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Callum Mills (born 2 April 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer and co-captain of the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the 2016 NAB AFL Rising Star Award for his outstanding breakout season.

Callum Mills
Mills playing for Sydney in June 2017
Personal information
Full name	Callum Mills
Date of birth	(1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 (age 25)
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales
Original team(s)	Mosman Swans / North Shore (Sydney AFL)/Sydney Swans Academy
Draft	No. 3, 2015 national draft
Debut	Round 1, 2016, Sydney vs. Collingwood, at SCG
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	14
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2016–	Sydney	135 (19)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2022 season.
Career highlights
Sydney Swans co-captain 2022– All Australian: 2022 Bob Skilton Medal 2022 Ron Evans Medal: 2016 AFLPA best first year player: 2016 2× 22under22 team: 2016, 2017 Brett Kirk Medalist Round 3 2018
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Mills was born in Sydney and grew up on the Northern Beaches. His grandfather, Ray Mills, played Australian rules football for the Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and represented Western Australia through the 1960s.[1] Callum was an avid Sydney Swans supporter as a child and idolised Swans' forward Tony Lockett.[2] He began playing Australian rules football at the age of four through the Auskick junior program, but gave the game away at seven years of age to play rugby union with his school friends.[3] He played representative junior rugby with Warringah Rugby Club's underage representative team which won three consecutive state championships (2008-2010) alongside Brad Parker and Simon Kennewell.[4][5]

In 2010, aged 13, Mills was approached by then-Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham to fill in for the Mosman Swans junior Australian rules football team. He impressed enough to be placed in the Sydney Swans talent academy later that year and gave up rugby union. Mills later revealed the Swans' academy was the major influence in his decision to play Australian rules football instead of rugby union when he was a teenager.[6] He won the under 16's best and fairest at fourteen years of age for the Mosman Swans and he was ultimately named club champion in 2012. In 2014–15, he was cleared to play in the TAC Cup competition as a member of the NSW/ACT Rams and during this period he also played four games for North Shore in the premier division of the Sydney AFL competition.

AFL career

Mills was selected by the Sydney Swans with their first selection and third overall in the 2015 national draft. He was initially bid on by Melbourne, however Sydney matched the bid under the new live bidding rules implemented in the 2015 draft.[7] He was given the number 14 guernsey, made famous by three-time Brownlow Medallist and Australian football hall of famer, Bob Skilton and former club captain and Brownlow medallist, Paul Kelly.[8] He made his debut in the eighty point win against Collingwood, recording 18 disposals in round one, 2016.[9] After the 38-point win against Geelong, he was the round 16 nomination for the Rising Star where he recorded 23 disposals, six marks, and four rebound-50s.[10] He was ultimately the winner of the Rising Star, receiving the Ron Evans Medal with 49 votes out of a possible 50.[11] He became the third Sydney Swan to win the award.

Following a promising debut season, Mills re-signed with the Swans on a five-year contract that will see him remain at the club until the end of 2023.[12]

At the start of 2022 he was named one of the Swans co-captains.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[13]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2016	Sydney	14	22	1	3	231	177	408	105	50	0.0	0.1	10.5	8.0	18.5	4.8	2.3	0
2017	Sydney	14	24	1	2	267	148	415	121	59	0.0	0.1	11.3	6.1	17.2	5.0	2.5	0
2018	Sydney	14	9	0	1	101	72	173	44	23	0.0	0.1	11.2	8.0	19.2	4.9	2.6	3
2019	Sydney	14	22	1	0	231	174	405	136	58	0.0	0.0	10.5	7.9	18.4	6.2	2.6	0
2020[lower-alpha 1]	Sydney	14	15	0	1	164	164	271	77	49	0.0	0.1	10.9	7.1	18.1	5.1	3.3	2
2021	Sydney	14	18	6	1	256	239	495	107	95	0.3	0.1	14.2	13.3	27.5	5.9	5.3	18
2022	Sydney	14	25	10	3	360	250	610	165	158	0.4	0.1	14.4	10.0	24.4	6.6	6.3	21
Career			135	19	11	1610	1167	2777	755	492	0.1	0.1	11.9	8.6	20.6	5.6	3.6	44

Notes

Honours and achievements

Team

• McClelland Trophy (Sydney): 2016

Individual

• Sydney captain: 2022–
• Bob Skilton Medal: 2022
• All-Australian team: 2022
• 2× 22under22 team: 2014, 2015
• Brett Kirk Medal: 2018 (round 3)
• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2016 (round 16)

References

External links

• Callum Mills's profile on the official website of the Sydney Swans
• Callum Mills's playing statistics from AFL Tables

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