Andrew Carrazzo

Andrew Carrazzo
Personal information
Full name Andrew Carrazzo
Date of birth (1983-12-15) 15 December 1983
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 5, 2002 Rookie Draft, Geelong
No. 2, 2004 Rookie Draft, Carlton
Height/Weight 187cm / 85kg
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2004–2015 Carlton 194 (48)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2015 season.
Career highlights

Andrew Carrazzo (born 15 December 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Junior career

Carrazzo played junior football with the St Simons Football Club in Rowville and with the Knox Eagles Football Club in Ferntree Gully. Carrazzo played with Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup competition, finishing his final season runner up in the Morrish Medal for best player in the competition in 2001, as well as winning All-Australian honours in the national under-18 carnival.

AFL career

Carrazzo was initially selected as a rookie by Geelong in 2002. He spent two seasons on the rookie list at Geelong, winning the Geelong VFL team's best and fairest award in 2003, but never breaking into the Geelong senior list. He was again rookie listed in 2004, this time by Carlton. After another strong season in the VFL, he was elevated to the senior list, making his debut for Carlton in Round 21, 2004 against Melbourne. He was the last Carlton player to make his AFL debut at the club's traditional home ground at Princes Park.[1]

From the start of the 2005 season until the end of his career eleven years later, Carrazzo was a regular in the Carlton team, as he became an integral part of the Carlton midfield. Depending on the needs of the team, Carrazzo was able to play as a high-possession ball-winning midfielder, or as a strong tagger. He had a break-out season in 2007, playing as the main ball-winner in a midfield which lacked experience following a season-ending injury to established follower Nick Stevens, and he won the 2007 John Nicholls Medal as Carlton's best and fairest,[2] beating Heath Scotland by 6 votes for the award. Carrazzo received 11 votes at the 2007 Brownlow Medal.

In Round 7, 2008 against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco, Carrazzo picked up an AFL career high 42 disposals. With the recruitment of Chris Judd and the return of Nick Stevens from injury, Carrazzo was moved out of the midfield, and spent most of the season playing as a rebounding defender. Carrazzo played the first 21 games of the season, before injury forced him out in Round 22 after 54 consecutive games.

Carrazzo fractured his forearm during an intraclub practice match in the 2009 preseason, missing the first four games of the AFL season. He played two games with the Northern Bullants to regain match fitness, and in the second amassed 55 disposals against Box Hill, before being returned to the AFL seniors for Round 5. A further injury to his thumb kept him sidelined for another four weeks, before returning to play all remaining games, including Carlton's elimination final loss to the Brisbane Lions. Carrazzo played primarily a primarily defensive midfield roles in 2009, as well as playing on medium-sized opposition half-back flankers.

Carrazzo played his 100th AFL game for Carlton in Round 1 of the 2010 season against Richmond, and was named acting captain for the first time in that game in the absence of Chris Judd, and served as a vice-captain for the next few years. He played all twenty-three games in 2010, and finished fifth in the club Best and Fairest. He was awarded life membership of the Carlton Football Club in December 2011.[3]

By the early 2012 season, Carrazzo was rated by sportswriters as one of the best taggers in the game, able to shut down some of the game's best midfielders and win plenty of the ball himself in the same game. He attracted particular praise for a two-way shutdown role against Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury in Round 3, 2012;[4] but the following week his shoulder blade was broken in a strong driving tackle from behind by Essendon's Sam Lonergan, and he missed the next two months. Although the tackle did not attract sanction from the tribunal,[5] Lonergan received death threats via Twitter in relation to the incident.[6]

Carrazzo was limited to 39 of a possible 67 games in the final three years of his career, suffering from recurring calf injuries during that time,[7] but he remained a consistent attacking tagger during that time. He retired at the end of the 2015 season after 194 games in twelve seasons at Carlton.[8]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of round 18, 2015 [9]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2004 Carlton 44 2 0 0 21 15 36 9 4 0.0 0.0 10.5 7.5 18.0 4.5 2.0
2005 Carlton 44 20 4 4 196 118 314 83 41 0.2 0.2 9.8 5.9 15.7 4.2 2.1
2006 Carlton 44 19 4 6 209 170 379 123 38 0.2 0.3 11.0 8.9 19.9 6.5 2.0
2007 Carlton 44 22 8 6 287 282 569 114 101 0.4 0.3 13.0 12.8 25.9 5.2 4.6
2008 Carlton 44 21 4 3 282 255 537 133 65 0.2 0.1 13.4 12.1 25.6 6.3 3.1
2009 Carlton 44 15 12 8 180 174 354 58 47 0.8 0.5 12.0 11.6 23.6 3.9 3.1
2010 Carlton 44 23 4 8 254 266 520 100 77 0.2 0.3 11.0 11.6 22.6 4.3 3.3
2011 Carlton 44 18 5 3 205 219 424 75 95 0.3 0.2 11.4 12.2 23.6 4.2 5.3
2012 Carlton 44 14 5 1 155 190 345 53 66 0.4 0.1 11.1 13.6 24.6 3.8 4.7
2013 Carlton 44 10 1 1 84 96 180 25 30 0.1 0.1 8.4 9.6 18.0 2.5 3.0
2014 Carlton 44 14 0 1 119 162 281 40 86 0.0 0.1 8.5 11.6 20.1 2.9 6.1
2015 Carlton 44 12 0 3 100 174 274 33 46 0.0 0.3 8.3 14.5 22.8 2.8 3.8
Career 190 47 44 2092 2121 4213 846 696 0.2 0.2 11.0 11.2 22.2 4.5 3.7

Personal life

Carrazzo is of Italian descent. He attended De La Salle College, Malvern. He has been a lifelong Carlton supporter.

Carrazzo is married to Yvette Wood, after proposing in 2008. In January 2012, the couple welcomed triplets Grace, Charlotte and Sophia.[10]

Carrazzo is often referred to, particularly amongst fans, by the nickname "Carrots", a deliberate mispronunciation of "Carrazz-".[11]

References

  1. ↑ de Bolfo, Tony (4 Aug 2011). "Carrazzo and Carlton in two-minute short". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 4 Aug 2011.
  2. ↑ Andrew Carrazzo defies Blues curse
  3. ↑ de Bolfo, Tony (15 Dec 2011). "Loyal Blues acknowledged at AGM". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 15 Dec 2011.
  4. ↑ Shane Crawford (13 May 2012). "Carlton midfielder Andrew Carrazzo a Blue boy in the pink". Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Match Review Panel report: Round four
  6. ↑ Andrew Demetriou disgusted by death threats against players and officials
  7. ↑ Ben Collins (13 August 2013). "Season over for Carlton's Carrazzo". Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Loretta Johns (1 September 2015). "Carrazzo retires". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Andrew Carrazzo statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Ralph, Jon (14 Sep 2011). "Carlton star Andrew Carrazzo blown away by triplets". Herald Sun. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  11. ↑ "Scotto & Carrots recommit". Carlton Football Club. 16 Jun 2011. Retrieved 17 Jun 2011.

External links

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