AFL 2020: Matt Rowell reveals he was trolling teammate in viral notebook meme

The Gold Coast Suns’ Matt Rowell confirmed he is one of the hottest properties in the game as he set the internet on fire with just a notebook.

Matt Rowell is incredibly meme worthy.

The Gold Coast and Essendon played out a thrilling draw on Wednesday but all anyone wanted to talk about was injured Suns rookie Matt Rowell.

The No. 1 2019 Draft pick had set the league on fire early in the season but he was sidelined in round five when he dislocated his shoulder against Geelong, before he was ruled out for 12 weeks.

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Despite sitting with coach Stuart Dew for the night, Rowell sent social media into overdrive before the game when he was pictured with a wistful grin as he wrote in a notebook.

It‘s the stuff that memes are made of and the internet obliged. But speaking to AFL.com.au, Rowell was actually trolling his teammate in the moment that was immortalised online.

“It was actually a bit of a funny one because it was during warm up and I was with Noah (No. 2 draft pick Anderson) and he was fielding ground balls,” he said.

“It was a bit of a funny one, I started counting how many fumbles he made during the warm up. So it was actually a bit of fun.”

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The image that sparked 1000 memes.

Rowell admitted there were only two fumbles “so he did pretty well”.

“I like to push him so I like to keep him accountable, so a bit of fun,” he said.

Rowell and Anderson are a great AFL story, having been taken one and two in the draft after having grown up together, won premierships on the same side and then both being drafted by the Suns.

The 19-year-old added that he enjoyed becoming a meme.

“It did spread a bit, it was a bit of fun, I had a look at it and had a good laugh so it‘s pretty funny,” he said.

As a refresher, here are a few of the best.

“And then they realised they were no longer little girls, they were little women.” *sniffles* #afl pic.twitter.com/7h4ltsnVpO

— UP THE MILK AND UP RUGBA LEEG (@Tuxy81) August 12, 2020

Name a more iconic trio than Matt Rowell, a tucked in shirt & a notepad.
I’ll wait...#AFLSunsDons pic.twitter.com/ZesBMp5SeG

— Hayley Wildes (@wildes_hayley) August 12, 2020

“You know what happens? You know what happens when you make fun of Matt Rowell’s notebook? Huh?...

You just made the list!” pic.twitter.com/mtpX6fXxYi

— Ned Balme (@NedBalmeLives) August 12, 2020

Matt Rowell memes are the best thing that has happened in iso.

More please.

— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) August 12, 2020

The vision of Matt Rowell sarcastically taking notes about Noah Anderson’s warm up and ripping on his best mate by pretending to give him a bad score is my favourite moment of the 2020 #AFL season.

What an absolute legend 👌😂 pic.twitter.com/CPaob9vJVM

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) August 12, 2020

pic.twitter.com/PBiK2R99SX

— Ethan (@ethanmeldrum_) August 12, 2020

Rowell said with his coaching role while on the injury list, he likes to keep track of things during the game keeping the midfield accountable in his notebook.

He added that he‘s enjoyed working closely with Dew.

“I love working with him,” Rowell said. ”His mind‘s really good the way he talks about footy and I love learning off him. It’s really good to be on the bench and see what the other coaches talk about and I’m just absorbing it. It’s really cool to be alongside him.”