Craig Bolton (born 31 May 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of t ...

and the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He often plays at full back or on the half back flank. He is unrelated to former Swans teammate

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 Foot ...

Playing career

Having played for the Eastlake Football Club in Canberra, and the

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , e ...

/ ACT Under 18s team, Bolton was picked by Brisbane in the 3rd round of the 1998 AFL Draft. He was on the Lions' list from 1999 until 2002, making his debut against Carlton in Round 1 of the 2000 season. Being unable to gain a regular place in the very strong Brisbane team of the time forced Bolton to depart the club at the end of the 2002 season, managing only 29 games since his debut. Bolton was selected by Sydney in the 2003 pre-season draft and was immediately given a starting role in the team. Quickly cementing his place in the side's backline, Bolton missed only one game in his first seven years with the Swans. His first three years with Sydney mirrored his time at Brisbane, with the Swans' making the preliminary finals in 2003, semi-finals in 2004 and the grand final in 2005. As opposed to his emergency listing for the 2001 and 2002 Grand Finals for the Lions, Bolton was now a regular member of the team for Sydney, and as such played a part in the Grand Final victory over West Coast, earning his first premiership medal, as well as finishing third in the club's Best and Fairest Award. Gradually establishing himself as one of the AFL's standout defenders, Bolton was awarded a place in the 2006 All-Australian team on the half-back flank position, and again in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

team at his preferred position of centre-half back. He also finished third in the Swans' 2007 Best and Fairest Award. At the beginning of the 2008 season, Bolton was named Swans' co-captain, alongside

Brett Kirk Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans. AFL career Kirk grew up in ...

and Leo Barry. Later that year Bolton represented the Dream Team Australian rules football team in the Hall of Fame exhibition match at the MCG. The latter half of his season in 2008 was somewhat restricted by a groin injury. After the Swans exited the finals, he travelled to Germany with teammate

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallis ...

for surgery. In 2010, Bolton sustained a bad Achilles tendon injury against West Coast at the SCG in Round 5, ruling him out for the year. On 24 March 2011, Bolton announced his immediate retirement after an ankle injury which would rule him out of the upcoming

2011 AFL season The 2011 AFL season was the 115th 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 s ...

Media career

Following his playing career, Bolton commenced a media career as an Australian Rules Football commentator on

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its program ...

and also a guest commentator of the sport on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

Career achievements

* International Rules Australian representative 2004 * Premiership player 2005 * 3rd best and fairest 2005, 2007 * 2006

All Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

* 2008 – present Co-Captain * 2009

Statistics

:Craig Bolton's player profile at AFL Tables
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2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 15 , , 7 , , 4 , , 120 , , 41 , , 161 , , 54 , , 6 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 8.0 , , 2.7 , , 10.7 , , 3.6 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 8 , , 3 , , 2 , , 48 , , 33 , , 81 , , 23 , , 8 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 6.0 , , 4.1 , , 10.1 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 6 , , 0 , , 1 , , 24 , , 17 , , 41 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 4.0 , , 2.8 , , 6.8 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 24 , , 0 , , 0 , , 177 , , 108 , , 285 , , 93 , , 35 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.4 , , 4.5 , , 11.9 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 24 , , 6 , , 0 , , 164 , , 106 , , 270 , , 81 , , 57 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 6.8 , , 4.4 , , 11.3 , , 3.4 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 26 , , 1 , , 3 , , 211 , , 137 , , 348 , , 112 , , 62 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.1 , , 5.3 , , 13.4 , , 4.3 , , 2.4 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 24 , , 3 , , 4 , , 245 , , 104 , , 349 , , 144 , , 59 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 10.2 , , 4.3 , , 14.5 , , 6.0 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 23 , , 3 , , 2 , , 244 , , 110 , , 354 , , 138 , , 40 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 10.6 , , 4.8 , , 15.4 , , 6.0 , , 1.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 24 , , 2 , , 1 , , 249 , , 153 , , 402 , , 148 , , 45 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 10.4 , , 6.4 , , 16.8 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 20 , , 0 , , 0 , , 188 , , 140 , , 328 , , 101 , , 31 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.4 , , 7.0 , , 16.4 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 6 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 26 , , 33 , , 59 , , 11 , , 9 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.2 , , 6.6 , , 11.8 , , 2.2 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 199 ! 25 ! 17 ! 1696 ! 982 ! 2678 ! 914 ! 359 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 8.5 ! 4.9 ! 13.5 ! 4.6 ! 1.8

References

External links

Sydney Swans site player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Craig 1980 births Living people Brisbane Lions players Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans Premiership players All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory NSW/ACT Rams players Eastlake Football Club players Australia international rules football team players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian rules football commentators