The 300 club has two more entrants
August 6th 2008 01:56
In the wake of the Heath Shaw and Alan Didak incident this week, all has been forgotten about two of the league's favourite sons - Adelaide's Andrew McLeod and Hawthorn's Shane Crawford.
Both players will play in their 300th match, something that only 54 other players have done.
And it puts them in another league of their own, as there are only three other players who are stil playing the game they love. St. Kilda's Robert Harvey (376 games) and the Western Bulldogs' Scott West (324) and Brad Johnson (311) still roam the vast green pastures that we call AFL football ovals.
Shane Crawford was taken at pick 13 in the 1991 draft at the tender age of 17 from Assumption College.
He was known as a small person (standing at only 174cm), but one who could get ahold of the ball and do some serious damage with it.
Making his debut in 1993, Crawford showed the Hawthorn faithful why he was going to be a great footballer at such an illustrious club.
Other greats such as Nathan Buckley, Mark Ricciuto and Glenn Archer made their first appearances for their clubs, and that year's Rising Star Award was one of the hotly-contested events, with Buckley eventually taking out the honour.
Crawford began to make a name for himself in the Hawks' midfield. Having played with club greats John 'the Rat' Platten and Jason 'the Chief' Dunstall, a young Shane was able to learn how to fight for the ball and deliver it with pinpoint accuracy.
The tenacious qualities that Platten had are clearly shown in the way that Crawf goes about his game. Hard running, ferocious tackling, and a will to always get the ball.
But there is still one thing that has eluded the 33-year-old - a Premiership medallion.
He has been bestowed with all the accolades an individual can win, except for the Norm Smith and the Premiership medallions - as a day Grand Final appaerance has eluded the champion Hawk.
"I’ve just got one more dream that I need to fulfil before I move on," he said.
But he has a chance this year to be there on the final day in September, as his team are flying. Currently sitting in third position on the AFL ladder, Hawthorn look like a team that will have a serious go at dismantling Geelong from their throne.
"We're starting to really get back on track and hopefully be in a position to give ourselves every chance in September. So I consider myself extremely lucky."
Having been limited to only eight games this season due to knee tendonitis issues, the hard-working midfielder says that the injury will not decided whether he continues in 2009, climbing the list of 300-gamers.
"I can’t really answer (any questions about retirement) until the season's over and work through it with the coaches and (partner) Olivia and the family as well," Crawford said.
"Structurally my knee is very good," he added. "It’s just at a stage where it’s very inflamed and it just needs to be carefully managed."
If the knee holds up, the football personality will play his ninth, and most importantly, his 300th game for the yellow and brown.
Andrew McLeod's career could have taken a different turn to the one that it actually has. Instead of wearing the famous red, yellow and blue of the Adelaide Crows, McLeod could have been a Fremantle Docker.
Originally taken by the Western Australian team in their inaugural draft in 1994 draft, McLeod was traded by the team to Adelaide for promising forward Chris Broom.
How the Dockers must be regretting that decision!
Who is Chris Groom - you might be asking - and what did he do at Fremante?
Groom played seven games for a total of 18 goals, and was dropped by then-Coach Gerrard Geesham a total of four times. He was traded away at the end of the season, eventually ending up at the Kangaroos.
But enough of Groom, Andrew McLeod is the focus of this article.
McLeod made his debut for the Crows in Round 6, 1995, but it wasn't until his team played against Hawthorn a few weeks later that Andrew McLeod became a household name.
With his team down by four points with only minutes to go, the emerging talent kicked a miraculous goal from the boundary line, which sent the crowd in hysteria, and turned Andrew McLeod into the superstar he is today.
Under Malcolm Blight, the indigenous player turned himself into the feisty and classy midfielder we have come to know him as.
Having been played on the half-back plank or as a forward all season long, Blight decided to gamble McLeod in the centre of the ground in the 1997 Preliminary Final against the Western Bulldogs. He helped turn a five-goal deficit into a two-point win, and see his team make the Grand Final for the fist time in its history.
In the big one, McLeod turned it on, accumulating 31 possessions and helping his team to their first of two Premierships. He received the Norm Smith Medal for his troubles, and was later judged as the Crows Best and Fairest.
He repeated the same feat the following season, taking out another Premiership and Norm Smith Medal.
And ever since those two glorious years, Andrew McLeod has gone far in establishing himself as one of the game's premier midfielders. He regularly gets tagged by the opposition's best follower, and does a stellar job in gathering his high number of possessions.
But the 32-year-old, like Crawford, hasn't reflected too much on the upcoming event, or going on in 2009.
"I guess I haven’t really sat down and reflected on it. I haven’t had the opportunity," McLeod said.
"Maybe, it’s something I’ll do after the weekend."
“I’m just excited because I’ve got some family and some friends, who are going to come and watch the game. That has probably got in the way of me thinking about what it actually means.
“I might reflect on it on Sunday night with a quiet ale.”
However both players choose to reflect the momentous occasion of playing 300 games, their careers will surely be celebrated - and deservedly so.
Both players will play in their 300th match, something that only 54 other players have done.
And it puts them in another league of their own, as there are only three other players who are stil playing the game they love. St. Kilda's Robert Harvey (376 games) and the Western Bulldogs' Scott West (324) and Brad Johnson (311) still roam the vast green pastures that we call AFL football ovals.
Courtesy: abc.net.au
He was known as a small person (standing at only 174cm), but one who could get ahold of the ball and do some serious damage with it.
Making his debut in 1993, Crawford showed the Hawthorn faithful why he was going to be a great footballer at such an illustrious club.
Other greats such as Nathan Buckley, Mark Ricciuto and Glenn Archer made their first appearances for their clubs, and that year's Rising Star Award was one of the hotly-contested events, with Buckley eventually taking out the honour.
Crawford began to make a name for himself in the Hawks' midfield. Having played with club greats John 'the Rat' Platten and Jason 'the Chief' Dunstall, a young Shane was able to learn how to fight for the ball and deliver it with pinpoint accuracy.
The tenacious qualities that Platten had are clearly shown in the way that Crawf goes about his game. Hard running, ferocious tackling, and a will to always get the ball.
But there is still one thing that has eluded the 33-year-old - a Premiership medallion.
He has been bestowed with all the accolades an individual can win, except for the Norm Smith and the Premiership medallions - as a day Grand Final appaerance has eluded the champion Hawk.
"I’ve just got one more dream that I need to fulfil before I move on," he said.
But he has a chance this year to be there on the final day in September, as his team are flying. Currently sitting in third position on the AFL ladder, Hawthorn look like a team that will have a serious go at dismantling Geelong from their throne.
"We're starting to really get back on track and hopefully be in a position to give ourselves every chance in September. So I consider myself extremely lucky."
Having been limited to only eight games this season due to knee tendonitis issues, the hard-working midfielder says that the injury will not decided whether he continues in 2009, climbing the list of 300-gamers.
"I can’t really answer (any questions about retirement) until the season's over and work through it with the coaches and (partner) Olivia and the family as well," Crawford said.
"Structurally my knee is very good," he added. "It’s just at a stage where it’s very inflamed and it just needs to be carefully managed."
If the knee holds up, the football personality will play his ninth, and most importantly, his 300th game for the yellow and brown.
Courtesy: www.cliquemedia.com.au
Originally taken by the Western Australian team in their inaugural draft in 1994 draft, McLeod was traded by the team to Adelaide for promising forward Chris Broom.
How the Dockers must be regretting that decision!
Who is Chris Groom - you might be asking - and what did he do at Fremante?
Groom played seven games for a total of 18 goals, and was dropped by then-Coach Gerrard Geesham a total of four times. He was traded away at the end of the season, eventually ending up at the Kangaroos.
But enough of Groom, Andrew McLeod is the focus of this article.
McLeod made his debut for the Crows in Round 6, 1995, but it wasn't until his team played against Hawthorn a few weeks later that Andrew McLeod became a household name.
With his team down by four points with only minutes to go, the emerging talent kicked a miraculous goal from the boundary line, which sent the crowd in hysteria, and turned Andrew McLeod into the superstar he is today.
Under Malcolm Blight, the indigenous player turned himself into the feisty and classy midfielder we have come to know him as.
Having been played on the half-back plank or as a forward all season long, Blight decided to gamble McLeod in the centre of the ground in the 1997 Preliminary Final against the Western Bulldogs. He helped turn a five-goal deficit into a two-point win, and see his team make the Grand Final for the fist time in its history.
In the big one, McLeod turned it on, accumulating 31 possessions and helping his team to their first of two Premierships. He received the Norm Smith Medal for his troubles, and was later judged as the Crows Best and Fairest.
He repeated the same feat the following season, taking out another Premiership and Norm Smith Medal.
And ever since those two glorious years, Andrew McLeod has gone far in establishing himself as one of the game's premier midfielders. He regularly gets tagged by the opposition's best follower, and does a stellar job in gathering his high number of possessions.
But the 32-year-old, like Crawford, hasn't reflected too much on the upcoming event, or going on in 2009.
"I guess I haven’t really sat down and reflected on it. I haven’t had the opportunity," McLeod said.
"Maybe, it’s something I’ll do after the weekend."
“I’m just excited because I’ve got some family and some friends, who are going to come and watch the game. That has probably got in the way of me thinking about what it actually means.
“I might reflect on it on Sunday night with a quiet ale.”
However both players choose to reflect the momentous occasion of playing 300 games, their careers will surely be celebrated - and deservedly so.
| 20 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
