Justin Crawford (20 March 1977 – 21 July 2022) was an

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

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and Hawthorn 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) during the 1990s. Crawford, the younger brother of Brownlow Medal winner Shane, was recruited from Tocumwal in the Murray Football League by Sydney as a zone selection. He was just 18 when he made his debut in 1995 and earned an AFL Rising Star nomination for a 26-disposal and two-goal game against Fitzroy. An on-baller, Crawford took part in Sydney's qualifying final win over Hawthorn in 1996 but had just seven disposals and was dropped for the

preliminary final The McIntyre System, or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher. The systems were developed by Ken McIntyre, an Australian lawyer, historian and English lect ...

to make way for Tony Lockett's return. He joined his brother at Hawthorn in 1997 after being traded for David McEwan and the 17th selection of the 1996 AFL draft, used on

Rowan Warfe Rowan Warfe (born 23 June 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for both the Sydney Swans and Fitzroy Football Club in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional co ...

. Playing mostly as a forward, Crawford put together 15 games in 1997 and during the year was fined $1000 over an incident at

Crown Casino Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...

, in which he urinated under a gambling table. He retired from the AFL at the end of the 1998 season, aged just 21. He resurfaced in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) to play with South Fremantle and was part of the club's premiership in 2005 but left the club at the end of that year.

Death

Crawford died suddenly on 21 July 2022; no detail was initially provided on the cause of death. He was 45.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Justin 1977 births 2022 deaths Sydney Swans players Hawthorn Football Club players Australian rules footballers from New South Wales South Fremantle Football Club players