Craig Biddiscombe (born 21 September 1976) is a former

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

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

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). Biddiscombe came to Geelong from

Traralgon Traralgon ( , ) is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the ...

and was drafted from the

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Minor Premiers (3): 2005, 2007, 2 ...

. He went at pick 59 in the 1993 National Draft and would be used by Geelong as a midfielder. In 1995, his debut season, Biddiscombe made two appearances, in rounds 20 and 21, but he didn't take part in Geelong's finals campaign.AFL Tables: Craig Biddiscombe
/ref> The following year he earned a Rising Star nomination for his performance against Fitzroy at

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

, in what was his seventh league game. He was never able to cement his spot in the Geelong side and after the

1998 AFL season The 1998 AFL season was the 102nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

was traded to Richmond. In order to secure his services, Richmond gave Geelong pick eight in the 1998 National Draft, which was on-traded to the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

, who used it to select

Jude Bolton Jude Bolton (born 15 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1999 and 2013. Early life Growing up, he supported the St Kilda Footbal ...

. His first season at Richmond was ruined by hamstring injuries and he managed just four senior appearances. In 2000 however he played 19 of a possible 22 games, as a half-back, and won Richmond's "Best Clubman" award. He appeared in the first 10 rounds of the 2001 season but then injured his knee and didn't feature again for the rest of the year. The rest of his time with Richmond was spent mostly in the reserves and he was delisted at the end of 2003. In 2004 and 2005, Biddiscombe played for

North Ballarat The North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL), and pr ...

. He then joined South Barwon in 2006 and was a member of their premiership team that year, and again in 2007. Biddiscombe is also a cricketer, he has played for the Barwon Heads cricket club in the Bellarine Peninsula cricket association since 1996. During his time he has won 5 A grade premierships (2005/2006, 2007-2008, 2008–2009, 2010-2011 and most recently 2013/14). Biddiscombes natural leadership and professionalism is a big part of the success behind the club in recent years. Biddiscombe also took on the club coach role in the 2013/14 season. He played a season with St Josephs cricket club in 2017/18, in the Geelong Cricket association and now calls North Geelong Cricket Club home and in fact was made co-coach in 2020/21. After back to back Premierships Craig set the boys up for another season, adding in a damaging loop course of St Helens Hill that he likes to call "Bidders Loop". It would serve the guys well as they would go on to win the next 4 Premierships to make it 6 in a row and now aim for a GCA record 7th straight in 2025/26. He now runs and owns Elite Team Dynamics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddiscombe, Craig 1976 births Living people Geelong Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Gippsland Power players North Ballarat Football Club players Traralgon Football Club players South Barwon Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Traralgon