Michael Gardiner

#15 - Michael Gardiner - St Kilda FC
Personal information
Birth	5 July 1979 (1979-07-05) (age 30), Albany, Western Australia
Recruited from	Claremont Football Club (WAFL)
Height and weight	199cm / 103kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 4, 1997, West Coast Eagles vs. Hawthorn, at Subiaco Oval, Perth
Team(s)	St Kilda Football Club 2007 - 29 games, 13 goals West Coast Eagles 1997 - 2006 129 games, 87 goals In Total 158 games, 100 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2009 season
Career highlights
St Kilda Minor Premiership side 2009 St Kilda AFL Cup Winning Side 2008 All-Australian Team 2003

Michael Gardiner (born 5 July 1979) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League playing with the St Kilda Football Club.

[edit] Early life

Born in Albany Western Australia, Gardiner played junior football for the Royals Football Club^[1] before heading to Perth Western Australia to play for Claremont Football Club in the WAFL.

[edit] AFL career

Gardiner was the number 1 draft pick in the 1996 National Draft.

Gardiner debuted in 1997 at only 17 years of age.

There were big wraps on Gardiner as an emerging ruckman/forward. He did not disappoint, winning a Rising Star nomination in 1997 and All Australian selection in 2003. However, he was then limited by chronic knee injuries, and played 18 games in the next three seasons with the Eagles with Dean Cox becoming the leading ruckman in the AFL competition.

[edit] Off field controversies at West Coast

In May 2005, Gardiner and then West Coast team mate Ben Cousins were criticised for involvement with a group of alleged Perth underworld figures. According to allegations the two Eagles players received phone calls from gangland figures both before and after a stabbing and shooting at the Metro City nightclub. Police questioned Cousins and Gardiner about the incident but they refused to aid the inquiries. The club told the pair that they were on their "last warning" and that their off field behaviour would not be tolerated.^[2]

Gardiner's off field lifestyle was often seen as detrimental to the West Coast playing group, and in February 2006, in the midst of the Ben Cousins booze bus incident, he was dropped to the Western Australian Football League side Claremont indefinitely on grounds of poor performance and poor off field behaviour.

On 18 July 2006, Gardiner's playing contract was suspended indefinitely and he was fined $5,000^[1] following his involvement in a traffic accident in the Perth suburb of Scarborough. While he escaped the accident with only minor injuries, West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said that it was highly unlikely the club would renew his contract at the end of the year.

Gardiner has had no further problems known of since moving to Melbourne.

[edit] St Kilda Player 2007

After the 2006 season, the Eagles traded Michael to St Kilda with a swap of third round draft picks (No. 43 for No. 59).

[edit] 2008 Season

Gardiner played in St Kilda’s 2008 AFL National Australia Bank Cup winning side - St Kilda Football Club’s 3rd AFL Cup Win.^[3][4]

[edit] 2009 Season

Gardiner (left) running laps with Steven King at training prior to the 2009 AFL Grand Final

In the 2009 season, Gardiner has become one of the stories of the year. He has became an important part of the St Kilda side, who were undefeated until their round 20 loss to Essendon. He is the Saints' #1 ruckman and also drifts down forward time to time, where he has kicked multiple goals. One of the highlights was in Round 14 when the Saints met Geelong at Etihad Stadium. Gardiner kicked 4 goals, including a pack mark that allowed him to kick the match winner with just seconds remaining.

Gardiner played in 16 of 22 matches in the 2009 AFL Premiership Season Home & Away Rounds where the St Kilda Football Club qualified in first position for the 2009 AFL Finals Series, winning the club’s 3rd Minor Premiership.^[5]

St Kilda won direct qualification through to the 2009 AFL Grand Final after Qualifying & Preliminary Final wins. Gardiner played in the 2009 AFL Grand Final where St Kilda was defeated by 12 points.

As of the end of the 2009 AFL Premiership Season, Gardiner had played in 12 AFL Finals Series matches - including 2 AFL Grand Finals - and 1 AFL Cup Final.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St Kilda Football Club

• Michael Gardiner profile on the Official AFL Website of the St Kilda Football Club
• Michael Gardiner's statistics from AFL Tables

[edit] See also

• List of Australian rules football incidents