At an early age, Mathew Stokes’ sporting passions included basketball and Australian Football, but the latter won out resulting in a Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) Premier League debut at 17 years of age in 1999.

His junior career was highlighted by winning the Under 14 NTFL Gundersen Medal and dominating the Under 16 grade in season 1998/99 which also saw the Palmerston Magpies win their first Premiership.

A regular underage representative, Stokes played for the NT at Primary, Secondary and AFL Under 16 and 18 Championships. Earning selection in the 2000 Australian Institute of Sport AFL Academy Squad from the Under 16s event, Stokes played for Australia against Ireland.

A member of the Palmerston Magpies 1999/00 Premier League grand final team, Stokes went one better as a member of the 2000/01 NTFL premiership team. By doing so, he joined his father John in the history books, who also captained the North Darwin Magpies to their first NTFL League premiership in 1980/81.

Pursuing his AFL dream, Stokes joined South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Woodville West Torrens where he played 82 games with his dream seemingly passing by.

Drafted as a mature age player at the end of 2005 by the Geelong Cats, Stokes debuted in season 2006 before playing in another grand final, albeit losing in the Victorian Football League.

Through his goalkicking prowess and roving skills alongside small forwards Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel and Paul Chapman, Stokes climbed the AFL premiership mountain to be a member of the 2007 Geelong Cats premiership team. 

This led to selection in the Indigenous All Stars representative teams against Essendon, and in 2009 against Adelaide. An injury forced him out of the 2008 AFL Grand Final team with lousy luck following him in 2009.

Stokes recovered to be a member of the 2011 premiership side.

Stokes had a career total of 20 Brownlow Medal votes before initially retiring in 2015 with 189 games and 203 goals to his name. Essendon recruited Stokes in 2016, where he played a further 11 games to finish his career on 200 games and 209 goals.

Stokes has remained active in the AFL system, initially employed post-football by the AFL and more recently by the Geelong Cats Football Club.