Chris Grant (footballer)

Chris Grant
Personal information
Full name Christopher Lee Grant
Date of birth (1972-12-13) 13 December 1972
Place of birth Daylesford, Victoria
Original team(s) Daylesford
Height / weight 193 cm / 99 kg
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1990–2007 Footscray/Western Bulldogs 341 (554)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2007.
Career highlights

Christopher Lee "Chris" Grant (born 13 December 1972) is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, a legend of the Western Bulldogs and a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.[1] He was born in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.

AFL career

Grant was recruited by the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) in the 1988 VFL Draft at pick number 105, and played his first AFL game in 1990 at the age of 17. Grant kicked 51 goals that season, the youngest player in VFL-AFL history to achieve this feat, to be the leading goalkicker for the club.

Over the following years, Grant established himself as a respected player in the half-forward position. He earned All-Australian honours in 1994 and 1996. He appeared in the 1997 documentary Year of the Dogs alongside the rest of the Footscray team. He polled 27 votes in the 1997 Brownlow Medal, one more than winner Robert Harvey; however, he was ineligible to win the award due to a one-match suspension for striking Hawthorn's Nick Holland.[2]

In 2001 he was named team captain, and was selected as a member of the Footscray & Western Bulldogs 'Team of the Century' in 2002. He missed the 2003 season to an ACL injury sustained in Round 1. He relinquished the captaincy at the end of the 2004 season.

Grant has played over 300 games and scored more than 500 goals throughout his career, an astonishing feat considering he spent much of his career at centre half back, playing on the game's best key forwards. He won the club best-and-fairest award in 1994 and 1996 (and came second in 1997, 1998, and 1999, and third in 2001). He gained third place in the 1996 Brownlow Medal. He received All-Australian Honours in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He was the club's leading goal-kicker in 1990 and 1994.

In playing his 330th game on 5 August 2006, Grant broke Doug Hawkins' record for most number of games played for the Western Bulldogs. He held the club games record until 2009, when he was passed by Brad Johnson.

Near the end of 1996 Grant was offered a large amount of money to move to Port Adelaide, but one factor which changed his mind was when a little boy, Ryan Adams, sent him a letter with an attached 20-cent coin saying it was all he had and that Grant could keep it if he stayed with the Western Bulldogs.[3]

Grant announced his retirement from senior football at the Bulldogs' best-and-fairest presentation on 2 October 2007, following a career that spanned 18 seasons and 341 games.[4]

Chris Grant came out of retirement to represent his old club in Daylesford and in his first game of the season kicked 11 goals.

Grant continues to support the Western Bulldogs. Currently he is the Director of the Football Department.

Statistics

[5]
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
1990 Footscray 29 20 51 31 161 39 200 102 15 2.6 1.6 8.1 2.0 10.0 5.1 0.8
1991 Footscray 29 15 18 15 113 77 190 75 7 1.2 1.0 7.5 5.1 12.7 5.0 0.5
1992 Footscray 29 24 50 28 249 140 389 133 36 2.1 1.2 10.4 5.8 16.2 5.5 1.5
1993 Footscray 29 17 33 22 200 62 262 109 14 1.9 1.3 11.8 3.6 15.4 6.4 0.8
1994 Footscray 3 24 71 57 264 77 341 155 18 3.0 2.4 11.0 3.2 14.2 6.5 0.8
1995 Footscray 3 22 38 26 214 101 315 133 24 1.7 1.2 9.7 4.6 14.3 6.0 1.1
1996 Footscray 3 22 16 12 267 101 368 135 27 0.7 0.5 12.1 4.6 16.7 6.1 1.2
1997 Western Bulldogs 3 23 37 22 281 148 429 170 29 1.6 1.0 12.2 6.4 18.7 7.4 1.3
1998 Western Bulldogs 3 22 42 34 294 117 411 185 39 1.9 1.5 13.4 5.3 18.7 8.4 1.8
1999 Western Bulldogs 3 24 37 29 284 137 421 176 33 1.5 1.2 11.8 5.7 17.5 7.3 1.4
2000 Western Bulldogs 3 17 40 20 193 70 263 105 24 2.4 1.2 11.4 4.1 15.5 6.2 1.4
2001 Western Bulldogs 3 22 46 30 228 95 323 110 58 2.1 1.4 10.4 4.3 14.7 5.0 2.6
2002 Western Bulldogs 3 21 17 17 196 109 305 111 32 0.8 0.8 9.3 5.2 14.5 5.3 1.5
2003 Western Bulldogs 3 1 0 0 9 5 14 5 0 0.0 0.0 9.0 5.0 14.0 5.0 0.0
2004 Western Bulldogs 3 22 0 8 180 109 289 106 32 0.0 0.4 8.2 5.0 13.1 4.8 1.5
2005 Western Bulldogs 3 16 26 5 115 39 154 58 33 1.6 0.3 7.2 2.4 9.6 3.6 2.1
2006 Western Bulldogs 3 24 28 16 192 97 289 113 38 1.2 0.7 8.0 4.0 12.0 4.7 1.6
2007 Western Bulldogs 3 5 4 2 36 15 51 22 7 0.8 0.4 7.2 3.0 10.2 4.4 1.4
Career 341 554 374 3476 1538 5014 2003 466 1.6 1.1 10.2 4.5 14.7 5.9 1.4

References

  1. ↑ Daffey, Paul (13 June 2012). "Dogs' humble champ".
  2. ↑ Edmund, Sam (18 Jun 2008). "Champions call for update to Brownlow reprimand ruling". Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 Jul 2011.
  3. ↑ Len Johnson, The Age (21 April 2005). "Grant's grand regret".
  4. ↑ AAP (2 October 2007). "Chris Grant announces retirement".
  5. ↑ Chris Grant's player profile at AFL Tables
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