Hawthorn Football Club would like to congratulate Grant Birchall on an outstanding career after the four-time premiership Hawk announced his retirement on Friday.
Taken by the Hawks with Pick 14 in the 2005 national draft, Birchall went on to play 248 games in the brown and gold and prove a vital cog in one of the club's most successful eras.
At the end of the 2019 season, his 14th campaign with the Hawks, Birchall made the move north to continue his career with the Brisbane Lions.
Premiership Hawk returns to Waverley Park to take up a spot in the coaching ranks
Having managed just eight games in his final three years as a Hawk, the defender was able to overcome the injury troubles that had cruelled him towards the back end of his time at Waverley to add another 39 games as a Lion over two campaigns.
With his pin-point left-foot kick a hallmark of the Hawks thrilling offensive ball movement throughout those threepeat years, Birchall's game will be remembered as one of supreme skill and football IQ.
He finishes his career with a list of achievements rarely matched by others that have gone before him, with four premierships, an All Australian honour and a place in the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.
