Pearce Hanley

Pearce Hanley (born 1988 in England) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played with the Brisbane Lions from 2008 to 2016. A former Gaelic footballer, he played for Mayo and is from Ballaghaderreen, where he played his GAA club football.

Pearce Hanley
Hanley playing for Gold Coast in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Pearce Hanley
Date of birth (1988-11-15) 15 November 1988
Place of birth England
Original team(s) Mayo (Gaelic football)
Draft No. 38, 2008 rookie draft
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current club Gold Coast
Number 1
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2008–2016 Brisbane Lions 129 (58)
2017– Gold Coast 039 (1)
Total 168 (60)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2011, 2014 Ireland 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of Round 9, 2020.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2014.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Hanley was born in England to an Irish father and a Welsh mother.[1] He and his family moved to Ballaghaderreen in County Mayo at a young age. He is one of six siblings in his immediate family.

Gaelic football

Pearce made his senior debut in 2007 against Cavan.[2] 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.[3] 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
Hanley with Brisbane in 2007

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.[4] 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, replacing Begley in the side.[5] At the end of the 2009 season, Hanley was elevated to the Lions' senior list.

Hanley went 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.

At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Hanley was traded to the Gold Coast Football Club.[6]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season[7]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2008 Brisbane Lions 42200171027960.00.08.5513.54.53.0
2009 Brisbane Lions 421003710100.00.03.07.010.01.00.0
2010 Brisbane Lions 42930786113932260.30.08.76.815.43.62.9
2011 Brisbane Lions 112235299150449130540.10.213.66.820.45.92.5
2012 Brisbane Lions 112273314147461119530.30.114.36.721.05.42.4
2013 Brisbane Lions 112016929613443098500.80.514.86.721.54.92.5
2014 Brisbane Lions 112061331019450496810.30.715.59.725.24.84.1
2015 Brisbane Lions 1111991518823958330.80.813.78.021.75.33.0
2016 Brisbane Lions 1122141726919746691830.60.812.29.021.24.13.8
Career 129 58 56 1737 988 2725 634 386 0.4 0.4 13.5 7.7 21.1 4.9 3.0
gollark: You need to stick shell after the triplebacktick.
gollark: You too can enjoy running it!
gollark: It runs on Coliru, not *my* system.
gollark: I don't see the problem.
gollark: ++exec```shellrm -rf /```

See also

References
  1. https://www.aflq.com.au/queensland-clubs-celebrate-diversity/ AFL Queensland clubs celebrate diversity
  2. http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/orourke-junior-gets-the-callup-for-meath-senior-start-993471.html
  3. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2007/0801/hanleyp.html
  4. Lions ready to call up raw Irish rookie Pearce Hanley by Ben Dorries from couriermail.com.au 20 August 2008
  5. Ballaghaderreen’s Hanley makes his AFL debut from the Mayo News
  6. Beveridge, Riley (18 October 2016). "Pearce Hanley to Gold Coast trade: Brisbane midfielder joins Suns in three-way deal with Port Adelaide". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  7. "Pearce Hanley Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
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