Ben Harrison (born 17 January 1975) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). A Tasmanian, Harrison was just 17 when he was picked up by Carlton in the

1992 AFL draft The 1992 AFL draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. It consisted of the main national draft, the pre-season draft and ...

. He served a long apprenticeship before finally making his senior debut in 1995. His two games in 1995 were the only times he was able to break into the Carlton side, with the club forming such a strong 21 that they would go on to win the premiership that year.AFL Tables: Ben Harrison
/ref> After taking home the reserve's "Best and Fairest" award in 1995, he joined his childhood friend Matthew Richardson at Richmond for the 1996 season, having been traded for Justin Murphy. He only played eight games in his first season with Richmond but was a regular member of the team in 1997. In the final round of the home and away season, Harrison kicked the winning goal in a two-point win over Carlton. The result meant that his former club would miss the finals for the first time since 1992 and it would be the last game that their captain

Stephen Kernahan Stephen Scott Kernahan (born 1 September 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football ...

played in the AFL. During both the 1997 and 1998 seasons, Harrison spent some time up forward and kicked four goals on three occasions. He was however primarily a key defender, also used as a half back flanker and on the wing. One of only three Richmond footballers to play in all 22 games in 1998, Harrison had perhaps his best league season. He took 114 marks, the second most by a player from his club, kicked 15 goals and averaged just under 19 disposals a game. Harrison also secured five

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

votes and finished fourth in the

Jack Dyer Medal The Jack Dyer Medal is an Australian rules football award given each season to the player or players adjudged best and fairest for the Richmond Football Club. The award is now named in honour of Jack Dyer, a champion ruckman who won the award ...

count. In 1999 he was restricted by a hamstring injuries and didn't play until round nine, but then didn't miss a game for the rest of the year. He added another 14 games the following season and was then on the trading table once again, swapped to the Western Bulldogs for the 41st pick of the 2000 AFL draft, which was used on

Andrew Krakouer Andrew James Krakouer (born 4 February 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Krakouer is the son of Jim Krakou ...

. He played 82 of a possible 88 games from 2001 to 2004. A knee injury kept him out of the seniors for much of 2005 and he retired at the end of the year. He never got to play finals football during his league career but participated in the 2005

VFL 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 ...

Grand Final with

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Ben 1975 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Carlton Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Western Bulldogs players Werribee Football Club players Devonport Football Club players Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Allies State of Origin players