fullname heightweight years birth_place article_title position statsend originalteam birth_date guernsey image draftpick name
brendan whitecross 184cm / 86 & nbsp ; kg 2009 -- australia brendan whitecross
 defender 2014 zillmere eagles 25 january 1990 11 whitecross.jpg 29th overall , 2007 brendan whitecross
brendan whitecross

brendan whitecross -lrb- born 25 january 1990 -rrb- is an australian rules footballer in the australian football league -lrb- afl -rrb- with the hawthorn football club .
he is an all round sportsman having represented his state in athletics and is an accomplished cricketer , cross country runner , rugby union player and swimmer and captained his schools st patrick 's college , shorncliffe , brisbane athletics squad .
whitecross started his football life at the kedron districts junior football club in brisbane , queensland playing there for 11 seasons before moving on to the zillmere eagles to commence his senior career .
he represented queensland in under 12s -lrb- 2002 -rrb- , under 16s -lrb- 2005 -- 2006 -rrb- , captaining the team in 2006 and in under 18s in 2007 .
he was selected to the ais/afl academy and traveled with the australian under 17 team to south africa in 2007 .
taken by with their second round draft pick in 2007 , whitecross spent the entire 2008 season in the vfl developing his craft with hawthorn affiliate box hill .
whitecross debuted in the round 1 grand final replay against .
on 14 june 2009 , whitecross re-signed with hawthorn football club for two more seasons .
whitecross closed an outstanding 2009 season at hawthorn by winning the club 's 2009 `` most improved player '' award .
he polled 31 votes to finish 19th in the best and fairest vote-count .
by 2011 , whitecross had cemented his place in the hawthorn line-up .
it was his ability to apply pressure , to find the ball , present as a link up option going forward and uncanny goal sense that immediately made him a dangerous player .
his sure hands enabled him to become an important link man as the hawks moved the ball from the middle to the forward line .
whitecross ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against collingwood in the 2012 qualifying final , requiring a reconstruction .
whitecross again ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against in the 2013 preliminary final .
hawthorn went on to win the game breaking an 11 game losing streak to geelong since 2008 .
his injury meant he missed the 2013 afl grand final and all of the 2014 afl season .
