Ryan Crowley (born 5 March 1984) is a former professional

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 Fremantle Football Club and the

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 played as a midfielder and specialised in a tagging role.

AFL career

Crowley was first drafted by Fremantle in 2002 with selection 55 at the

national draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History W ...

. At the end of 2004, having only played WAFL football for Subiaco, he was delisted. However the club gave Crowley a second chance and re-selected him with their 3rd pick in the rookie draft. Good form with Subiaco in 2005 led to his elevation to the senior list when both Robert Haddrill and his replacement Michael Warren were placed on the long term injury list. His debut was notable in that he became only the third Fremantle player to kick three goals on debut (along with

Leigh Wardell-Johnson Leigh Wardell-Johnson (born 17 March 1970) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Dockers The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Austra ...

and

Paul Medhurst Paul Medhurst (born 11 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club. In his 2008 season, he was selected in the All-Australian team and h ...

), and these goals helped Fremantle to an upset nine-point victory over at Skilled Stadium. His continued good form in the second half of the 2005 season including 4 goals against

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

at the MCG saw Ryan elevated to the senior list for the 2006 season. Early in the 2006 season, Ryan got a heavy blow to the face during a shepherd from Byron Pickett, and received a broken cheekbone. Crowley continued to improve throughout the 2007 season, having gathered 319 disposals in 19 games and earning a regular spot in the Fremantle midfield as a winger/onballer who can kick goals.

Conversion to a tagger

In 2008, however, he developed into a defensive midfielder or tagger and notoriously played on opposition stars such as

Gary Ablett, Jr. Gary Ablett Jr. (born 14 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). The eldest son of Australian Football Hall of Fame mem ...

and

Daniel Kerr Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfield ...

. He finished the year well, coming equal fifth in Fremantle's fairest and best award, the Doig Medal. In 2009 Crowley injured his foot in the Round 6 Western Derby and was ruled out for between three months and the entire season. He didn't return to the Fremantle side until the first round of 2010. He played the first 16 games of the season, before injuring his knee against Melbourne, missing the next six games. He returned for Fremantle's two finals, after proving his fitness in a dominant display in the WAFL for Subiaco, kicking seven goals. He continued to nullify the opponent's best midfielder each week and won the Doig Medal in 2012 as Fremantle's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player. In 2013 he was suggested as being worthy of selection in the All-Australian team, but was overlooked. He was one of Fremantle's best-performing players in their Grand Final loss to , limiting Sam Mitchell's influence on the game.

Suspension for taking banned substance

In March 2015, it was revealed that Crowley had tested positive to a banned substance after Fremantle's Round 17, 2014 match against

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

. Crowley had accepted a provisional suspension in September 2014. The banned substance has not been named, but is thought to be from a painkiller that was not prescribed by the club doctor. In June 2015, the AFL Tribunal suspended Crowley for twelve months; the suspension was backdated to the start of his provisional suspension, and he became eligible to play again on 25 September 2015. He was subsequently delisted in October.

Essendon

In January 2016, he signed with as one of their top-up players due to the supplements saga.

Statistics

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

, , 15 , , 12 , , 10 , , 4 , , 98 , , 45 , , 143 , , 53 , , 19 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 8.2 , , 3.8 , , 11.9 , , 4.4 , , 1.6 , - ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 19 , , 20 , , 8 , , 179 , , 104 , , 283 , , 103 , , 29 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 9.4 , , 5.5 , , 14.9 , , 5.4 , , 1.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 19 , , 13 , , 11 , , 189 , , 130 , , 319 , , 85 , , 44 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 10.0 , , 6.8 , , 16.8 , , 4.5 , , 2.3 , - ! 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; ...

, , 15 , , 22 , , 11 , , 10 , , 216 , , 135 , , 351 , , 106 , , 77 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 9.8 , , 6.1 , , 16.0 , , 4.8 , , 3.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 6 , , 4 , , 3 , , 47 , , 23 , , 70 , , 23 , , 16 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 7.8 , , 3.8 , , 11.7 , , 3.8 , , 2.7 , - ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 18 , , 15 , , 8 , , 106 , , 133 , , 239 , , 49 , , 75 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 5.9 , , 7.4 , , 13.3 , , 2.7 , , 4.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 19 , , 13 , , 10 , , 129 , , 115 , , 244 , , 60 , , 57 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 6.8 , , 6.0 , , 12.8 , , 3.2 , , 3.0 , - ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 24 , , 12 , , 16 , , 208 , , 147 , , 355 , , 78 , , 88 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 8.7 , , 6.1 , , 14.8 , , 3.2 , , 3.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 25 , , 9 , , 10 , , 192 , , 178 , , 370 , , 80 , , 74 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.7 , , 7.1 , , 14.8 , , 3.2 , , 3.0 , - ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 24 , , 9 , , 5 , , 198 , , 151 , , 349 , , 74 , , 66 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 8.2 , , 6.3 , , 14.5 , , 3.1 , , 2.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, , 15 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, , 51 , , 8 , , 2 , , 3 , , 74 , , 67 , , 141 , , 36 , , 14 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 9.3 , , 8.4 , , 17.6 , , 4.5 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 196 ! 118 ! 88 ! 1636 ! 1228 ! 2864 ! 747 ! 559 ! 0.6 ! 0.4 ! 8.3 ! 6.3 ! 14.6 ! 3.8 ! 2.9

References

External links

* *
Ryan Crowley's
profile page on the Official WAFL Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, Ryan 1984 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Calder Cannons players Subiaco Football Club players Doig Medal winners Doping cases in Australian rules football Swan Districts Football Club players Australia international rules football team players