Grant Birchall (born 28 January 1988) 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 who played with the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

and

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

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 ...

Career

Early career (2006–2008)

Birchall had an exceptional first season in 2006 with the

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

, playing 16 games out of a possible 22. The Tasmanian was chosen at pick 14 in the 2005 AFL Draft and made his debut in the number 35 guernsey in Hawthorn's opening match of the season against Fremantle at Aurora Stadium in his home state, Tasmania. All year, Birchall excelled across half-back for the Hawks, mainly highlighted by an impressive 23 touches in the big loss to St Kilda in round 13 and 27 touches and 10 marks in a sluggish win against the Kangaroos in round 21. To finish off the season, Birchall finished off with his best game yet- a massive 36 touches and 11 marks in the 10-goal win against Geelong. At season's end, Birchall came sixth in the NAB AFL Rising Star, won Hawthorn's Best First Year Award and was given the number 14 jumper for the 2007 season, left vacant by Harry Miller, who was delisted by Hawthorn at the end of 2006. Grant Birchall attended St Brendan-Shaw College in Devonport, Tasmania. 2007 saw Birchall play every game for Hawthorn, and consolidate his role as a running half-back with poise and neat disposal. Many pundits are expecting the low-key young Hawk to make further progress in 2008, possibly including stints further up the ground.

Premierships (2008–2016)

Birchall played in his first AFL Premiership in 2008, when the Hawks defeated reigning premiers Geelong. Birchall lost half of his two front teeth in a collision during the match. In 2012, Birchall had his best season to date. Birchall averaged 23.1 disposals in his 21 games in the Home and Away season with an incredible disposal efficiency of 85%. Birchall was rewarded with his first All-Australian Guernsey.

Injury troubles and trade (2017–2021)

Having only missed four of the Hawks' games over the previous three seasons, Grant Birchall's durability was struck down in 2017. Birchall managed just five games for the year, first suffering a fractured jaw in round 2 which kept him out for a month. before injuring his posterior cruciate ligament in round 7. Birchall made his return in round 14 before he injured his PCL again the following week, ending his season. Birchall's poor luck continued through 2018 and he didn't play any football due to a persistent PCL complaint. A late-season push to be available for the finals resulted in an adductor injury. After 720 days, Birchall made his long-awaited return playing for Hawthorn's VFL affiliate, Box Hill. He had a strong first half with 10 disposals and taking 6 marks before sitting out the second half of the game. Birchall managed the play three games for at the back end of the 2019 season before injuring his hamstring ending his comeback. Out of contract at the end of 2019, Birchall was asked to shop himself around to see if he could get a better deal than what Hawthorn was willing to offer, Brisbane came up with a deal which he accepted. Birchall would be delisted at the end of 2020 and then re-drafted as a rookie. At the end of 2021, Birchall retired from the AFL.

Statistics

, - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

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 ...

, , , , 35 , 16 , , 3 , , 1 , , 172 , , 136 , , 308 , , 87 , , 22 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 10.8 , , 8.5 , , 19.3 , , 5.4 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - , 2007 , , , , 14 , 24 , , 2 , , 5 , , 292 , , 215 , , 507 , , 153 , , 42 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.2 , , 9.0 , , 21.1 , , 6.4 , , 1.8 , , 2 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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; ...

^# , , , , 14 , 25 , , 2 , , 1 , , 281 , , 266 , , 547 , , 164 , , 44 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.2 , , 10.6 , , 21.9 , , 6.6 , , 1.8 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 14 , 19 , , 0 , , 1 , , 199 , , 207 , , 406 , , 95 , , 36 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 10.5 , , 10.9 , , 21.4 , , 5.0 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

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 ...

, , , , 14 , 21 , , 5 , , 4 , , 231 , , 181 , , 412 , , 114 , , 58 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.0 , , 8.6 , , 19.6 , , 5.4 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 14 , 24 , , 3 , , 7 , , 344 , , 226 , , 570 , , 173 , , 38 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 14.3 , , 9.4 , , 23.8 , , 7.2 , , 1.6 , , 7 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

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 ...

, , , , 14 , 23 , , 1 , , 4 , , 315 , , 216 , , 531 , , 135 , , 38 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 13.7 , , 9.4 , , 23.1 , , 5.9 , , 1.7 , , 1 , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 ...

^# , , , , 14 , 17 , , 6 , , 2 , , 240 , , 165 , , 405 , , 81 , , 23 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 14.1 , , 9.7 , , 23.8 , , 4.8 , , 1.4 , , 6 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 ...

^# , , , , 14 , 25 , , 5 , , 6 , , 344 , , 247 , , 591 , , 124 , , 33 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 13.8 , , 9.9 , , 23.6 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 4 , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 ...

^# , , , , 14 , 22 , , 4 , , 3 , , 319 , , 183 , , 502 , , 122 , , 36 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 14.5 , , 8.3 , , 22.8 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, , , , 14 , 24 , , 2 , , 2 , , 318 , , 232 , , 550 , , 147 , , 29 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 13.3 , , 9.7 , , 22.9 , , 6.1 , , 1.2 , , 2 , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , , , 14 , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 59 , , 36 , , 95 , , 26 , , 6 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.8 , , 7.2 , , 19.0 , , 5.2 , , 1.2 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , , , 14 , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 0 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 14 , 3 , , 1 , , 1 , , 35 , , 27 , , 62 , , 16 , , 2 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 11.7 , , 9.0 , , 20.7 , , 5.3 , , 0.7 , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , , , 14 , 16 , , 0 , , 0 , , 150 , , 53 , , 203 , , 69 , , 16 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.4 , , 3.3 , , 12.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , , , 14 , 23 , , 2 , , 0 , , 307 , , 118 , , 425 , , 159 , , 23 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.3 , , 5.1 , , 18.5 , , 6.9 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 287 !! 36 !! 37 !! 3606 !! 2508 !! 6114 !! 1665 !! 446 !! 0.1 !! 0.1 !! 12.6 !! 8.7 !! 21.3 !! 5.8 !! 1.6 !! 22 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * 4× AFL premiership player ():

* 2× Minor premiership ():

Individual *

All-Australian team 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 ...

* best first year player (debut season): 2006 * AFL Rising Star nominee:

* 2×

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 ...

* Under 18 All-Australian team:

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 ...

* Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame * life member

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birchall, Grant Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club Premiership players Box Hill Football Club players Devonport Football Club players People from Devonport, Tasmania Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tassie Mariners players All-Australians (AFL) 1988 births Living people Australia international rules football team players Brisbane Lions players Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players