 11 | 2 | |
| Ben Dixon | Hawthorn | 19 years, 316 days | 5 | 203 | 282 | Son of Joe Dixon. |
| Jonathan Hay | Hawthorn | 17 years, 347 days | 17 | 149 | 12 | All-Australian 2001. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 5). |
| Aaron Lord | Hawthorn | 21 years, 251 days | 1 | 93 | 136 | Hawthorn leading goalkicker 1999. Previously played for Geelong. |
| Jon Hassall | Hawthorn | 23 years, 227 days | 1 | 44 | 5 | Previously played for Collingwood. |
| Justin Crawford | Hawthorn | 20 years, 9 days | 1 | 29 | 21 | Brother of Shane Crawford. Previously played for Sydney. |
| Brad Scott | Hawthorn | 20 years, 330 days | 1 | 22 | 6 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 17). Brother of Chris Scott. |
| Todd Ridley | Hawthorn | 28 years, 82 days | 6 | 2 | 0 | Previously played for Essendon and Fremantle. |
| Dwayne Griffin | Hawthorn | 20 years, 185 days | 22 | 1 | 0 | |
| James McDonald | Melbourne | 20 years, 295 days | 17 | 251 | 56 | Melbourne captain 2008–2010. All-Australian 2006. Melbourne Best and Fairest 2006 and 2007. Brother of Anthony and Alex McDonald. |
| Russell Robertson | Melbourne | 18 years, 264 days | 20 | 228 | 428 | Melbourne Best and Fairest 2003. Melbourne leading goalkicker 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2009. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 14) |
| Shane Woewodin | Melbourne | 20 years, 258 days | 1 | 138 | 63 | Brownlow Medallist 2000. Melbourne Best and Fairest 2000. AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 10) |
| Alistair Nicholson | Melbourne | 19 years, 62 days | 6 | 110 | 3 | |
| Anthony McDonald | Melbourne | 24 years, 309 days | 4 | 104 | 41 | Brother of Alex and James McDonald |
| Brent Grgic | Melbourne | 17 years, 271 days | 14 | 77 | 29 | |
| Robert Pyman | Melbourne | 25 years, 172 days | 1 | 19 | 8 | Previously played for North Melbourne and Collingwood. |
| Leigh Newton | Melbourne | 21 years, 17 days | 3 | 13 | 6 | |
| Nick Pesch | Melbourne | 22 years, 290 days | 3 | 4 | 0 | Previously played for Adelaide. |
| Byron Pickett | North Melbourne | 19 years, 334 days | 15 | 120 | 81 | All-Australian 1999. AFL Rising Star 1998. |
| Martin Pike | North Melbourne | 24 years, 133 days | 15 | 81 | 19 | Previously played for Melbourne and Fitzroy. |
| Brett Chandler | North Melbourne | 21 years, 259 days | 1 | 44 | 6 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Evan Hewitt | North Melbourne | 18 years, 357 days | 13 | 33 | 22 | |
| Anthony Mellington | North Melbourne | 22 years, 267 days | 4 | 20 | 19 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Chris Groom | North Melbourne | 23 years, 354 days | 20 | 5 | 1 | Previously played for Adelaide and Fremantle. |
| Julian Kirzner | North Melbourne | 17 years, 314 days | 24 | 3 | 5 | |
| Paul Wynd | North Melbourne | 21 years, 38 days | 11 | 3 | 0 | |
| Warren Tredrea | Port Adelaide | 18 years, 103 days | 2 | 255 | 549 | Port Adelaide captain 2006-2008, All-Australian 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2009. Port Adelaide leading goal kicker 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2009. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 7). |
| Peter Burgoyne | Port Adelaide | 19 years, 60 days | 1 | 240 | 193 | Brother of Shaun Burgoyne. |
| Brendon Lade | Port Adelaide | 20 years, 262 days | 1 | 234 | 182 | All-Australian 2006, 2007. Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 2006. AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 |
| Michael Wilson | Port Adelaide | 20 years, 128 days | 1 | 192 | 51 | AFL Rising Star winner 1997. |
| Stuart Dew | Port Adelaide | 17 years, 329 days | 15 | 180 | 245 | Port Adelaide leading goalkicker 2002. AFL Rising Star nominee 1998 (Round 13). |
| Gavin Wanganeen | Port Adelaide | 23 years, 292 days | 2 | 173 | 138 | Port Adelaide captain 1997-2000. All-Australian 2001 and 2003. Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 2003. Previously played for Essendon. |
| Adam Kingsley | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 221 days | 1 | 170 | 47 | Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 1998. |
| Josh Francou | Port Adelaide | 22 years, 234 days | 1 | 156 | 72 | All-Australian 2002 |
| Roger James | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 188 days | 5 | 147 | 87 | Brother of Brett James. |
| Stephen Paxman | Port Adelaide | 26 years, 115 days | 1 | 138 | 20 | Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 1999. Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Matthew Primus | Port Adelaide | 22 years, 77 days | 1 | 137 | 76 | Port Adelaide captain 2001 – 2005, Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 2002 and All-Australian 2001 and 2002. Grandson of Reg Hickey. Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Darren Mead | Port Adelaide | 26 years, 0 days | 1 | 122 | 8 | Port Adelaide Best and Fairest 1997. |
| Brayden Lyle | Port Adelaide | 24 years, 23 days | 1 | 90 | 12 | Previously played for West Coast. |
| Fabian Francis | Port Adelaide | 23 years, 156 days | 1 | 86 | 44 | Previously played for Melbourne and Brisbane Bears. |
| Stephen Daniels | Port Adelaide | 20 years, 229 days | 4 | 58 | 2 | |
| Shane Bond | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 263 days | 1 | 57 | 11 | Brother of Troy Bond. Previously played for West Coast. |
| Nathan Eagleton | Port Adelaide | 18 years, 168 days | 5 | 56 | 45 | |
| Donald Dickie | Port Adelaide | 24 years, 325 days | 1 | 55 | 19 | |
| Shayne Breuer | Port Adelaide | 24 years, 200 days | 1 | 54 | 29 | Previously played for Geelong. |
| Bowen Lockwood | Port Adelaide | 18 years, 279 days | 2 | 50 | 45 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 3). |
| Scott Cummings | Port Adelaide | 23 years, 71 days | 1 | 37 | 102 | Port Adelaide leading goalkicker 1997. Previously played for Essendon. |
| Adam Heuskes | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 9 days | 1 | 37 | 1 | Previously played for Sydney. |
| Darryl Poole | Port Adelaide | 24 years, 362 days | 1 | 24 | 11 | |
| David Brown | Port Adelaide | 27 years, 181 days | 1 | 22 | 18 | Previously played for Adelaide. |
| Nathan Steinberner | Port Adelaide | 20 years, 167 days | 21 | 20 | 3 | |
| Nigel Fiegert | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 69 days | 2 | 19 | 6 | |
| Brent Heaver | Port Adelaide | 25 years, 287 days | 1 | 16 | 13 | Previously played for Melbourne and Carlton. |
| Stephen Carter | Port Adelaide | 23 years, 53 days | 1 | 10 | 0 | |
| John Rombotis | Port Adelaide | 20 years, 216 days | 8 | 9 | 5 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Ian Downsborough | Port Adelaide | 25 years, 70 days | 1 | 7 | 2 | Previously played for West Coast. |
| Damian Squire | Port Adelaide | 23 years, 134 days | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| Tom Carr | Port Adelaide | 18 years, 308 days | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Jarrod Cotton | Port Adelaide | 21 years, 57 days | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| Mark Conway | Port Adelaide | 24 years, 48 days | 14 | 1 | 0 | |
| Paul Geister | Port Adelaide | 25 years, 215 days | 22 | 1 | 0 | Previously played for North Melbourne. |
| Mark Chaffey | Richmond | 19 years, 348 days | 4 | 166 | 34 | |
| Brett Evans | Richmond | 24 years, 364 days | 9 | 28 | 26 | |
| Matthew Manfield | Richmond | 19 years, 350 days | 1 | 6 | 2 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Ewan Thompson | Richmond | 20 years, 100 days | 14 | 4 | 1 | |
| Jason Baldwin | Richmond | 27 years, 211 days | 11 | 2 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Daniel Donati | Richmond | 19 years, 280 days | 14 | 1 | 0 | |
| Nick Jewell | Richmond | 19 years, 347 days | 19 | 1 | 0 | Also represented Victoria in cricket. Son of Tony Jewell. |
| Max Hudghton | St Kilda | 20 years, 208 days | 1 | 234 | 14 | |
| Andrew Thompson | St Kilda | 24 years, 159 days | 1 | 221 | 93 | St Kilda Best and Fairest 2000. |
| Jason Heatley | St Kilda | 25 years, 51 days | 3 | 60 | 163 | St Kilda leading goalkicker 1997 and 1998. Previously played for West Coast. |
| Brad Campbell | St Kilda | 21 years, 134 days | 6 | 22 | 2 | |
| Brett Cook | St Kilda | 23 years, 344 days | 1 | 18 | 5 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Troy Gray | St Kilda | 24 years, 32 days | 1 | 9 | 2 | Previously played for Sydney. |
| Ben Mathews | Sydney | 18 years, 232 days | 16 | 198 | 45 | AFL Rising Star nominee 1999 (Round 20). |
| Rowan Warfe | Sydney | 20 years, 315 days | 6 | 84 | 4 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| John Stevens | Sydney | 25 years, 300 days | 3 | 78 | 45 | |
| Troy Cook | Sydney | 20 years, 242 days | 3 | 43 | 11 | AFL Rising Star Award nominee 1997 (Round 11) |
| Mark Orchard | Sydney | 20 years, 361 days | 1 | 41 | 5 | Previously played for Collingwood. |
| Paul Licuria | Sydney | 19 years, 85 days | 1 | 10 | 2 | |
| Mark Kinnear | Sydney | 17 years, 256 days | 6 | 6 | 1 | |
| Ben Wilson | Sydney | 20 years, 33 days | 1 | 4 | 0 | Previously played for Collingwood. |
| Shannon Corcoran | Sydney | 26 years, 36 days | 1 | 2 | 0 | Previously played for Footscray and the Brisbane Bears. |
| Michael Braun | West Coast | 19 years, 77 days | 11 | 228 | 66 | AFL Rising Star Award nominee 1997 (Round 14) and 1998 (Round 1). |
| Michael Gardiner | West Coast | 17 years, 288 days | 4 | 129 | 87 | All-Australian team 2003. AFL Rising Star nominee 1997 (Round 19). |
| Josh Wooden | West Coast | 18 years, 135 days | 1 | 96 | 18 | |
| Nicholas Stone | West Coast | 24 years, 212 days | 4 | 33 | 4 | |
| Ilija Grgic | West Coast | 25 years, 24 days | 1 | 23 | 15 | Previously played for Footscray. |
| Neil Marshall | West Coast | 20 years, 13 days | 16 | 4 | 0 | |
| Trent Cummings | West Coast | 23 years, 48 days | 9 | 2 | 1 | Previously played for Fitzroy. Great-grandson of Joe Johnson, son of Percy Cummings and brother of Robert Cummings. |
| Nathan Brown | Western Bulldogs | 19 years, 48 days | 1 | 137 | 206 | All-Australian team 2001 and 2002. Western Bulldogs leading goalkicker 2002 and 2003. |
| Paul Hudson | Western Bulldogs | 26 years, 252 days | 1 | 108 | 214 | All-Australian team 1998. Western Bulldogs leading goalkicker 1998 and 1999. Previously played for Hawthorn. Son of Peter Hudson. |
| Brett Montgomery | Western Bulldogs | 23 years, 308 days | 2 | 78 | 68 | |
| Matthew Dent | Western Bulldogs | 25 years, 72 days | 1 | 63 | 10 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Adam Contessa | Western Bulldogs | 20 years, 181 days | 13 | 45 | 8 | |
| Stephen Powell | Western Bulldogs | 20 years, 237 days | 6 | 30 | 21 | |
| Simon Minton-Connell | Western Bulldogs | 27 years, 337 days | 1 | 25 | 53 | Western Bulldogs leading goalkicker 1997. Previously played for Carlton, Sydney and Hawthorn. |
| David Round | Western Bulldogs | 18 years, 291 days | 3 | 2 | 0 | Son of Barry Round. |