Justin Crawford is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Sydney

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 and Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

 in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (AFL) during the 1990s.

Crawford, the younger brother of Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 winner Shane

Shane Crawford

Shane Barry Crawford is a former Australian rules footballer, having played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League...

, was recruited from Tocumwal by Sydney as a zone selection. He was just 18 when he made his debut in 1995 and earned an AFL Rising Star

1995 AFL Rising Star

The AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a standout young player in the Australian Football League. The award is also known as the Norwich Rising Star due to sponsorship reasons. The 1995 medal was won by Hawthorn Hawks player Nick Holland....

 nomination for a 26 disposal and two goal game against Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

. An on-baller, Crawford took part in Sydney's qualifying final win over Hawthorn in 1996 but had just seven disposals and was dropped for the preliminary final

Preliminary finals

Preliminary final is an Australian term referring to a game in a knockout tournament or bracket whose winner progresses to the final or championship game...

 for make way for Tony Lockett

Tony Lockett

Anthony Howard "Tony" Lockett is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games, that commenced in 1983 with the St Kilda Football Club, and finished in 2002 with the Sydney Swans...

's return.

He joined his brother at Hawthorn in 1997 after being traded for David McEwan and the 17th selection of the 1996 AFL Draft

1996 AFL Draft

The 1996 AFL Draft was held at the conclusion of the 1996 Australian Football League season.The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.Clubs receive picks based...

, used on Rowan Warfe

Rowan Warfe

Rowan Warfe is a former Australian rules footballer who played for both the Sydney Swans and Fitzroy Lions.Warfe, a former Bendigo Under-18s player, made 26 appearances for Fitzroy before moving north to join the Sydney Swans. Plagued by injury, the defender appeared 84 times for the Swans over 8...

. Playing mostly as a forward, Crawford put together 15 games in 1997 and made headlines during the year when he was fined for urinating under a gambling table at the Crown Casino. He retired from the AFL at the end of the 1998 season, aged just 21.