Pearce Hanley

Pearce Hanley

Pearce Hanley at a Brisbane Lions public training session in 2007
Personal information
Full namePearce Hanley
Date of birth15 November 1988
Place of birthIreland
Original teamMayo (Gaelic football)
Draft#38, 2008 Rookie Draft, Brisbane Lions
#95 (RP), 2009 National Draft, Brisbane Lions
Height/Weight185cm / 85kg
Position(s)Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current clubBrisbane Lions
Number11
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2008–Brisbane Lions96 (35)
International team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
Ireland2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of Round 23, 2014 season.
Career highlights

Marcus Ashcroft Medal Rd 18, 2014

Pearce Hanley (born 1988 in Ireland) is an Australian rules footballer playing with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). A former Gaelic footballer, he played for Mayo and Ballaghaderreen GAA club.

Gaelic football

Pearce made his senior debut in 2007 against Cavan.[1] Hanley had previously won the Ron Barassi Medal for the best player of the International Rules Series for the Irish U-17 international rules team against Australia in 2005.[2] It was there that he was first scouted by recruiters from Australia and he was targeted for recruitment by the Brisbane Lions as being a potential AFL player.

Australian rules football

In 2007, Pearce was signed by the Brisbane Lions, and put on the rookie list with a view of converting him to Australian rules football.[3] At the Lions, he was mentored by fellow Irishman Colm Begley who had previously played with the club for a season. Hanley made rapid progress and his adaptation to Australian football was almost as rapid as Begley's. He impressed in an early intra-club hit-out and was a solid performer for the Suncoast Lions.

Called up by coach Leigh Matthews, he made his debut in the final Lions home match in 2008 against the Carlton Football Club in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, ironically replacing Begley in the side.[4] At the end of the 2009 season, Hanley was elevated to the lions senior list.

Hanley has since gone on to become an integral part of the Lions' side as a highly damaging rebound defender. In Round 18, 2014 in QClash8 Hanley amassed a whopping 44 touches and won the Marcus Ashcroft Medal.

See also

References

External links