Andrew McGrath


Andrew McGrath is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League. He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the first overall selection in the 2016 national draft.

Early life

McGrath was born in Mississauga, Ontario and moved to Melbourne, Australia at age five in 2003. He was a talented junior track and field athlete winning the Australian national under-14 high jump competition in 2011, the Victorian state heptathlon and national 200m hurdles events at under-15 level in 2012 and the under-17 400m hurdles in 2014. He was named All-Australian and co-captain of the 2016 AFL Under 18 Championships playing for Vic Metro, and was also the captain of Brighton Grammar School, where he was part of three consecutive APS Football premierships.

AFL career

McGrath was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the number one draft pick in the 2016 national draft. He made his debut in the 25 point win against in the opening round of the 2017 season at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, recording 22 disposals. He received an AFL Rising Star nomination for his performance in the sixty-five point loss against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round four, in which he garnered twenty-eight disposals and four tackles. He kicked his first AFL goal against Melbourne in round 6. McGrath had another notable performance against Adelaide in round 21, where he kept star forward Eddie Betts goalless and held him to only seven disposals, his lowest output of the season. He capped off an outstanding first season by winning the AFL Rising Star, receiving the Ron Evans Medal with 51 votes out of a possible 55, becoming the second Essendon player to win the award, after Dyson Heppell, as well as winning the AFLPA Best First Year Player award, and was named in the 22under22 team.

Statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2020
! colspan=3| Career
! 72
! 15
! 6
! 724
! 757
! 1481
! 253
! 213
! 0.2
! 0.1
! 10.1
! 10.5
! 20.6
! 3.5
! 3.0