| Bryan Strauchan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Peter Helliar as Bryan Strauchan in 2008 |
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| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Bryan Keith Strauchan | ||
| Date of birth | 1984 (age 27–28) | ||
| Place of birth | Horsham, Victoria | ||
| Original team | Horsham Reserves | ||
| Draft | Final Pick National Draft 2004 | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Collingwood | ||
| Number | 59 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2004 – 2009 | Collingwood | 0 (0) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2007 – | Victoria (EJ Whitten Legends Game) | 4 (8) | |
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1 Playing statistics to end of 2009 season .
2 State and International statistics correct as of 2008.
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| Career highlights | |||
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Fictional Highlights
Real-Life Highlights
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Bryan Keith Strauchan (pronounced: "Strawn"), better known as "Strauchanie", is a fictional Australian rules football player, portrayed by Peter Helliar, who first appeared during short sketches on Before the Game.
Strauchanie is represented as a talentless, overweight bogan, oblivious to his own lack of ability, who fictionally occupied a position on the Collingwood Football Club's playing list, until he announced his retirement in early April 2009 on Triple M, where Helliar works. Helliar wears a recognisable blond mullet wig in his portrayal of Strauchan.
Through his regular segment on Before the Game, Strauchanie became a popular character for his combination of country football stereotypes and jokes about contemporary issues in the AFL. Helliar has since made celebrity appearances in character as Strauchan, often performing in charity sports events.
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Bryan Strauchan was born in 1984 to Roy and Soy Bean Strauchan in the country town of Horsham, Victoria. He is of Asian descent through his maternal parentage, although his appearance shows no physical Asian traits.
He played his formative years of football in Horsham, reaching no higher than the reserves; nevertheless, he was selected by the Collingwood Football Club with the last pick in the 2004 National Draft. Strauchan's progress has been hampered by weight issues, lack of speed and skills that require considerable work. He wears guernsey #59, indicative of his mediocrity (AFL players seldom retain numbers higher than 40 longer than their junior years and almost never wear numbers higher than 50). He never made his AFL debut, however former Collingwood Coach Mick Malthouse had hinted that promotion may have be around the corner. Strauchan was purportedly named in the senior team for the Collingwood vs. Sydney game in 2005 but locked himself in the stairwell by accident, subsequently missing the game. He also has his own AFL footy card which describes all of his mediocre abilities.
Strauchan has been involved in a fictional relationship with real-life boundary rider Christi Malthouse, although incidences of infidelity are frequent. He suffers from a severe peanut allergy. He has claimed that the reason he was not selected for play is that selectors are biased against Asians, but he was selected as Captain in the fictional Asian Team of the Century.
He was man of the match in the 2009 EJ Whitten Legend's Game after kicking three goals. Although late in the match Strauchan injured his ankle after a tackle (although it appeared to be a joke at first, Helliar did actually injure his ankle severely), putting the rest of his career in doubt.
Strauchan is a recurring character on the show Before the Game, which features regular 2-5 minute segments about the goings-on in Strauchan's life. Collingwood Football Club personalities, including coach Mick Malthouse, president Eddie McGuire and various senior players, have appeared and co-operated with sketches which pretend to place Strauchan inside the real-life workings of the club.
Additionally, Peter Hellier has made celebrity appearances as Bryan Strauchan on several occasions in both the media and in sports. These include:
Fictional Highlights
Real-Life Highlights
Helliar is releasing a Strauchan autobiography Bryan Strauchan - my story: the rise and rise of a genuine superstar of Australian sport. In it, Strauchan talks about his Horsham days, playing for Collingwood, and being Chinese. Helliar, as Strauchan, released the autobiography in front of a packed media conference at Collingwood's headquarters, the Lexus Centre, with Nathan Buckley helping promote it.
A DVD featuring all of Strauchan's mini clips was released in 2006 in Australia. This DVD is titled as "Strauchanie - Pure B.S.". This is a play on words, as the "B.S." in the title can refer both to Strauchan's initials and also to the word "bullshit".