Craig Bird (born 21 January 1989) is a former professional

Australian rules footballer 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 ...

who played for the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

and

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

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). He was drafted to the Swans with the 59th pick in the

2007 AFL draft The 2007 Australian Football League draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2007/08 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week, the national draft, which was held on 24 November 2007, the pre-se ...

after previously being part of the NSW AFL scholarship program. He was recruited from Nelson Bay and made his debut in round one of 2008 season, wearing the number 14 guernsey, previously worn by club legends Paul Kelly and

Bob Skilton Robert John "Bob" Skilton (born 8 November 1938) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL). Playing as a Football (Australian rules) positions#Foll ...

. At the end of the 2008 season he was named as the Sydney Swans Rising Star of 2008 tied with

Kieren Jack Kieren Jack (born 28 June 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the co-captain of the Sydney Swans, alongside Jarrad McVeigh from 2013 to 2016. Early life ...

. His 2010 season was delayed due to a stress fracture of the toe. Bird enjoyed his best year at the Swans in 2011, managing to play 22 out of 24 games for the season. Bird was given a tagging role for much of the year and played the role exceptionally well for the most part. He played on some of the best midfielders in the league over the course of the season. However his best performance of the year came against the Western Bulldogs in round 18 when he kicked 4 goals as a defensive forward having been given the job of limiting the influence of dangerous rebounding defender,

Rob Murphy Robert Albert Murphy (born May 26, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player who was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for 11 seasons in the 1980s and 1990s. Murphy played college baseball for the University of Florida, ...

. Bird continued his consistent run of form in 2012 as he played on the competition's best midfielders and running defenders. Bird took his place in the Swans' 22 for the

2012 AFL Grand Final The 2012 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2012. It was the 117th annual grand final of the Australian Football ...

victory and went on to finish 9th in the 2012

Bob Skilton Medal The Bob Skilton Medal is an annual Australian rules football award presented to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Sydney Swans (formerly the South Melbourne Football Club) throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Footb ...

, the highest placing of his career to date. After the 2012 AFL Premiership, Craig Bird has been regularly referred to in popular culture by the nicknames "Premiership Bird" and "PB", owing to his significant contribution during the Sydney Swans Premiership victory. By 2015, however he had lost a regular spot in the side, as talent such as Tom Mitchell and

Jake Lloyd Jake Matthew Lloyd (born March 5, 1989), also known as Jake Broadbent, is an American former actor who portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 film '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' and Jamie Langston in ''Jingle All the Way'' ...

cemented their spots. This left Bird struggling for opportunities. In October 2015, Bird was traded to the

. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, he was delisted by Essendon.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 5, 2015''Craig Bird's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #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;", , 14 , , 21 , , 8 , , 3 , , 144 , , 144 , , 288 , , 62 , , 47 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 6.9 , , 6.9 , , 13.7 , , 3.0 , , 2.2 , - ! 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;", , 14 , , 15 , , 5 , , 3 , , 108 , , 130 , , 238 , , 41 , , 48 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , , 8.7 , , 15.9 , , 2.7 , , 3.2 , - 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;", , 14 , , 4 , , 1 , , 0 , , 35 , , 34 , , 69 , , 14 , , 11 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 8.8 , , 8.5 , , 17.3 , , 3.5 , , 2.8 , - ! 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;", , 14 , , 22 , , 11 , , 9 , , 184 , , 170 , , 354 , , 43 , , 113 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 8.4 , , 7.7 , , 16.1 , , 2.0 , , 5.1 , - 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;", , 14 , , 25 , , 12 , , 12 , , 220 , , 207 , , 427 , , 69 , , 105 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 8.8 , , 8.3 , , 17.1 , , 2.8 , , 4.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 23 , , 10 , , 5 , , 269 , , 152 , , 421 , , 53 , , 84 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 11.7 , , 6.6 , , 18.3 , , 2.3 , , 3.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 21 , , 6 , , 5 , , 206 , , 209 , , 415 , , 58 , , 105 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 9.8 , , 10.0 , , 19.8 , , 2.8 , , 5.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 5 , , 3 , , 1 , , 48 , , 49 , , 97 , , 15 , , 19 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.6 , , 9.8 , , 19.4 , , 3.0 , , 3.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 136 ! 56 ! 38 ! 1214 ! 1095 ! 2309 ! 355 ! 532 ! 0.4 ! 0.3 ! 8.9 ! 8.1 ! 17.0 ! 2.6 ! 3.9

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Craig Living people Essendon Football Club players Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans Premiership players 1989 births Australian rules footballers from New South Wales NSW/ACT Rams players VFL/AFL Premiership players