Toby Jason McGrath (born 11 October 1980) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for South Fremantle in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(WAFL). He was rookie-listed with both the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

and in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL), but did not play a game for either club.

Early career

McGrath was born in Northam,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He has three brothers: Bradley,

Cory As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, meaning "(the) Maiden", which is a title of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a cauldr ...

and

Ashley McGrath Ashley Vernon McGrath (born 20 May 1983) is a retired Indigenous Australian, Indigenous Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League. Selected in the 2000 AFL Draft with the thirteenth pick ov ...

. Cory and Ashley both played in the AFL, for and the respectively. McGrath played junior football in Katanning before being recruited to South Fremantle in the WAFL, where he made his debut 1998.

AFL career

McGrath had a brief taste of the professional

, when he was recruited from South Fremantle to the

’

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Category B rookie-listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unle ...

. He was delisted after spending a year on their list without playing a game. He was then given another chance by the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in 2002 & 2003, where he played with his brother

, although again did not manage to make his senior debut.

Later WAFL career

He won the South Fremantle Football Club's Best & Fairest Award in 2004 and in 2005 he won both the Sandover, the WAFL’s prestigious best player award and

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pl ...

for the Best player in the Grand Final and was a member of South Fremantle’s premiership winning side. He represented WA on six occasions in 2000, 2004 and 2005, and was captain of the 2008 WA side that defeated Queensland in Townsville, 2009 and 2010. In 2008 he was appointed captain of South Fremantle and played his 150th game for the Bulldogs while also winning his second Best & Fairest award. In 2009, he played in his fifth WAFL Grand Final and captained South Fremantle to the WAFL premiership, his second after being a member of the 2005 team. He played his 200th game for South Fremantle in the final round of the 2010 season. In 2011 Toby McGrath was named in South Fremantle’s Indigenous Team of The Century and he in 2012 was included in the WAFL’s Best 25 players of the Last 25 Years. He was inducted into the South Fremantle Hall of Fame in 2022 and is recognised as one of the WAFLs most decorated players. McGrath is employed as a firefighter with the

Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review. DFE ...

. He has three brothers, Cory and

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

who have both played in the AFL and Bradley. West Coast Eagles premiership player Mark Lecras, Marty McGrath and

Dion Woods Dion Woods (born 25 January 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 2001 and 2005. Woods was drafted from Perth in the West Australian Football League ...

, who played for Richmond and Fremantle respectively, are all cousins.Cory McGrath profile at Essendon

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Toby 1980 births Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Bendigo Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Living people Sportspeople from Northam, Western Australia Sandover Medal winners South Fremantle Football Club players