Brad Green (born 13 March 1981) 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 ...

player and is the current

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

development coach. He played for 13 seasons with the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

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). Drafted with the 19th selection in the 1999 AFL Draft, Green played in a losing Grand Final in his first season. In 2010 he won the club's best and fairest award and was the club's leading goalkicker, with many commentators stating he was unlucky to miss out on

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

selection. Green was named Melbourne's captain for the next season, but the appointment was short-lived as he held the position for only one year. He also represented the

Australian International rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Australian women's team, see Australia women's international rules football team.'' The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in Int ...

in 2004, 2010 and 2011, captaining the side in 2011. Green was an assistant coach at

, having previously been an assistant coach at the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

from 2013 to 2015. He is currently a Director at the Melbourne Football Club

Early life

Green was born in Georgetown, Tasmania. A natural sportsman, Green played representative

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

as a teenager and captained the Australian under-15 cricket team.

Soccer career

While still a teenager, Green was selected for the senior

side at

Launceston United SC Launceston United Soccer Club, is a semi-professional soccer club which represents the city of Launceston in the Northern Championship (Tasmania). It should not be mistaken with the fellow Launceston team, Launceston City. The club fields te ...

in the Tasmanian soccer championship. Green attended the

Launceston Church Grammar School (Unless the Lord is with us, our labour is in vain) , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day & boarding , denomination = Anglican , slogan = Nurture, Challenge, I ...

in Tasmania, and later Victoria University and

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

. During his early soccer-playing days as a teenager, he was scouted by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. After spending a month at on trial with the club, the 15-year-old Green trained with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

, a lower division English club, and was offered a contract but turned it down, choosing to finish his schooling in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Green remains a soccer fan and supporter of

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

Switch to Australian rules

Green only began playing Australian rules seriously in his mid-teens – after returning from England – but his talent was obvious. Green decided to focus his sporting attention on the local game playing for the

Tassie Mariners The Tassie Mariners is an under-18 Australian rules football club representing the state of Tasmania. They currently play in the AFL Under 18 Championships and also played in the Victorian statewide under-18s competition (then known as the TAC Cu ...

and North Launceston. He was subsequently drafted to Melbourne in the 1999 AFL Draft.

AFL career

Green made his AFL debut in 2000. Melbourne had a highly successful year in 2000 and in his first year of AFL football Green played an important role in the Melbourne forward line. Melbourne made the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, but were ultimately unsuccessful, losing to

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 King ...

. After working his way into a greater role in the midfield in 2004, Green found plenty of the ball both forward and through the midfield in 2005. His penetrating and very accurate left foot kicking was effective to leading forwards or in front of goals. He often sets up Melbourne's marking forwards. He played in 21 of a possible 23 games in 2005, consolidating himself as an integral part of the Demons outfit in 2006 with consistent displays in the midfield and excelling as part of the leadership group. Green wore the number 18 guernsey for Melbourne. Described, as a "soft" player early in his career, Green became renowned for his acts of courage mid-career, attacking the football with vigour and courage. This resulted in him taking a higher number of contested marks in 2007. In the 2007 season, he played very good football both in defence, the midfield, and in the forward line. Green continued his solid form into the 2008 season, being one of Melbourne's few highlights in a miserable season. It took time for Green to decide if he wanted to go on and play with the Demons in 2009 but eventually signed a contract and agreeing to stay red and blue for another three years. In 2010, Green had his best season to date, kicking 55 goals and taking 153 marks, both ranked sixth in the AFL, in a young Melbourne side to make the All-Australian squad and win his first

Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal The Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Melbourne Football Club throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VFL/A ...

. Green finished on 295 votes to win the award from

James Frawley James Joseph Frawley (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961. He was best known for directing ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) and ''The Monkees'' television ...

(277) and

Mark Jamar Mark Jamar (born 9 August 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Jamar was born and raised in the c ...

(231). He also won the Ron Barrassi Leadership Award and the "Heart and Soul" Award, pushing his case to be the next captain of the Demons, after the retirement of James McDonald. Green was named the new Melbourne

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in January 2011, succeeding James McDonald, who retired at the end of 2010. He described being named captain as a "surreal experience". He was also named captain of the

Australia international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Australian women's team, see Australia women's international rules football team.'' The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in Inte ...

for the 2011 Series in Australia, and was the only Australian to kick a goal during the 2011 International Rules Series; many commentators named this goal a "captain's goal". Before the 2012 season, under new coach

Mark Neeld Mark Neeld (born 13 July 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He was senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club from 2012 to 2013, when ...

, Green was removed from the captaincy and the leadership group altogether in favour of a new and younger group of whom only two were retained from the previous year. Green played his 250th AFL game in Round 18 against

, coincidentally the same team against whom he made his AFL debut back in 2000. On 8 August 2012, Green announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2012 season. He was the last remaining player from the club's 2000 Grand Final side to retire.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 20 , , 28 , , 9 , , 104 , , 32 , , 136 , , 50 , , 18 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 5.2 , , 1.6 , , 6.8 , , 2.5 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 37 , , 15 , , 103 , , 52 , , 155 , , 53 , , 25 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 4.9 , , 2.5 , , 7.4 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 29 , , 23 , , 164 , , 66 , , 230 , , 85 , , 27 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 7.8 , , 3.1 , , 11.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 35 , , 19 , , 201 , , 102 , , 303 , , 93 , , 46 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 9.6 , , 4.9 , , 14.4 , , 4.4 , , 2.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 26 , , 10 , , 270 , , 151 , , 421 , , 106 , , 41 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 12.9 , , 7.2 , , 20.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 28 , , 14 , , 224 , , 145 , , 369 , , 127 , , 54 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 10.7 , , 6.9 , , 17.6 , , 6.0 , , 2.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 23 , , 11 , , 17 , , 308 , , 191 , , 499 , , 159 , , 60 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 13.4 , , 8.3 , , 21.7 , , 6.9 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 18 , , 13 , , 8 , , 220 , , 164 , , 384 , , 117 , , 49 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 12.2 , , 9.1 , , 21.3 , , 6.5 , , 2.7 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 20 , , 20 , , 13 , , 271 , , 186 , , 457 , , 140 , , 60 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 13.6 , , 9.3 , , 22.9 , , 7.0 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 12 , , 12 , , 3 , , 152 , , 109 , , 261 , , 73 , , 20 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 12.7 , , 9.1 , , 21.8 , , 6.1 , , 1.7 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 22 , , 55 , , 27 , , 295 , , 129 , , 424 , , 153 , , 58 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , 13.4 , , 5.9 , , 19.3 , , 7.0 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 21 , , 37 , , 25 , , 205 , , 128 , , 333 , , 106 , , 61 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 9.8 , , 6.1 , , 15.9 , , 5.0 , , 2.9 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 18 , , 13 , , 19 , , 18 , , 96 , , 39 , , 135 , , 55 , , 29 , , 1.5 , , 1.4 , , 7.4 , , 3.0 , , 10.4 , , 4.2 , , 2.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 254 ! 350 ! 201 ! 2613 ! 1494 ! 4107 ! 1317 ! 548 ! 1.4 ! 0.8 ! 10.3 ! 5.9 ! 16.2 ! 5.2 ! 2.2

Honours and achievements

*Individual **

: 2010 ** Melbourne F.C. Captain: 2011 ** Melbourne F.C. Leading Goalkicker: 2010 (55 Goals) ** Australian Representative Honours in International Rules Football: 2004, 2010, 2011 (Captain) ** AFL Rising Star Nominee: 2000 (Round 19)

Coaching career

On 5 November 2012,

announced that Green had been appointed as a development coach under

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, Maltho ...

. After three years at Carlton, Green joined the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

as their defensive coach.

Personal life

Green is a supporter of

A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

soccer club

. Green's wife, Anna, died on 27 May 2019. The couple have two sons.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Brad 1981 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Launceston, Tasmania People educated at Launceston Church Grammar School Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Melbourne Football Club captains Tassie Mariners players Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Casey Demons players North Launceston Football Club players Australia international rules football team players