Heritier O'Brien

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Heritier O'Brien**
Personal information

Birth	November 15, 1986 (1986-11-15) (age 21), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Recruited from	Claremont Football Club (WAFL)
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 18, July 31, 2005, Collingwood vs. Fremantle, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Team(s)	Collingwood (2005-) 36 games, 1 goal
¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season
Career highlights

Heritier "Harry" O'Brien (born November 15, 1986) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League

He was born to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father in Rio de Janeiro, and moved to Western Australia when he was 3 years old.^[1] However he was raised by his Australian step-father and only years ago found out about his biological father^{[citation needed]}. He supported the Essendon Bombers as a child, with his family owning a pet dog named Sheedy after the long-time Essendon coach, Kevin Sheedy.

The 187 cm O'Brien, who has played most of his football as a medium defender (in the style of James Clement), has the distinction of being the first Brazilian-born player in the Australian Football League. He was picked up with pick 21 in the 2004 AFL Rookie Draft by Collingwood, and made his debut in Round 18 of 2005 against Fremantle at the MCG. He kicked a great goal against the Kangaroos shortly after his debut, and did enough to be retained on the rookie list. In 2006 Harry showed brilliant improvement and showed his ability to keep his feet in contests.

He was elevated to the senior list again during the year, this time due to the absence of Sean Rusling, O'Brien would play 9 games.

Coach Mick Malthouse at one point in an interview challenged the AFL's rules on rookies in response to not being able to permanently play O'Brien in the seniors on the basis of his excellent form.

He was elevated to the senior list for season 2007.

In 2007 he was noted for keeping Scott Lucas, Nick Riewoldt and Cameron Mooney goalless even though he was undersized for a key defender.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.