Craig Bird

Craig Bird
Personal information
Full name	Craig Bird
Date of birth	(1989-01-21) 21 January 1989
Original team(s)	NSW/ACT Rams (TAC Cup) Nelson Bay (BDAFL)
Draft	No. 59, 2007 National Draft, Sydney
Height/Weight	180cm / 85kg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Essendon
Number	24
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2008–2015 2016– Total	Sydney Essendon	137 (56) 001 0(0) 138 (56)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of Round 1, 2016 season.
Career highlights
AFL premiership player: 2012

Craig Bird (born 21 January 1989) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

He was drafted to the Swans with the 59th pick in the 2007 AFL Draft after previously being part of the NSW AFL Scholarship Program. He was recruited from Nelson Bay and made his debut in round one of 2008 season, wearing the number 14 guernsey, previously worn by club legends Paul Kelly and Bob Skilton.^[1] At the end of the 2008 season he was named as the Sydney Swans Rising Star of 2008 tied with Kieren Jack.^[2]

His 2010 season was delayed due to a stress fracture of the toe.^[3]

Bird enjoyed his best year at the Swans in 2011, managing to play 22 out of 24 games for the season. Bird was given a tagging role for much of the year and played the role exceptionally well for the most part. He played on some of the best midfielders in the league over the course of the season. However his best performance of the year came against the Western Bulldogs in round 18 when he kicked 4 goals as a defensive forward having been given the job of limiting the influence of dangerous rebounding defender, Rob Murphy.

Bird continued his consistent run of form in 2012 as he played on the competition's best midfielders and running defenders. Bird took his place in the Swans' 22 for the 2012 AFL Grand Final victory and went on to finish 9th in the 2012 Bob Skilton Medal, the highest placing of his career to date.

In October 2015, Bird was traded to the Essendon Football Club.^[4]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of round 5, 2015^[5]

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
Season	Team	#	Totals								Averages (per game)
2008	Sydney	14	21	8	3	144	144	288	62	47	0.4	0.1	6.9	6.9	13.7	3.0	2.2
2009	Sydney	14	15	5	3	108	130	238	41	48	0.3	0.2	7.2	8.7	15.9	2.7	3.2
2010	Sydney	14	4	1	0	35	34	69	14	11	0.3	0.0	8.8	8.5	17.3	3.5	2.8
2011	Sydney	14	22	11	9	184	170	354	43	113	0.5	0.4	8.4	7.7	16.1	2.0	5.1
2012	Sydney	14	25	12	12	220	207	427	69	105	0.5	0.5	8.8	8.3	17.1	2.8	4.2
2013	Sydney	14	23	10	5	269	152	421	53	84	0.4	0.2	11.7	6.6	18.3	2.3	3.7
2014	Sydney	14	21	6	5	206	209	415	58	105	0.3	0.2	9.8	10.0	19.8	2.8	5.0
2015	Sydney	14	5	3	1	48	49	97	15	19	0.6	0.2	9.6	9.8	19.4	3.0	3.8
Career			136	56	38	1214	1095	2309	355	532	0.4	0.3	8.9	8.1	17.0	2.6	3.9

References

↑ Buckle, Greg (20 March 2008) Bird gets early chance with Swans
↑ Warren, Adrian (3 October 2008) McVeigh judged as the best Swan
↑ Toe injury grounds Bird
↑ Ryan, Peter (21 October 2015). "Carlisle becomes a Saint, Dons get another top pick". Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
↑ Craig Bird's player profile at AFL Tables

External links

Craig Bird's profile on the official website of the Essendon Football Club
Craig Bird's statistics from AFL Tables

Essendon Football Club – current squad

1 Hibberd**
2 Bellchambers**
3 Parish
4 Watson**
5 Stanton**
6 Daniher
7 Z. Merrett
8 Gleeson
9 Goddard (c)
10 Francis
11 Zaharakis
12 Baguley (vc)
13 Fantasia
14 Ashby
15 Dempsey
16 Pears**
17 Cooney
18 Hurley**
19 Edwards
20 J. Merrett
21 Heppell**
22 Leuenberger
23 Myers**
24 Bird
25 Morgan
26 Hooker**
27 Redman
28 Brown
29 Ambrose
30 Langford
32 Colyer**
33 Laverde
34 Long*
35 Eades
36 Hartley
37 Nyuon*
38 Kommer
39 Hocking**
40 Howlett**
41 Hams*
42 Gwilt
43 McDonald-Tipungwuti*
44 McKernan
45 McKenna*
46 Wallis*
47 Kelly+
48 Stokes+
49 Dea+
50 Polkinghorne+
51 Crowley+
52 Simpkin+
53 Jamar+
54 Grimley+
55 Grima+
56 Michael+

Coach: Worsfold

* denotes rookie listed players

** denotes player(s) serving WADA suspension in 2016

+ denotes top-up players

Sydney Swans 2012 AFL premiers

Sydney Swans 14.7 (91) defeated Hawthorn 11.15 (81), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

2. Shaw 3. McVeigh (c) 4. Hannebery 5. O'Keefe 9. Malceski 10. Morton 12. Kennedy 14. Bird 15. Jack 20. Reid 24. Bolton 25. Richards 26. Parker 29. Mattner 30. Roberts-Thomson 32. Jetta 34. Johnson 37. Goodes 38. Pyke 39. Grundy 40. Smith 41. Mumford

Coach: Longmire

2007 AFL national draft

First round	1. Matthew Kreuzer 2. Trent Cotchin 3. Chris Masten 4. Cale Morton 5. Jarrad Grant 6. David Myers 7. Rhys Palmer 8. Lachie Henderson 9. Ben McEvoy 10. Patrick Dangerfield 11. Patrick Veszpremi 12. Cyril Rioli 13. Brad Ebert 14. Jack Grimes 15. Robbie Tarrant 16. Matthew Lobbe 17. Harry Taylor 18. Alex Rance (PP)

Second round	19. Callan Ward 20. Tony Notte 21. Addam Maric 22. Scott Selwood 23. Tayte Pears 24. Clayton Hinkley 25. Tom Collier 26. Brett Meredith 27. Andy Otten 28. Marlon Motlop 29. Brendan Whitecross 30. Jarrhan Jacky 31. John McCarthy 32. Levi Greenwood 33. Matthew Westhoff 34. Dawson Simpson

Third round	35. Sam Reid 36. Steven Browne 37. Scott Thompson 38. Myke Cook 39. Darcy Daniher (F/S) 40. Chris Mayne 41. James Polkinghorne 42. Jack Steven 43. Easton Wood 44. Scott Simpson 45. Stuart Dew 46. Dennis Armfield 47. Toby Thoolen 48. Jarrad Boumann 49. Mitch Farmer 50. Dan McKenna

Fourth round	51. Dean Putt 52. Bradd Dalziell 53. Kyle Cheney 54. Cale Hooker 55. Mark Johnson 56. Matt Austin 57. Fraser Gehrig 58. Tony Armstrong 59. Craig Bird 60. Adam Donohue (F/S) 61. Jaxson Barham (F/S) 62. Josh Smith 63. Guy O'Keefe

Fifth round	66. Tom McNamara 69. Kepler Bradley 70. Eljay Connors 71. Aaron Kite 72. Blake Grima

Sixth round	75. Taylor Walker (NSWSP)

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