- Michael Gardiner
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Michael Gardiner Personal information Full name Michael S. Gardiner Date of birth 5 July 1979 Place of birth Albany, Western Australia Original team Claremont (WAFL) Draft #1, 1996 National Draft, West Coast Height/Weight 199cm / 105 kg Position(s) Ruckman Playing career1 Years Club Games (Goals) 1997–2006
2007–2011
TotalWest Coast
St Kilda129 (87)
52 (23)
181 (110)1 Playing statistics to end of 2011 season .Career highlights - Ross Glendinning Medal Rd 5 2003
- All-Australian Team 2003
Michael S. Gardiner (born 5 July 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for the West Coast Eagles from 1997–2006 and the St Kilda Football Club from 2007–2011.
Contents
Early life
Gardiner was born in Albany, Western Australia, and played junior football for the Royals Football Club[1] before heading to Perth Western Australia to play for Claremont Football Club in the WAFL.
AFL career
Gardiner was the number 1 draft pick in the 1996 National Draft.
Gardiner debuted in 1997 at only 17 years of age.
There were big wraps on Gardiner as an emerging ruckman/forward. He did not disappoint, winning a Rising Star nomination in 1997 and All Australian selection in 2003. However, he was then limited by chronic knee injuries, and played 18 games in the next three seasons with the Eagles with Dean Cox becoming the leading ruckman in the AFL competition.
Off field controversies at West Coast
In May 2005, Gardiner and then West Coast team mate Ben Cousins were criticised[who?] for involvement with a group of alleged Perth underworld figures. According to allegations[who?] the two Eagles players received phone calls from gangland figures both before and after a stabbing and shooting at the Metro City nightclub.[citation needed] Police questioned Cousins and Gardiner about the incident but they refused to aid the inquiries.[citation needed] The club told the pair that they were on their "last warning" and that their off field behaviour would not be tolerated.[2]
Gardiner's off field lifestyle was often seen[who?] as detrimental to the West Coast playing group and, in February 2006, in the midst of the Ben Cousins booze bus incident, he was dropped to the Western Australian Football League side Claremont indefinitely on grounds of poor performance and poor off field behaviour.[citation needed]
On 18 July 2006, Gardiner's playing contract was suspended indefinitely and he was fined $5,000[3] following his involvement in a traffic accident in the Perth suburb of Scarborough. While he escaped the accident with only minor injuries, West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said that it was highly unlikely the club would renew his contract at the end of the year.[citation needed]
St Kilda Football Club
After the 2006 season, the Eagles traded Gardiner to St Kilda with a swap of third round draft picks (No. 43 for No. 59).
2008 season
Gardiner played in St Kilda’s 2008 NAB Cup winning side – St Kilda’s third pre-season cup win.[4][5]
2009 season
One of the highlights for Gardiner was in Round 14 when the Saints met Geelong at Docklands Stadium. Gardiner kicked four goals, including one after a pack mark which became the match winner with about 30 seconds remaining.
Gardiner played in 16 of 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club’s third minor premiership.[6]
St Kilda qualified for the 2009 AFL Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Gardiner played in the grand final in which St Kilda were defeated by 12 points.
References
- ^ "ABC News – Football club hits out at Gardiner graffiti". 2005. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-09-28/football-club-hits-out-at-gardiner-graffiti/2112730. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
- ^ "Champion's Rise And Fall", The West Australian, 21 March 2007, pp. 8–9
- ^ [1]
- ^ "St Kilda wins NAB cup". The Age. Australia. 8 March 2008. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/st-kilda-wins-nab-cup-by-five-points/2008/03/08/1204780132457.html?s_cid=rss_news. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ "Saints are NAB Cup Champions in 2008". Jeld-Wen. 8 March 2008. http://www.jeld-wen.com.au/pr/St-Kilda-2008/20080308.php. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ "2009 Season Scores and Results – Ladder". AFL Tables. 2009. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/2009.html#lad. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
External links
- Michael Gardiner's profile on the Official AFL Website of the St Kilda Football Club
- Michael Gardiner's statistics from AFL Tables
Ross Glendinning Medal • Western Derby Best on Ground R4, 2001: Banfield • R19, 2001: Jakovich • R1, 2002: Fletcher • R16, 2002: Hasleby • R5, 2003: Gardiner • R22, 2003: Hasleby • R6, 2004: Hasleby • R21, 2004: Fletcher • R3, 2005: Judd • R20, 2005: Judd • R6, 2006: Judd • R21, 2006: Bell • R3, 2007: Braun • R18, 2007: Carr • R3, 2008: Pavlich • R18, 2008: Pavlich • R6, 2009: Hasleby • R17, 2009: Sandliands • R6, 2010: Barlow • R18, 2010: Sandliands • R8, 2011: Priddis • R18, 2011: Cox2003 All-Australian team Defenders
Gavin Wanganeen (Port Adelaide) • Matthew Scarlett (Geelong) • Joel Smith (Hawthorn)
Rohan Smith (Western Bulldogs) • Justin Leppitsch (Brisbane Lions) • Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions)Midfielders
Lenny Hayes (St Kilda) • Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions) (Captain) • Paul Williams (Sydney)Forwards
Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle) • Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide) • Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide)
Phillip Matera (West Coast) • Matthew Lloyd (Essendon) • Chris Tarrant (Collingwood)Interchange
James Hird (Essendon) • Michael Gardiner (West Coast) • Paul Hasleby (Fremantle) • Robert Harvey (St Kilda)Australian Football League number one overall Draft picks 1986: Martin Leslie | 1987: Richard Lounder | 1988: Alex McDonald | 1989: Anthony Banik | 1990: Stephen Hooper | 1991: John Hutton | 1992: Drew Banfield | 1993: Darren Gaspar | 1994: Jeff White | 1995: Clive Waterhouse | 1996: Michael Gardiner | 1997: Travis Johnstone | 1998: Des Headland | 1999: Josh Fraser | 2000: Nick Riewoldt | 2001: Luke Hodge | 2002: Brendon Goddard | 2003: Adam Cooney | 2004: Brett Deledio | 2005: Marc Murphy | 2006: Bryce Gibbs | 2007: Matthew Kreuzer | 2008: Jack Watts | 2009: Tom Scully | 2010: David Swallow1996 AFL Draft 1. Michael Gardiner • 2. Chris Heffernan • 3. Rory Hilton • 4. Mark Kinnear • 5. Daniel McAlister • 6. John Rombotis • 7. Bowen Lockwood • 8. Leigh Brockman • 9. Mark Harwood • 10. Nathan Brown • 11. Brent Grgic • 12. Heath Black • 13. Tom Gilligan • 14. Brett O'Farrell • 15. Max Hudghton • 16. Pat Steinfort • 17. Rowan Warfe • 18. Gerrard Bennett • 19. Brent Tuckey • 20. Matthew Dent • 21. Tim Williams • 22. Alistair Nicholson • 23. Evan Hewitt • 24. Josh Wooden • 25. Andrew Bomford • 26. Tim Notting • 27. Troy Cook • 28. Jason Johnson • 29. Nathan Turvey • 30. Hayden Lamaro • 31. Jess Sinclair • 32. Jim Plunkett • 33. Will Sangster • 34. Shannon Corcoran • 35. Mark Chaffey • 36. Jonathan Hay • 37. Adam Kingsley • 38. Sam Smart • 39. Nick Stone • 41. Mathew Manfield • 42. Martin Pike • 43. Paul Corrigan • 44. Jacob Rhodes • 45. Clayton Gardiner • 46. Mathew Clucas • 47. Brett Montgomery • 48. Marty Warry • 49. Jason Heatley • 50. Luke McCormick • 51. Robert McMahon • 52. Damien Lock • 53. Michael Braun • 54. Mathew Watson • 55. Steven McKee • 56. Cameron Mooney • 57. Trent Cummings • 58. Paul Dooley • 59. Anthony McDonald • 60. Andrew Eccles • 61. Stephen Powell • 62. Andrew Thompson • 63. Jason Baldwin • 64. Darren Collins • 65. Brad Cassidy • 66. Paul Hills • 67. Byron Pickett • 68. Russell Robertson • 69. Chad Rintoul • 70. Adam Hay • 71. Brett Knowles • 72. Brent Frewen • 73. Brett Howman • 74. Chris Jackson • 75. Mark Winterton • 76. Greg Dempsey • 77. Marcus Barham • 78. Lucas Fleming • 79. Daniel Donati • 80. Chris Holcombe • 81. Anthony Franchina • 82. Duncan O'Toole • 83. Ashley Gehling • 84. Josh Mahoney • 85. Brad Scott • 86. Ben Parker • 87. Brad Fuller • 88. Phil Smith • 89. Dwayne Griffin • 90. Leigh SinglineCategories:- West Coast Eagles players
- St Kilda Football Club players
- Claremont Football Club players
- 1979 births
- Living people
- All-Australians
- People educated at Wesley College, Perth
- Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
- People from Albany, Western Australia
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