Michael Strickland Gardiner (born 5 July 1979) 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 for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

and the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

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). Originally from Albany,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Gardiner played for the

Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) before being drafted by West Coast with the number-one pick in the 1996 National Draft. He made his debut for the club in 1997, and over the next seasons replaced

Ryan Turnbull Ryan Turnbull may refer to: *Ryan Turnbull (footballer) Ryan Edwin Turnbull (born 23 September 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Turnbull was a membe ...

as the club's first-choice ruckman. After being named in the

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 ...

in 2003, Gardiner missed most of the 2004 season due to injury. Loss of form and a series of off-field controversies led to him being traded to St Kilda at the end of the 2006 season, having played total of 129 games for West Coast. During his time at St Kilda, Gardiner added another 52 games, including St Kilda's

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 ...

and 2010 losing grand final teams, before retiring at the end of the 2011 season.

Junior Career

Gardiner played junior football in Western Australia for the

Royals Football Club Royals Football Club or Royals Football and Sporting Club, is an Australian rules football club located in Albany, Western Australia playing in the Great Southern Football League (Western Australia). The home ground is called Centennial Oval w ...

, before heading to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to play for

in the WAFL. Gardiner nominated for the 1996 ADL Draft, and was considered a solid chance to be selected in the top 10.

AFL Career - West Coast

Number 1 Draft Pick 1996 and Debut

Gardiner was selected by the West Coast Eagles with the number 1 draft pick in the 1996 AFL Draft. Gardiner debuted in 1997 in Round 4 against Hawthorn, at only 17 years of age. His number 1 draft pick status came with big expectations from his new club to immediately establish himself as an emerging ruckman/forward. He did not disappoint, winning a Rising Star Rookie of the Year nomination in West Coats's Round 19 win over Hawthorn. He played 10 games for the season, including his first Finals Match in the semi-final loss. West Coast led at every break before being defeated by 13 points by North Melbourne, who went on to play St Kilda in the Preliminary Final.

Finals 1998 & 1999

Gardiner played 14 games in his second season of AFL Football, averaging 10 disposals and 15 hit-outs a game in a season where he appeared in his second Finals Match. His season ending with defeat in the a qualifying final loss. In 1999 he played in 17 matches, averaging just under 10 disposals 14 hit-outs per game. Gardiner appeared in both Finals Matches with West Coast, including his first Finals win as a Player in the Qualifying Final win. His season ended with a semi-final loss in week 2. The 2000 AFL season saw Gardiner play all of the first 14 matches of the season, before being restricted to just 1 more game for the rest of the season. He had his first 20 plus disposals match against Fremantle in Round 6, kicking 3 goals against Melbourne the following week. He also was awarded 3

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 for his 21 disposal, 31 hit-out performance in Round 11. He averaged a personal best 19.6 hit-outs per game for the season.

All Australian Team 2003

The 2001 through 2003 seasons saw Gardiner steadily improve in the Ruck, his average hit-outs per season increased from 18.7 to a career best 25.2 per game over the three seasons. In Round 5, 2003 he was awarded the

Ross Glendinning Medal Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

for best afield in West Coast's win over rivals Fremantle. West Coast's 2002 and 2003 seasons ended in defeat in the Elimination Final on both occasions. He was recognized for his improved consistency by being selected in the 2003 All-Australian Team."The resurrection of Michael Gardiner"
However, he was then limited by chronic knee

injuries An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or ...

, and played 18 games in the next three seasons with the Eagles with Dean Cox becoming the leading ruckman in the AFL competition. Gardiner's 2004 season was limited to only the first 3 matches, with a knee injury ending his season.

2005 Return to Football, First Grand Final and Off-field controversies

Gardiner played limited games in 2005, 12 in total for the year. He played more forward time and averaged 6 disposals per game and kicked 16 goals. He played in all of West Coast's Finals matches for the season, including the ultimately inconsequential

2005 AFL Grand Final The 2005 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005. It was the 109th annual grand final of the Australian Football League ...

. Gardiner was much maligned for his limited season, becoming a target for criticism from West Coast supporters. In May 2005, Gardiner and then West Coast teammate

Ben Cousins Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players o ...

were criticised for involvement with a group of alleged Perth crime figures. Cousins and Gardiner allegedly received phone calls from the crime figures both before and after incidents at the Metro City nightclub. Police questioned Cousins and Gardiner about the incidents. The Eagles told the pair that they were on their "last warning" and that their off field behaviour would not be tolerated. Gardiner's alleged off-field lifestyle issues were often seen as detrimental to the West Coast playing group and, in February 2006, in the midst of the

booze bus incident, he was dropped to the

Western Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

side Claremont indefinitely on grounds of poor performance and poor off field behaviour. Gardiner's 2006 season was limited to just 3 games. On 18 July 2006, Gardiner's playing contract was suspended indefinitely and he was fined $5,000"Eagles suspend Gardiner's contract"
/ref> following his involvement in a traffic accident in the Perth suburb of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. While he escaped the accident with only minor injuries, West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said that it was highly unlikely the club would renew his contract at the end of the year.

AFL Career - St Kilda Football Club

2006 Trade Period

With Michael Gardiner's football career in limbo due to his effective sacking by the West Coast Eagles, speculation linked him with a trade to a Victorian-based club, with St Kilda or Carlton touted as the most likely destination for the ruckman. During the 2006 AFL Trade Period, the Eagles traded the former number 1 AFL Draft Pick to

St Kilda Saints The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fr ...

with a third round draft picks (No. 59), and in return for receiving a third round draft pick (No. 43). St Kilda decided to take on the task of physically rehabilitate Gardiner from his persistent injury issues.

2007 season

Due to his gradual recovery process from obvious injuries and their referral effects, Gardiner was unable to play any competitive AFL football during the 2007 season.

2008 NAB Cup

Michael Gardiner started his St Kilda FC playing career by competing in the Saints team that won the 2008 National Australia Bank Cup Premiership. Wins over Richmond, Geelong, Essendon and Adelaide secured the tournament for St Kilda. During the AFL premiership season Gardiner was hampered by injury, only playing 8 games. His attitude and effort in training, combined with the glimpses of form and class he showed in his handful of games warranted him being retained by St Kilda FC, whose season ended in the Preliminary Final.

2009 & 2010: Minor Premiership and Consecutive Grand Finals

The 2009 and 2010 seasons were arguably Gardiner's best football of his career, where he returned to some of his best form, forming a formidable ruck partnership with Steven King. In 2009, Gardiner played in 16 of St Kilda FC's 22 matches in the home and away season, in which St Kilda dominated the competition, qualifying on top of the standings and winning the 2009 AFL Minor Premiership

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

. He averaged 10 disposals and 20.5 hit outs per game, while proving a threat up forward, kicking 12 goals for the season. Though considered unfortunate to narrowly miss out on selection, Gardiner's return to form and value to the St Kilda side saw him touted as a potential All-Australian Team selection. Gardiner played his 150th game of AFL football in the Saints Round 13 match against Richmond, a remarkable milestone for a player who had battled persistent injuries, before being traded by the

in 2006. Gardiner then played in the Round 14 blockbuster clash between the only two undefeated sides of the competition - the Saints and the Cats. In front of an AFL record crowd of 54,444 at

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

, Gardiner kicked four goals including the last goal of the game after a

spectacular mark A spectacular mark (also known as a specky, speckie, speccy, screamer or hanger) is a mark (or catch) in Australian rules football that typically involves a player jumping up on the back of another player. The spectacular mark has become a much ...

in the closing 2 minutes. Gardiner would receive 3 Brownlow Medal votes in recognition of his performance as best player on ground against the Cats, which St Kilda won by 6 points. Gardiner played in all of St Kilda FC's Finals Matches including qualifying and Preliminary Final wins over Collingwood and Western , and was selected to play in the

2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. It was the 113th annual grand final of the Aust ...

, his second Grand Final appearance. Gardiner played just over 50% of game time in the Grand Final where St Kilda was defeated by 12 points by Geelong. Gardiner had a stellar 2010 season. He played 22 games, the most he had ever played in a single season, during which he averaged 10.5 disposals, 17 hit-outs a game and kicked 10 goals for the year. He combined his aggression and mobility around the ground with masterful ruck performances, recording a top three finish in the competition for hit-outs to advantage. During the season, Gardiner hit the headlines for a late night altercation with Carlton Football Club's Mitch Robinson. However, Gardiner's on-field performances helped the Saints qualify for the Finals Series in third, winning through to a third consecutive Preliminary Final and second consecutive Grand Final with wins over Geelong and Western in Week 1 and 3 of the Finals Series. Gardiner kicked the first goal in St Kilda's hard fought Qualifying Final victory over the Geelong. He was selected to play in his third career Grand Final. During the first half, Gardiner sustained a hamstring strain which effectively ended his season, restricted to the interchange bench for the remainder for the game. His absence being notably covered by Jason Blake in a tightly contested match.

Final Game and Retirement 2011

Hampered by persistent injuries throughout the season, Gardiner was only able to play in one match – the round 24 victory against Carlton which secured finals football for the Saints. During the game, Gardiner proved he had lost none of his ability with a 10 disposal half before being subbed out. The Carlton match would prove to be Gardiner's last AFL game before retiring after the Saints premature exit from the 2011 Finals Series in the Elimination Final the following week. Gardiner played 52 games for the Saints, during which time he returned to being one of the best ruckmen in the league. He was a crucial piece in the St Kilda FC team that dominated the AFL between 2008 and 2010.

Statistics

, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, , 19 , 10 , 9 , 5 , 69 , 47 , 116 , 54 , 1 , 85 , 0.9 , 0.5 , 6.9 , 4.7 , 11.6 , 5.4 , 0.1 , 8.5 , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, , 19 , 15 , 4 , 6 , 75 , 79 , 154 , 64 , 6 , 233 , 0.3 , 0.4 , 5.0 , 5.3 , 10.3 , 4.3 , 0.4 , 15.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, , 19 , 17 , 4 , 5 , 99 , 66 , 165 , 69 , 1 , 234 , 0.2 , 0.3 , 5.8 , 3.9 , 9.7 , 4.1 , 0.1 , 13.8 , - ,

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 ...

, , 19 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 144 , 72 , 216 , 78 , 6 , 294 , 0.9 , 0.9 , 9.6 , 4.8 , 14.4 , 5.2 , 0.4 , 19.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 20 , 13 , 9 , 188 , 70 , 258 , 122 , 4 , 373 , 0.7 , 0.5 , 9.4 , 3.5 , 12.9 , 6.1 , 0.2 , 18.7 , - ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 16 , 13 , 11 , 177 , 61 , 238 , 119 , 7 , 364 , 0.8 , 0.7 , 11.1 , 3.8 , 14.9 , 7.4 , 0.4 , 22.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 18 , 10 , 11 , 179 , 64 , 243 , 113 , 6 , 453 , 0.6 , 0.6 , 9.9 , 3.6 , 13.5 , 6.3 , 0.3 , 25.2 , - ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 3 , 4 , 2 , 17 , 4 , 21 , 14 , 0 , 36 , 1.3 , 0.7 , 5.7 , 1.3 , 7.0 , 4.7 , 0.0 , 12.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 12 , 16 , 9 , 65 , 13 , 78 , 47 , 2 , 25 , 1.3 , 0.8 , 5.4 , 1.1 , 6.5 , 3.9 , 0.2 , 3.9 , - ,

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 ...

, , 1 , 3 , 1 , 0 , 19 , 7 , 26 , 14 , 5 , 42 , 0.3 , 0.0 , 6.3 , 2.3 , 8.7 , 4.7 , 1.7 , 14.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

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; ...

, , 15 , 9 , 1 , 2 , 51 , 31 , 82 , 32 , 4 , 138 , 0.1 , 0.2 , 5.7 , 3.4 , 9.1 , 3.6 , 0.4 , 15.3 , - ,

, , 15 , 20 , 12 , 6 , 104 , 96 , 200 , 81 , 9 , 410 , 0.6 , 0.3 , 5.2 , 4.8 , 10.0 , 4.1 , 0.5 , 20.5 , - style="background-color: #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 ...

, , 15 , 22 , 10 , 8 , 134 , 98 , 232 , 91 , 21 , 373 , 0.5 , 0.4 , 6.1 , 4.5 , 10.5 , 4.1 , 1.0 , 17.0 , - ,

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 ...

, , 15 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 4 , 6 , 10 , 2 , 1 , 4 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 4.0 , 6.0 , 10.0 , 2.0 , 1.0 , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 181 ! 110 ! 88 ! 1325 ! 714 ! 2039 ! 900 ! 73 ! 3064 ! 0.6 ! 0.5 ! 7.3 ! 3.9 ! 11.3 ! 5.0 ! 0.4 ! 17.0

Personal life

Gardiner married Danielle McCann in late 2009 at a ceremony in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

, with

serving as his best man. His wife's sister, Haylea McCann, had married

Adam Cooney Adam Cooney (born 30 September 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the Brownlow Medal in 2008, with 24 votes b ...

of the a week before, making Cooney his

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...

.Footy's still a family game
– ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''. Published 7 January 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Michael 1979 births All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Claremont Football Club players Living people People educated at Hale School People educated at Wesley College, Perth People from Albany, Western Australia St Kilda Football Club players West Coast Eagles players Sandringham Football Club players