Career: 2002-2006 (On list from 2001)
Debut: Round 2, 2002 vs Sydney Swans, aged 19 years, 195 days
1051st Carlton Player
Games: 50
Goals: 8
Last Game: Round 22, 2006 vs Sydney Swans, aged 23 years, 345 days
Guernsey No. 36
Height 188cm
Weight: 85kg
DOB: 23 September, 1982
AFL Rising Star Nominee: Round 3, 2003
Taken with Pick 11 in the 2000 National Draft, Trent Sporn spent all of 2001 in the VFL and was joint winner of the Best & Fairest Award. The nephew of former Essendon player Kieran Sporn, he made his senior debut in 2002 and played 8 games. In 2003 he played 14 games and received a Rising Star nomination for his excellent tagging job on Essendon's James Hird in Carlton's Round 3 victory over the Bombers. He would again be called upon to successfully repeat that effort in 2004. At 188 cm, he mainly played as a defensive midfielder/ tagger or as a half back flanker.
Unfortunately, his progress was continually hindered by injuries, affecting his pace and confidence. He played 5 of the first 6 games in 2002, before missing the next 10 weeks with a leg injury and was unable to return to the senior side until the final 3 games. In 2003, he played the first 11 games, before missing the next 6 weeks with stress fractures and again did not return to the senior side until the final 3 games of the season. 2004 saw a similar pattern- playing the first 6 games, missing the next 7 due to stress fractures, returning for just 2 games, before breaking his collar bone and missing the remainder of the season.
He was a member of Carlton's pre-season premiership side in 2005 and went on to play the first 7 games, but had little impact, never gaining more than 10 possessions, before being dropped. He was given another 3 games from rounds 12-14, faring no better. He returned again in the Round 17 match against Hawthorn, this time having an excellent 17 possession game. However just as that happened, injuries struck again and he did not play again that season.
2006 would again see him struggle to have an impact, though injury free. After being selected in the first 3 games but spending a lot of time on the interchange bench, he had just 2 possessions in round 3, which saw him dropped. At VFL level, he was a dominant midfielder and regularly gathered in excess of 30 possessions. He was given further opportunities in rounds 9 & 10 and 14 & 15, failing to gather more than 7 possessions in any of those games, before being returned to the VFL, where he continued to perform well enough to demand promotion. He was given a final opportunity in the last 2 rounds of the season, this time given more ground time in the midfield and was able to gather 17 & 22 possessions. He brought up his 50th AFL game in Round 22, which had taken 6 seasons (an average of just 8 games per season). Unfortunately it ended up becoming his final game for Carlton, as the club decided to stop persevering with him - a disappointing result from a first round draft pick.
Sporn was originally recruited from Murrayville, Victoria - this is west of Ouyen in the state's north-west.
Milestones
50 Games: Round 22, 2006 Vs Sydney SwansCareer Highlights
2001 - Equal Reserves Best & Fairest Award2005 - 2005 Pre-Season Premiership Player