Stewart Crameri (born 10 August 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon, Western Bulldogs and Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Stewart Crameri
Crameri with the Western Bulldogs in February 2017
Personal information
Full name Stewart Crameri
Date of birth (1988-08-10) 10 August 1988 (age 35)
Original team(s) Bendigo Bombers (VFL)
Draft No. 43, 2009 rookie draft
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2010–2013 Essendon 057 0(96)
2014–2017 Western Bulldogs 042 0(70)
2018 Geelong 004 00(5)
Total 103 (171)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2018.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life edit

Crameri was selected by Essendon with the forty-third pick in the 2009 rookie draft. After spending three seasons with the Bendigo Bombers, Crameri was finally given a chance at senior football after strong rumours in 2008 that he would be drafted by Essendon.

In 2009, he was one of the few shining lights in a very dark year for the Bendigo Bombers who went through the season rooted to the bottom of the ladder and winless.[1] He originally played for Maryborough Football Club in the Bendigo Football League, and unlike most Victorians in the AFL, did not play in the TAC Cup as a junior.[2]

AFL career edit

 
Crameri playing in the VFL in 2009

Crameri made his AFL debut for Essendon against Collingwood in Round 20 of the 2010 AFL season.[3]

Crameri has had a great 2011 season up forward for Essendon, kicking 34 goals and was the club's leading goalkicker. At the Crichton Medal, Essendon FC Best & Fairest, he was awarded the Matthew Lloyd Leading Goal Kicking Award, and was the Essendon Football Club Most Improved player for 2011.

For the 2012 season, Crameri has inherited the #12 guernsey formerly worn by Andrew Welsh, who retired at the end of the 2011 season.[4]

The Goldfields Region Sports Association awarded Crameri the Jack Worrall Medal for the region's most outstanding sportsperson for 2011.

On Thursday 24 October 2013, it was announced that Crameri had been traded from Essendon to the Western Bulldogs in exchange for pick number 26 in the National Draft.

Crameri, along with 33 other past and present Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his teammates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal,[5] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 AFL season,[6] including the Bulldogs' premiership win in October.

Crameri played just two matches in 2017, before undergoing hip surgery which would ultimately sideline him for the remainder of the season.[7]

Crameri was delisted by the Bulldogs at the conclusion of the 2017 AFL season, but was taken by the Geelong Cats in the 2017 rookie draft.[8]

Statistics edit

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2012 season.[9]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2010 Essendon 45 3 0 1 20 33 53 8 6 0.0 0.3 6.7 11.0 17.7 2.7 2.0
2011 Essendon 45 20 34 22 167 156 323 104 48 1.7 1.1 8.4 7.8 16.2 5.2 2.4
2012 Essendon 12 18 32 29 132 116 248 75 40 1.8 1.6 7.3 6.4 13.8 4.2 2.2
Career 41 66 52 319 305 624 187 94 1.6 1.3 7.8 7.4 15.2 4.6 2.3

References edit

  1. ^ afl.com.au (15 December 2009). "What the clubs said". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  2. ^ CRAMERI'S IN – Former Magpie and Bendigo Bomber to make AFL debut
  3. ^ "No contest as Magpies dominate". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 August 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Crameri handed Welsh's No.12". AFL.com.au. 22 January 2012. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ^ Twomey, Callum (31 March 2015). "Thirty-four present and former Bombers cleared of all drug charges". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. ^ Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Stewart Crameri to miss rest of 2017 season". Western Bulldogs. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Another Dogs forward departs with ex-Don cut". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Stewart Crameri statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 September 2012.

External links edit