Adam L. Houlihan (born 6 April 1978) is a former
Australian rules footballer for the
Geelong Football Club and the
Richmond Football Club in the
Australian Football League (AFL). He is one of four brothers who were all drafted to
Australian Football League clubs, alongside
Damian Damian ( la, links=no, Damianus) may refer to:
*Damian (given name)
*Damian (surname)
*Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
See also
*Damiani, an Italian surname
*Damiano (disambiguation)
*Damien (disambiguation)
*Dam ...
,
Ryan and Josh, from
Wahgunyah
Wahgunyah is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is on the southern bank of the Murray River, opposite Corowa, New South Wales, in the Shire of Indigo. Wahgunyah is north east of the state capital, Melbourne and west of Albury ...
on the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
, in northern Victoria.
Career
Geelong: 1995–2001
Houlihan made his debut in Round 4,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
with the
Geelong Football Club against
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
* Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
* Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United Ki ...
. He wore the number 3 guernsey. He was drafted as a compensatory selection (second overall) in the 1995 pre-season draft from the
Murray Bushrangers
The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the NAB League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Mark ...
at the age of 16. He actually started out as a jockey but a growth spurt put an end to that and he turned his attention to Australian rules football, playing senior football for
Corowa-Rutherglen at sixteen. Houlihan made a name for himself as a talented half forward, kicking five goals in several games. He managed 14 games in his debut season but just one the following year after a series of injuries. He played two games early in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, having little impact. He returned to play all the final eight games and established himself in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, playing 22 of 23 games and a top 10
best and fairest finish. But after playing 12 of the first 13 games in
2001, his form fell away, playing just two more games and he was then delisted.
Richmond: 2002–2004
Houlihan was drafted by
Richmond and resumed his career there in
2002, wearing the number 44 guernsey. He played the first 12 games in 2002, including a three-goal effort in Round 11 but only managed one further game, spending most of the remainder of the season in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
(VFL). He played 16 games in
2003, including four and five goal efforts. A hamstring injury kept him out for most of
2004, returning late in the season for four games but incoming coach
Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach.
As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...
decided Houlihan did not fit in with his plans.
Post-AFL career
Houlihan continued to play with Richmond's VFL affiliate
Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
in 2005. At 26 years of age, Houlihan decided that his career was already over and he ruled out playing AFL football again. He instead returned to his earlier interest in horse racing, hosting a horse-racing tips show with
Brett Phillips and
Nick Evans on radio station
SEN 1116
1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the st ...
and training jockeys in diet and fitness. In 2007 he chose to take some great advise from mentor and now business partner Bruce Armstrong and start his own promotional merchandise business called CorpEdge Marketing. He is currently playing football with
Old Scotch Football Club.
"Old Scotch - Seniors List"
. Old Scotch. 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houlihan, Adam
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Geelong Football Club players
Richmond Football Club players
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian rules footballers from New South Wales
Corowa-Rutherglen Football Club players
Old Scotch Football Club players
1978 births
Living people