Lewis Melican

Lewis Melican (born 4 November 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Sydney with their third selection and fifty-second overall in the 2015 rookie draft.^[1] He made his debut in the forty-two point loss against Greater Western Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground in round five of the 2017 season.^[2]

Lewis Melican
Personal information
Full name	Lewis Melican
Nickname(s)	The Pelican
Date of birth	(1996-11-04) 4 November 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Birregurra
Original team(s)	Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)
Draft	No. 52, 2015 rookie draft
Debut	Round 5, 2017, Sydney vs. Greater Western Sydney, at SCG
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	43
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2015–	Sydney	90 (2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 13 of the 2025 season.
Career highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Melican received the AFL Rising Star nomination for round 18 after restricting St Kilda key forward Nick Riewoldt to ten disposals and one goal in the Swans' forty-two point win at the Sydney Cricket Ground.^[3] After not playing at all in the 2022 season, Melican returned to the swans senior side in round 13 2023. He has started consistently in the 2024 season.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.^[4]

Legend

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

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2015	Sydney	43	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2016	Sydney	43	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2017	Sydney	43	17	1	1	112	91	203	62	31	0.1	0.1	6.6	5.4	11.9	3.6	1.8
2018	Sydney	43	3	0	0	26	14	40	9	5	0.0	0.0	8.7	4.7	13.3	3.0	1.7
2019	Sydney	43	17	0	0	109	66	175	56	36	0.0	0.0	6.4	3.9	10.3	3.3	2.1
2020[a]	Sydney	43	9	0	0	52	37	89	21	14	0.0	0.0	5.8	4.1	9.9	2.3	1.6
2021	Sydney	43	6	0	0	53	23	76	30	5	0.0	0.0	8.8	3.8	12.7	5.0	0.8
2022	Sydney	43	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2023	Sydney	43	8	0	0	47	33	80	19	19	0.0	0.0	5.9	4.1	10	2.4	2.4
2024	Sydney	43	8	0	0	50	22	72	27	14	0.0	0.0	6.3	2.8	9	3.4	1.8
Career			68	1	1	449	286	735	224	124	0.0	0.0	6.6	4.2	10.8	3.3	1.8

1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Individual

• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017 (round 18)