Brendan Whitecross (born 25 January 1990) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Brendan Whitecross
Whitecross playing for Hawthorn in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Brendan Whitecross
Date of birth (1990-01-25) 25 January 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Australia
Original team(s)

Kedron Districts Junior Football Club

Zillmere Eagles AFC
Draft No. 29, 2007 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2009, Hawthorn vs. Geelong, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2007–2018 Hawthorn 111 (45)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2018.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

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He is an all round sportsman having represented his state in Athletics and is an accomplished cricketer, cross country runner, rugby union player and swimmer. Whitecross Captained his schools' St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe, Brisbane Athletics Squad and 1st Eleven Cricket Team.

Whitecross started his football life at the Kedron Districts Junior Football Club in Brisbane, Queensland playing there for 11 seasons before moving on to the Zillmere Eagles to commence his senior career. He represented Queensland in under 12s (2002), under 16s (2005–2006), captaining the team in 2006 and in under 18s in 2007. He was selected to the AIS/AFL Academy and travelled with the Australian under 17 team to South Africa in 2007.

AFL career

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Taken by Hawthorn with their second round draft pick in 2007, Whitecross spent the entire 2008 season in the VFL developing his craft with Hawthorn affiliate Box Hill.

Whitecross debuted in the round 1 grand final rematch against Geelong. On 14 June 2009, Whitecross re-signed with Hawthorn Football Club for two more seasons.[1] Whitecross closed an outstanding 2009 season at Hawthorn by winning the club's 2009 "Most Improved Player" Award. He polled 31 votes to finish 19th in the best and fairest vote-count.

By 2011, Whitecross had cemented his place in the Hawthorn line-up. It was his ability to apply pressure, to find the ball, present as a link up option going forward and uncanny goal sense that immediately made him a dangerous player.[2] His sure hands enabled him to become an important link man as the Hawks moved the ball from the middle to the forward line.

Whitecross ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against Collingwood in the 2012 qualifying final, requiring a reconstruction.[3]

Whitecross again ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against Geelong in the 2013 preliminary final. Hawthorn went on to win the game breaking an 11 game losing streak to Geelong since 2008. His injury meant he missed the 2013 AFL Grand Final and all of the 2014 AFL season.

On 29 October 2018, Whitecross was delisted by Hawthorn.[4]

Post AFL

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Whitecross became a development coach with North Melbourne but because of Covid his time was cut short when the state government banned contact sports. Whitecross was appointed coach of the Knox Football Club who compete in the Eastern Football League for seasons 2021 and 2022.[5]

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
2008 Hawthorn 37 0 0
2009 Hawthorn 37 13 1 0 116 116 232 86 22 0.1 0.0 8.9 8.9 17.8 6.6 1.7 0
2010 Hawthorn 37 16 9 11 130 72 202 80 32 0.6 0.7 8.1 4.5 12.6 5.0 2.0 0
2011 Hawthorn 37 21 16 10 230 103 333 124 55 0.8 0.5 11 4.9 15.9 5.9 2.6 0
2012 Hawthorn 37 22 9 9 293 144 437 135 57 0.4 0.4 13.3 6.5 19.9 6.1 2.6 2
2013 Hawthorn 11 12 3 1 112 67 181 67 26 0.3 0.1 9.3 5.6 15.1 5.3 2.2 0
2014 Hawthorn 11 0 0
2015 Hawthorn 11 4 0 0 23 21 44 19 5 0.0 0.0 5.8 5.3 11.0 4.8 1.3 0
2016 Hawthorn 11 9 2 1 73 83 156 58 19 0.2 0.1 8.1 9.2 17.3 6.4 2.1 0
2017 Hawthorn 11 8 2 3 60 48 108 40 20 0.3 0.4 7.5 6.0 13.5 5.0 2.5 0
2018 Hawthorn 11 6 3 4 48 32 80 27 18 0.5 0.7 8.0 5.3 13.3 4.5 3.0 0
Career[6] 111 45 39 1085 688 1773 636 255 0.4 0.4 9.8 6.2 16.0 5.7 2.3 2

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

  • Hawthorn most improved player: 2009
  • Box Hill All-Star team (1999–2019)
  • Hawthorn life member

References

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  1. ^ "Hawthorn re-signs premiership duo, young gun - AFL.com.au". Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  2. ^ "2012 Review: Whitecross".
  3. ^ "Whitecross nearing return - hawthornfc.com.au". www.hawthornfc.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ^ Olle, Sarah (29 October 2018). "Popular Hawk Brendan Whitecross, young midfielder Kieran Lovell cut from club". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  5. ^ "WHITECROss's THE MAN | Eastern FNL". 30 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Brendan Whitecross". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
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