Andrew Raines (born 8 March 1986) is an Australian rules footballer, with the Brisbane Lions Football Club. He is the son of Geoff Raines, a premiership centreman who played for Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon and Brisbane.

Raines was drafted in 2003 AFL Draft at the late pick of 76. The selection was questioned by some at the time, with suggestions that if Andrew had not been the son of former Richmond premiership great Geoff Raines, that Richmond would not have drafted him. Still he was a very young player (only eligible for the draft by 8 weeks) and had shown potential playing under-18 football for the Southport Sharks, however having a very small body frame he was considered a long-term prospect.

Raines made his debut for Richmond in the final game of the 2004 season, gathering 9 disposals and 4 marks. He then played six matches for Richmond in the 2005 season, averaging 10 disposals.

In 2006, Raines became one of Richmond's most consistent performers, playing in all 22 games and averaging 18 disposals. He finished second in both the 2006 AFL Rising Star award and Richmond's best and fairest, the Jack Dyer Medal.^[1] Raines played on some of the competitions best small and medium forwards, and came to prominence when he restricted dual All-Australian and Brownlow Medal winner Mark Ricciuto to only 4 disposals and 1 goal.^[2] He represented Australia in the 2006 International Rules series against Ireland.

In 2006, Raines signed a three-year deal with Richmond until the end of the 2009 season. However, after playing every game in 2006 and 2007, he only played a total of five games during the 2008 and 2009 seasons due to injuries and poor form. Raines requested to leave Richmond at the end of the 2009 season, and was traded to the Brisbane Lions in 2010 in exchange for a third-round draft pick (#44 overall).^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Andrew Raines profile on the Official AFL Website of the Richmond Football Club
• Andrew Raines's statistics from AFL Tables