Andrew Carrazzo

Personal information
Birth	15 December 1983 (1983-12-15) (age 26)
Recruited from	East Burwood / Oakleigh Chargers / Geelong
Height and weight	187cm / 85kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 21, 21 August 2004, Carlton vs. Melbourne, at Princes Park
Team(s)	Carlton (2004-) 99 games, 32 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2008 season
Career highlights
John Nicholls Medal 2007 Geelong (VFL) Best and Fairest, 2003

Andrew Carrazzo (born 15 December 1983) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He is of Italian descent.

Carrazzo played with Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup competition, finishing his final season runner up in the Morrish Medal for best player in the competition in 2001, as well as winning All-Australian honours in the national under-18 carnival. He was initially selected as a rookie by Geelong in 2002. He spent two seasons on the rookie list at Geelong, winning the Geelong VFL team's best and fairest award in 2003, but never breaking into the Geelong senior list. He was again rookie listed in 2004, this time by Carlton. After another strong season in the VFL, he was elevated to the senior list, making his debut for Carlton in Round 21, 2004 against Melbourne.

Carrazzo made a stunning debut after coming off the rookie list towards the end of the 2004 season. He followed up on his good form in the 2005 season as he became an integral part of the Carlton attacking midfield, racking up 314 disposals in his first full year. He has also played defensive roles, including the nullification of dangerous Demon Aaron Davey and Docker Jeff Farmer.

Carrazzo continued to show good form into the 2006 season, playing 19 games with an average of 20 disposals. On the one occasion he was dropped to the Northern Bullants, he amassed 51 disposals against Tasmania to ensure that he was speedily returned to the seniors. He has not been dropped since, and through 2007 developed into one of Carlton's most important and busiest midfielders, repeatedly gathering high numbers of possessions. In the first quarter of Round 14, 2007, against Melbourne, Carrazzo amassed 17 disposals, then the second highest on record for a quarter. Carrazzo won the 2007 John Nicholls Medal as Carlton's best and fairest, beating Heath Scotland by 6 votes for the award. Carrazzo received 11 votes at the 2007 Brownlow.

In Round 7, 2008 against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco, Carrazzo picked up an AFL career high 42 disposals. With the recruitment of Chris Judd and the return of Nick Stevens from injury, Carrazzo was moved out of the midfield, and spent most of the season playing as a rebounding defender. Carrazzo played the first 21 games of the season, before injury forced him out in round 22 after 54 consecutive games.

Carrazzo fractured his forearm during an intraclub practice match in the 2009 preseason, missing the first four games of the AFL season. He played two games with the Northern Bullants to regain match fitness, and was as dominant as he had been in 2006, amassing 41 disposals against Bendigo and 55 disposals against Box Hill, before being returned to the AFL seniors for round 5. A further injury to his thumb kept him sidelined for another four weeks, before returning to play all remaining games, including Carlton's elimination final loss to Brisbane Lions. Carrazzo played primarily a primarily defensive midfield roles in 2009, as well as playing on medium-sized opposition half-back flankers. He kicked 11 goals from 14 games.

Carrazzo attended De La Salle College Malvern. He is a life-long Carlton supporter, despite spending two seasons with Geelong. He is renowned for his dedication to training and work-ethic[1].

[edit] External links

• Andrew Carrazzo profile on the Official AFL Website of the Carlton Football Club
• Andrew Carrazzo's statistics from AFL Tables
• Andrew Carrazzo Profile in Blueseum
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