fullname heightweight years article_title position statsend originalteam birth_date draftpick name
paul bower 192cm / 92kg 2006 -- 2012 paul bower
 defender 2012 peel thunder -lrb- wafl -rrb- 9 january 1988 no. 20 , 2005 national draft , paul bower
paul bower

paul bower -lrb- born 9 january 1988 -rrb- is an australian rules footballer in the australian football league .
he was recruited as the number 20 draft pick in the 2005 afl draft from peel thunder .
he is delisted from the carlton football club .
he played the first half of the season in the northern bullants as a safe-marking backman , before missing two months through injury .
shortly after returning from injury , he made his afl debut in round 21 of the 2006 afl season , playing the final two games of the year .
he began to gain regular selection in 2008 , playing as the second tall defender .
he played several very good defensive games , before sustaining a shoulder injury in round 10 against geelong which saw him miss ten games .
he returned for the final two rounds of the year .
2009 was a breakthrough season for bower .
he began to take more difficult defensive roles , added a strong rebounding aspect to his game , and began to show strong leadership amongst the young carlton defenders .
bower would ultimately finish seventh in the john nicholls medal , after being as high as second after thirteen rounds .
however , his 2010 and 2011 seasons were hindered by repeated injuries to his quadriceps ; he played only fifteen games across the two seasons , and did not match his 2009 form .
at the conclusion of the 2011 season , bower was close to being delisted due to league rules requiring at least three players be delisted each year .
the decision came down to being between bower and setanta Ó hailpín , and bower was ultimately retained due mostly to Ó hailpín being five years older .
he played a further ten games in 2012 , but was delisted at the end of the season .
after being delisted , bower returned to peel thunder for the 2013 wafl season .
in 2014 , he returned to melbourne and signed with heidelberg in the northern football league , where he remains as of 2015 .
of māori heritage , bower is one of the few maori australians in the history of the vfl/afl and proudly wears a tribal tattoo on his left arm .
