NewsBite

New photo reveals AFL star Nat Fyfe is unrecognisable

Two-time Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe is sporting a very different look ahead of the 2022 season, and yes, the man bun is gone.

AFL stars reveal who they'd take to the Brownlow if not their partners (7AFL)

Fremantle Dockers captain Nat Fyfe is sporting a very different look ahead of the 2022 AFL season.

The two-time Brownlow Medallist is renowned for his luscious long locks, typically tied up in a man bun on game day.

Stream every match of every round of the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

But the star midfielder got the scissors out over the summer, trimming back the golden hair and growing out a goatee for good measure.

Earlier this month, the Dockers’ official social media account posted a photo of Fyfe back on the training paddock as pre-season kicked along after the Christmas break. Gone was the man bun and the clean-cut look, making way for a goatee and short back-and-sides.

And now a fresh headshot has emerged of the 30-year-old, and it’s quite jarring.

Nat Fyfe during a Fremantle Dockers AFL training session at Fremantle Oval. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Nat Fyfe during a Fremantle Dockers AFL training session at Fremantle Oval. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

One fan wrote on Twitter: “I saw this and felt sorry for my mum, she’s had a crush on him for a long time and this might impact her more than two years of lockdown.”

Another posted: “I didn’t even know who that was at first.”

A third penned: “I’m waiting for his country album to drop.”

Fyfe suffered a blow in November when he contracted a bacterial infection in his shoulder after surgery that required him to take intravenous antibiotics.

Fremantle’s executive general manager of football, Peter Bell, said at the time the infection would set Fyfe back two or three weeks in his recovery.

“Unfortunately, Nathan’s tests have indicated a bacterial infection, and as a result, he will undergo intravenous antibiotics over the next two to three weeks,” Bell said.

“He won’t be able to do much physically in the period the antibiotics are being administered intravenously.”

Fyfe’s 2021 campaign was cruelled by the shoulder injury, which he initially suffered in the round 12 loss to eventual grand finalists the Western Bulldogs.

He returned to play a month later but was once again sidelined in July and underwent surgery. After his recovery stalled, Fyfe went under the knife once more in the off-season.

Nat Fyfe of the Dockers. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Nat Fyfe of the Dockers. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Nat Fyfe of the Dockers. Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Nat Fyfe of the Dockers. Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

Last year, Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry was spotted in the Fremantle changerooms, sparking rumours she was dating Fyfe.

Perry joined the Dockers players in the sheds following Fremantle’s convincing 16.12 (108) to 6.10 (46) victory over the Hawthorn Hawks at Launceston’s UTAS Stadium – coincidentally Fyfe’s 200th AFL game.

At the time, Perry was also the only woman, apart from family members, that Fyfe follows on Instagram.

Ahead of the 2020 Brownlow Medal, Channel 7 asked Fyfe: “Other than your partner, who would you take to the Brownlow?”

The Fremantle captain replied: “Ellyse Perry, can I say that?”

Perry split from her ex-husband, Wallabies centre Matt Toomua, in July 2020 after nearly five years of marriage.

Originally published as New photo reveals AFL star Nat Fyfe is unrecognisable

Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/fremantle-dockers-captain-nat-fyfe-is-unrecognisable-now/news-story/7c40f9adcb500c42f9fe29045c50950d