Grant Birchall (born 28 January 1988) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League.

Grant Birchall
Birchall playing in April 2017.
Personal information
Full name Grant Birchall
Date of birth (1988-01-28) 28 January 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Devonport, Tasmania
Original team(s) Tassie Mariners (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 14, 2005 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2006, Hawthorn vs. Fremantle, at Aurora Stadium
Height 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Position(s) Half-Back Flank
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2006–2019 Hawthorn 248 (34)
2020–2021 Brisbane Lions 039 0(2)
Total 287 (36)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2021.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He is a 4 time AFL Premiership player and All-Australian and a member of the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.

Career

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Early career (2006–2008)

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Birchall had an exceptional first season in 2006 with the Hawthorn, playing 16 games out of a possible 22. The Tasmanian was chosen at pick 14 in the 2005 AFL Draft and made his debut in the number 35 guernsey in Hawthorn's opening match of the season against Fremantle at Aurora Stadium in his home state, Tasmania.

All year, Birchall excelled across half-back for the Hawks, mainly highlighted by an impressive 23 touches in the big loss to St Kilda in round 13 and 27 touches and 10 marks in a sluggish win against the Kangaroos in round 21. To finish off the season, Birchall finished off with his best game yet- a massive 36 touches and 11 marks in the 10-goal win against Geelong.

At season's end, Birchall came sixth in the NAB AFL Rising Star, won Hawthorn's Best First Year Award and was given the number 14 jumper for the 2007 season, left vacant by Harry Miller, who was delisted by Hawthorn at the end of 2006. Grant Birchall attended St Brendan-Shaw College in Devonport, Tasmania.

2007 saw Birchall play every game for Hawthorn, and consolidate his role as a running half-back with poise and neat disposal. Many pundits are expecting the low-key young Hawk to make further progress in 2008, possibly including stints further up the ground.

Premierships (2008–2016)

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Birchall played in his first AFL Premiership in 2008, when the Hawks defeated reigning premiers Geelong. Birchall lost half of his two front teeth in a collision during the match.[1]

In 2012, Birchall had his best season to date. Birchall averaged 23.1 disposals in his 21 games in the Home and Away season with an incredible disposal efficiency of 85%. Birchall was rewarded with his first All-Australian Guernsey.

Injury troubles and trade (2017–2021)

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Having only missed four of the Hawks' games over the previous three seasons, Grant Birchall's durability was struck down in 2017. Birchall managed just five games for the year, first suffering a fractured jaw in round 2 which kept him out for a month. before injuring his posterior cruciate ligament in round 7. Birchall made his return in round 14 before he injured his PCL again the following week, ending his season.

Birchall's poor luck continued through 2018 and he didn't play any football due to a persistent PCL complaint. A late-season push to be available for the finals resulted in an adductor injury.

After 720 days, Birchall made his long-awaited return playing for Hawthorn's VFL affiliate, Box Hill. He had a strong first half with 10 disposals and taking 6 marks before sitting out the second half of the game. Birchall managed the play three games for Hawthorn at the back end of the 2019 season before injuring his hamstring ending his comeback.

Out of contract at the end of 2019, Birchall was asked to shop himself around to see if he could get a better deal than what Hawthorn was willing to offer, Brisbane came up with a deal which he accepted. Birchall would be delisted at the end of 2020 and then re-drafted as a rookie. At the end of 2021, Birchall retired from the AFL.[2]

Statistics

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Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2006 Hawthorn 35 16 3 1 172 136 308 87 22 0.2 0.1 10.8 8.5 19.3 5.4 1.4 0
2007 Hawthorn 14 24 2 5 292 215 507 153 42 0.1 0.2 12.2 9.0 21.1 6.4 1.8 2
2008# Hawthorn 14 25 2 1 281 266 547 164 44 0.1 0.0 11.2 10.6 21.9 6.6 1.8 0
2009 Hawthorn 14 19 0 1 199 207 406 95 36 0.0 0.1 10.5 10.9 21.4 5.0 1.9 0
2010 Hawthorn 14 21 5 4 231 181 412 114 58 0.2 0.2 11.0 8.6 19.6 5.4 2.8 0
2011 Hawthorn 14 24 3 7 344 226 570 173 38 0.1 0.3 14.3 9.4 23.8 7.2 1.6 7
2012 Hawthorn 14 23 1 4 315 216 531 135 38 0.0 0.2 13.7 9.4 23.1 5.9 1.7 1
2013# Hawthorn 14 17 6 2 240 165 405 81 23 0.4 0.1 14.1 9.7 23.8 4.8 1.4 6
2014# Hawthorn 14 25 5 6 344 247 591 124 33 0.2 0.2 13.8 9.9 23.6 5.0 1.3 4
2015# Hawthorn 14 22 4 3 319 183 502 122 36 0.2 0.1 14.5 8.3 22.8 5.6 1.6 0
2016 Hawthorn 14 24 2 2 318 232 550 147 29 0.1 0.1 13.3 9.7 22.9 6.1 1.2 2
2017 Hawthorn 14 5 0 0 59 36 95 26 6 0.0 0.0 11.8 7.2 19.0 5.2 1.2 0
2018 Hawthorn 14 0 0
2019 Hawthorn 14 3 1 1 35 27 62 16 2 0.3 0.3 11.7 9.0 20.7 5.3 0.7 0
2020[a] Brisbane Lions 14 16 0 0 150 53 203 69 16 0.0 0.0 9.4 3.3 12.7 4.3 1.0 0
2021 Brisbane Lions 14 23 2 0 307 118 425 159 23 0.1 0.0 13.3 5.1 18.5 6.9 1.0 0
Career[3] 287 36 37 3606 2508 6114 1665 446 0.1 0.1 12.6 8.7 21.3 5.8 1.6 22

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

Notes

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  1. ^ Carter, Paul (28 September 2008). "Hawk Birchall 'gave teeth for Tassie'". The Age.
  2. ^ "Grant Birchall Announces Retirement". lions.com.au. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Grant Birchall". AFL Tables. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
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