Richelle Cranston

Richelle Cranston
Cranston playing for Melbourne in January 2018
Cranston in February 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s) Rocky
Date of birth (1989-09-25) 25 September 1989 (age 35)
Original team(s) Geelong (VWFL)
Draft No. 24, 2016 AFL Women's draft
Debut Round 1, 2017, Melbourne vs. Brisbane, at Casey Fields
Height 171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2018 Melbourne 13 0(6)
2019–2021 Geelong 21 (11)
2022 (S6)–2023 Western Bulldogs 26 (14)
Total 60 (31)
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Richelle Cranston (born 28 September 1989) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women's (AFLW).

Early life

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Cranston grew up in New Zealand and then Maryborough, Victoria[1] to New Zealand parents. She has Maori heritage and grew up playing American Football.[2][3]

She did not begin playing Australian Football until year 12. In 2011 she started with the North Ballarat Football Club and won the Kate Lawrence Medal in 2011 and 2012.[4] She kicked 39 goals in her second season with the club playing at full forward. Cranston went on to represent Vic Country in 2014.

Cranston played senior gridiron with the Geelong Buccaneers as a fullback and tailback. She was the MVP for Gridiron Victoria in 2015[5] and was part of the team's back to back Vic Bowl sides and was their most valuable player in 2016. She also represented Victoria in the state's first ever representative women's team and made national selection.[6]

She also played at North Geelong Football Club and later the Western Bulldogs team from 2016/17 during the trial matches prior to the commencement of the AFLW.

AFLW career

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Cranston was drafted by Melbourne with their third selection and twenty-fourth overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft.[7] She made her debut in the fifteen-point loss to Brisbane at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 season.[8] She was suspended for one match after her debut match due to front on contact with Brisbane's Jamie Stanton.[9] After returning from suspension, she played every match for the year to finish with six games.[10]

Melbourne signed Cranston for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[11]

Cranston playing for Geelong, February 2019

In May 2018 Cranston accepted an offer from expansion club Geelong to play with the club in the 2019 AFLW season.[12] Cranston also played for Geelong's VFL Women's team for the 2018 season, and she won the club's 2018 best and fairest award.[13]

In June 2021, Cranston was delisted by Geelong.[14] A fortnight later, she was signed by the Western Bulldogs as a delisted free agent.[15] She kept her preferred number of #30 as her guernsey number.[16]

She retired at the end of the 2023 season, having played 60 AFLW games and scored 31 goals.[17]

Statistics

[edit]
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.[18]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Melbourne 30 6 1 3 25 19 44 9 18 0.2 0.5 4.2 3.2 7.3 1.5 3.0 0
2018 Melbourne 30 7 5 4 51 19 70 17 26 0.7 0.6 7.3 2.7 10.0 2.4 3.7 4
2019 Geelong 30 6 1 3 62 32 94 13 27 0.2 0.5 10.3 5.3 15.7 2.2 4.5 3
2020 Geelong 30 6 5 4 46 37 83 12 16 0.8 0.7 7.7 6.2 13.8 2.0 2.7 2
2021 Geelong 30 9 5 2 47 16 63 12 17 0.6 0.2 5.2 1.8 7.0 1.3 1.9 0
2022 (S6) Western Bulldogs 30 10 5 1 51 27 78 18 28 0.5 0.1 5.1 2.7 7.8 1.8 2.8 0
2022 (S7) Western Bulldogs 30 11 7 7 61 24 85 28 24 0.6 0.6 5.5 2.2 7.7 2.5 2.2 0
2023 Western Bulldogs 30 5 2 2 13 8 21 5 4 0.4 0.4 2.6 1.6 4.2 1.0 0.8 0
Career[19] 60 31 26 356 182 538 114 160 0.5 0.4 5.9 3.0 9.0 1.9 2.7 9

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Football on the farm Richelle 'Rocky' Cranston grew up with a football in her hands By Peter Hanlon. Oct 16, 2018]
  2. ^ 2015 Women’s Season Awards
  3. ^ ""Rocky Cranston's Journey to Become the Face of Geelong's AFLW team has been a long and remarkable one"".
  4. ^ Victorian Women's Football League Best and Fairest
  5. ^ 2015 Women’s Season Awards
  6. ^ Geelong Buccaneers Womens Champs & season awards
  7. ^ Burgan, Matt (12 October 2016). "No.24: Richelle 'Rocky' Cranston". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  8. ^ Australian Associated Press (3 February 2017). "AFLW: All the round one teams". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  9. ^ Wood, Lauren (6 February 2017). "Match review panel hands out first AFLW suspensions". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Richelle Cranston". AustralianFootball.com. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  11. ^ "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  12. ^ Black, Sarah (11 May 2018). "AFLW: Roos, Cats start list builds ahead of '19". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  13. ^ "2019 VFL Women's Media Guide" (PDF). VFL.
  14. ^ "AFLW: Cats Make Three Changes to List". Geelong. Telstra. 9 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Cranston lands at the Kennel". Western Bulldogs Media. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  16. ^ "2022 AFLW playing numbers: who's wearing what and why?". westernbulldogs.com.au. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Who's hanging up the boots? Your club's retiring players". AFL Women's. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Richelle Cranston". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  19. ^ Richelle Cranston at AustralianFootball.com
[edit]
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