| Peter Bird | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Peter Bird | ||
| Date of birth | 30 January 1976 | ||
| Original team(s) | Geelong U18s | ||
| Draft | 58th, 1994 National Draft | ||
| Height | 176 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1995–1996 | Fitzroy | 15 (7) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1996. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Peter Bird (born 30 January 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Australian Football League (AFL). [1]
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, or simply called Aussie rules, football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval-shaped ball between goal posts or between behind posts.
The Fitzroy Football Club, nicknamed the Lions or the Roys, 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. The club experienced some early success in the league and was the first club to win a VFL Grand Final. It also achieved a total of eight VFL premierships between 1898 and 1944, and more recently three VAFA promotions in 2009, 2012 and 2018.
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.
Bird was selected by Fitzroy with pick 58 of the 1994 National Draft, from the Geelong Falcons. [2]
The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition, Victoria, Australia.
He made twelve appearances in the 1995 AFL season and a further three in 1996. [3] From 1997 to 2002, Bird played for Subiaco, [4] then moved to South Bunbury in the South West Football League.
The 1995 Australian Football League season was the 99th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 6th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.
The 1997 Westar Rules season was the 113th season of senior football in Perth, Western Australia. It featured a number of dramatic changes to a competition whose popularity had been dramatically reduced by the drain of players to the Eagles and Dockers of the AFL. The competition's name was changed from the prosaic ‘West Australian Football League’ to ‘Westar Rules’ in an attempt to update the local competition for a more sophisticated audience. However, this change became regarded as unsuccessful and was reversed as per recommendations of the “Fong Report” after four seasons. West Perth also changed their name to Joondalup to recognise their location in Perth's growing northwestern suburbs, but changed back after the ninth round.
The 2002 WAFL season was the 118th season of the West Australian Football League. It saw East Perth, despite the end of the first host club scheme that was thought to have unfairly favoured the Royals, win their third successive premiership for the first hat-trick in the WA(N)FL since Swan Districts between 1982 and 1984. The Swans themselves had a disastrous season as chronic financial troubles, which had plagued the club for almost a decade were combined with disastrous results on the field. The black and whites were within two points of a winless season in the seniors and did little better in the lower grades.
In 2004, after he had been cleared from the Lions, Bird was involved in a unique controversy when South Bunbury cleared him to Peel Thunder for one game against East Perth in the second round, but the Thunder, desperate after winning only one game in 2003, played him in their opening game with Claremont. [5] After a vote of WAFL clubs, Peel had the 10.10 (70) they scored in that opening game wiped from their total (and Claremont’s Points "Against") for the season on 14 April, thus having officially the lowest score in the WAFL since Subiaco failed to score a single point against South Fremantle in 1906. [6]
The 2004 WAFL season was the 120th season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League.
The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The club joined the WAFL as an expansion team in 1997.
The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Formed in 1902 as the Union Football Club, the club entered the WAFL in 1906, changing its name to East Perth. It won its first premiership in 1919, part of a streak of five consecutive premierships. Overall, the club has won 17 premierships, most recently in 2002. The club is currently based at Leederville Oval, which it shares with the Subiaco Football Club, having previously played home games at Wellington Square and Perth Oval from 1910 to 1999. The current coach of East Perth is Jeremy Barnard and the current captains are Kyle Anderson and Patrick McGinnity.
Bird was to play two seasons with the Thunder before retiring at the end of 2005.
The 2005 WAFL season was the 121st season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. It saw reigning premiers Subiaco’s third consecutive minor premiership, despite the loss of key forward Brad Smith to the West Coast Eagles and knee surgery. Thirty-year-old reserves spearhead Lachlan Oakley proved a perfect replacement and scored eighty goals in his only full season before moving to Victoria and playing with Parkdale Vultures in the VAFA. The Lions were widely tipped to finish the season undefeated with their perceived depth, discipline and motivation, but after suffering only two defeats in the home-and-away season, the Lions collapsed severely in the finals for South Fremantle to claim their first premiership since 1997. The premiership was a wonderful finalé for Toby McGrath, who retired for an army career after the 2004 season, but returned to WA in February and rejoined the Bulldogs to win both the Sandover and Simpson Medals.
