Tom McCarthy (born 12 July 2000) is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).
McCarthy grew up supporting and idolised Jayden Hunt (who later became his teammate at West Coast). He played junior football with the Cheltenham Panthers in the South Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL).
After leaving Cheltenham, McCarthy joined in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) under-19s competition in 2018, playing two senior matches during the season. He played a further twelve senior games in 2019, and â following the cancellation of the 2020 season â McCarthy continued to play at the senior level, kicking ten goals in eleven senior games during the curtailed 2021 season.
McCarthy won the Old Mentonians senior best and fairest award in 2022. He left the club â which went into recess several months later â and joined in the Southern Football Netball League (SFNL). He came second in Highett's best and fairest count for the 2023 season by 1 vote.
In 2024, McCarthy joined in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He made his VFL debut against in round 6. At the end of the 2024 SFNL season, McCarthy left Highett to join . He also played one game for Banks in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) Premier Division reserves competition in October 2024, earning a best on ground nomination.
In addition to football, McCarthy played for the Cheltenham Park Cricket Club in the South East Cricket Association (SECA).
In May 2025, it was reported that McCarthy would be signed by in the 2025 AFL mid-season rookie draft. After playing against , McCarthy was rested by Richmond for the following match to avoid the possibility of an injury in the VFL prior to the draft.
McCarthy was selected by West Coast as the number-one pick in the mid-season rookie draft on 28 May 2025. He played two games for the club's reserves team in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) before being named for his AFL debut in round 14 against at Optus Stadium. McCarthy starred in his first AFL game with 31 disposals in a 34-point defeat, recording the most disposals of any West Coast player in the 2025 season and the most by a West Coast player on debut ever.
Updated to the end of round 2, 2026.
|- | 2025 || || 45 | 10 || 0 || 1 || 154 || 82 || 236 || 46 || 21 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 15.4 || 8.2 || 23.6 || 4.6 || 2.1 || 0 |- | 2026 || || 18 | 2 || 0 || 0 || 26 || 9 || 35 || 12 || 8 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 13.0 || 4.5 || 17.5 || 6.0 || 4.0 || |- class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 | Career ! 12 !! 0 !! 1 !! 180 !! 91 !! 271 !! 58 !! 29 !! 0.0 !! 0.1 !! 15.0 !! 7.6 !! 22.6 !! 4.8 !! 2.4 !! 0