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Andrew McGrath
McGrath playing for Essendon in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Andrew McGrath
Date of birth (1998-06-02) 2 June 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Mississauga, Ontario, Canada[1]
Original team(s) Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)/Brighton Grammar (APS)
Draft No. 1, 2016 national draft
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder/Defender
Club information
Current club Essendon
Number 1
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017– Essendon 157 (20)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Andrew McGrath (born 2 June 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).[2] He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the first overall selection in the 2016 national draft.

Early life

[edit]

McGrath was born in Mississauga, Ontario and moved to Melbourne, Australia at age 5 in 2003,[3] with his family settling in the bayside suburbs.[4][5] McGrath participated in the Auskick program at Whyte Street in Brighton, Victoria[6] and played junior football with the East Brighton Football Club in the South Metro Junior Football League.[7] He was a talented junior track and field athlete winning the Australian national under-14 high jump competition in 2011,[8] the Victorian state heptathlon[9] and national 200m hurdles events at under-15 level in 2012[10] and the under-17 400m hurdles in 2014.[11] He was named All-Australian and co-captain of the 2016 AFL Under 18 Championships playing for Vic Metro.[12]

AFL career

[edit]

McGrath was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the number one draft pick in the 2016 national draft. He made his debut in the 25 point win against Hawthorn in the opening round of the 2017 season at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, recording 22 disposals.[13] He received an AFL Rising Star nomination for his performance in the sixty-five point loss against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round four, in which he garnered twenty-eight disposals and four tackles.[14] He kicked his first AFL goal against Melbourne in round 6.[15] McGrath had another notable performance against Adelaide in round 21, where he kept star forward Eddie Betts goalless and held him to only seven disposals, his lowest output of the season.[16] He capped off an outstanding first season by winning the AFL Rising Star, receiving the Ron Evans Medal with 51 votes out of a possible 55, becoming the second Essendon player to win the award, after Dyson Heppell, as well as winning the AFLPA Best First Year Player award, and was named in the 22under22 team.[17][18][19]

McGrath was named to the 22under22 team again in 2018 and 2019, and was captain of the 22under22 team in 2020. He moved into Essendon's midfield full-time in 2020, and received the club's Adam Ramanauskas Most Courageous Player award in that year.[20]

On 11 October 2020 the Essendon Football Club announced that McGrath had re-signed until 2022.[21]

For the 2021 season, the Essendon Football Club appointed McGrath a joint vice-captain alongside Michael Hurley and Zach Merrett.[22] He opened the season with 33 disposals, 11 tackles, and a goal in a one-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 1.[23] Early in the first term of the Bombers' round 12 match against Richmond on 5 June 2021, McGrath was substituted out with what proved to be a grade two posterior cruciate ligament injury, which was expected to put him out of action for eight to 12 weeks.[24] He made his return in Essendon's Round 22 match against the Gold Coast Suns, in which he had 13 disposals, three marks, and three tackles.[25]

McGrath played in his hundredth match on 1 May 2022.[26] On 15 July 2022 the Essendon Football Club announced he had signed on to remain with the club through the 2024 season.[27]

McGrath was appointed as Essendon's vice-captain ahead of the 2023 season.[28] McGrath captained the team in the 2023 Anzac Day match, in the absence of suspended captain, Zach Merrett.[29]

In 2024, McGrath signed a six year contract extension with the Bombers to keep him at the club until 2030.[30]

Statistics

[edit]
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season[31]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Essendon 1 21 1 1 181 234 415 83 59 0.0 0.0 8.6 11.1 19.8 4.0 2.8 0
2018 Essendon 1 20 5 1 203 195 398 77 48 0.2 0.1 10.2 9.8 19.9 3.9 2.4 0
2019 Essendon 1 23 9 3 230 224 454 75 59 0.4 0.1 10.4 10.2 20.6 3.4 2.7 0
2020[a] Essendon 1 14 0 1 149 161 310 22 67 0.0 0.1 10.6 11.5 22.1 1.6 4.8 5
2021 Essendon 1 15 2 4 171 168 339 43 66 0.1 0.3 11.4 11.2 22.6 2.9 4.4 2
2022 Essendon 1 18 2 5 214 171 385 90 47 0.1 0.3 11.9 9.5 21.4 5.0 2.6 0
2023 Essendon 1 23 0 1 289 235 524 120 47 0.0 0.0 12.6 10.2 22.8 5.2 2.0 2
2024 Essendon 1 23 1 0 311 214 525 108 62 0.0 0.0 13.5 9.3 22.8 4.7 2.7 2
Career 157 20 16 1766 1613 3379 622 456 0.1 0.1 11.3 10.3 21.5 4.0 2.9 11

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Twomey, Callum (24 June 2016). "Gun athlete to draft bolter: McGrath's great leap forward". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. ^ Landsberger, Sam (18 November 2016). "Pick Me: Andrew McGrath is a future AFL leader with supreme talent and in mix to be 2016's No.1 pick". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Andrew McGrath | Brighton Grammar Hall of Fame".
  4. ^ Meet the speedy Canadian-born teenager who made history today in Australian rules football Nick Faris National Post 25 November 2016
  5. ^ Quayle, Emma (21 November 2016). "Could Andrew McGrath be Canada's first No.1 AFL draft pick?". The Age. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  6. ^ AFL Record. Round 2, 2022. pg 60
  7. ^ [https://smjfl.com.au/former-east-brighton-junior-andrew-mcgrath-wins-nab-afl-rising-star/ FORMER EAST BRIGHTON JUNIOR ANDREW MCGRATH WINS NAB AFL RISING STAR 1 Sep 2017
  8. ^ "Athletics Australia Handbook of Records and Results 2011" (PDF). p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  9. ^ "IGA State Multi-Event Championships 2012 - 15/12/2012 to 16/12/2012 Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park Results - Heptathlon" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Athletics Australia Handbook of Records and Results 2012" (PDF). p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  11. ^ "2014 Australian Junior Championships Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre - 12/03/2014 to 16/03/2014 Results" (PDF).
  12. ^ Waterworth, Ben (30 June 2016). "Under 18s All-Australian team announced: Including Jack Graham, Hugh McCluggage, Jack Bowes". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  13. ^ Harrington, Anna (27 March 2017). "Andrew McGrath impresses, Joel Smith injured: How every AFL debutant in Round 1 fared". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  14. ^ McGowan, Marc (18 April 2017). "Dons' first No.1 pick gets Rising Star nod". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  15. ^ "McGrath kicks his first goal - AFL". AFL.com.au. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Essendon Vs Adelaide Crows - Match Centre - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  17. ^ "AFL Rising Star 2017: Andrew McGrath claims award from Ryan Burton and Sam Powell-Pepper". Fox Sports Australia. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  18. ^ "AFL MVP Awards, Most courageous, Best Captain, First year player, Adelaide Crows". Fox Sports. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  19. ^ "22 under 22 team 2017 AFL, AFLPA, Marcus Bontempelli, Zach Merrett". Fox Sports. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Andrew McGrath". Essendon Football Club web site. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  21. ^ "'Pidge' puts pen to paper". Essendon Football Club web site. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Andrew McGrath". Essendon Football Club web site. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Andrew McGrath". footywire.com. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Star Bomber's season could be over after scans confirm PCL injury". AFL web site. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  25. ^ "Andrew McGrath". footywire.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Andrew McGrath". footywire.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  27. ^ "McGrath signs on for two more years". AFL. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  28. ^ "On Merrett: Star midfielder appointed Bombers captain". AFL.com.au. 21 February 2023.
  29. ^ "'We'd love clarification': AFL stars ask to be informed on tackling rules". The Australian. 19 April 2023.
  30. ^ "McGrath signs on for six more". Essendon Football Club. 2 May 2024.
  31. ^ "Andrew McGrath". footywire.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
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