Cory McGrath (born 4 February 1979) is a former professional

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 with the Carlton and

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 ...

s 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), 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), South Adelaide in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) and the

Northern Bullants The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

and

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL).

AFL career

He started his career after being elevated from 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 ...

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

in 2000, and made his AFL debut in 2001. The West Australian had been noted as an exciting midfielder and when he arrived at Carlton as part of the Blues' refill of recycled players in the 2003 draft/trade period, he made a good impression during 2004. He broke his way into the team from Carlton's , the

, midway through the year and played every game from then on. 2005 was another step up for McGrath, who played 19 games but was considered one of the better players in a dismal year for the Blues. He again played 19 games in 2006, generally playing a tagging role rotated through the midfield, where he is noted as a hard ball winner. Although less successful as a traditional defender, his tagging roles were often performed in the backline. Despite his good season, McGrath was delisted at the end of 2006, at the age of 27.

Post-AFL

McGrath played the 2007 season with the

South Adelaide Football Club The South Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Panthers, is an Australian rules football club based in the Adelaide suburb of Noarlunga Downs, South Australia, Noarlunga Downs. The club competes in the South Australian National Football Leagu ...

in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

. He then spent five seasons playing with the

Port Melbourne Football Club The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) – ...

in the VFL, where he was part of the Borough's unbeaten 2011 premiership team. McGrath retired from football at the end of 2011.

Personal life

McGrath has three brothers, two of whom are both former

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

players,

Toby Toby is a given name in many English-speaking world, English speaking countries. The name is derived the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates t ...

, who played for 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

, 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 played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

and Bradley. He has two children Coen & Lani.

References

External links

* * *
Cory McGrath's profile on Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Cory Essendon Football Club players 1979 births Living people Carlton Football Club players South Fremantle Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club players Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Northern Bullants players Port Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Sportspeople from Northam, Western Australia