Pearce Hanley

 ( 1988 Births ) 

Pearce Hanley (born 1988 in England) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 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 , he played for the Mayo county team and is from Ballaghaderreen, where he played his club football.

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Early life Hanley was born in England to an Irish people father and a Welsh people mother. He and his family moved to Ballaghaderreen in County Roscommon at a young age. He is one of six siblings in his immediate family.

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Gaelic football Pearce made his senior debut in 2007 against Cavan. 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. 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.

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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. Lions ready to call up raw Irish rookie Pearce Hanley by Ben Dorries from couriermail.com.au 20 August 2008 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. Ballaghaderreen’s Hanley makes his AFL debut from the Mayo News 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 QClash 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.

In September 2020, Hanley announced his retirement from AFL, effective immediately.

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Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2008 | | 42 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 17 || 10 || 27 || 9 || 6 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.5 || 5 || 13.5 || 4.5 || 3.0 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2009 | | 42 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 7 || 10 || 1 || 0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 3.0 || 7.0 || 10.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2010 | | 42 || 9 || 3 || 0 || 78 || 61 || 139 || 32 || 26 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 8.7 || 6.8 || 15.4 || 3.6 || 2.9 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2011 | | 11 || 22 || 3 || 5 || 299 || 150 || 449 || 130 || 54 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 13.6 || 6.8 || 20.4 || 5.9 || 2.5 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2012 | | 11 || 22 || 7 || 3 || 314 || 147 || 461 || 119 || 53 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 14.3 || 6.7 || 21.0 || 5.4 || 2.4 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2013 | | 11 || 20 || 16 || 9 || 296 || 134 || 430 || 98 || 50 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 14.8 || 6.7 || 21.5 || 4.9 || 2.5 |- style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2014 | | 11 || 20 || 6 || 13 || 310 || 194 || 504 || 96 || 81 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 15.5 || 9.7 || 25.2 || 4.8 || 4.1 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2015 | | 11 || 11 || 9 || 9 || 151 || 88 || 239 || 58 || 33 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 13.7 || 8.0 || 21.7 || 5.3 || 3.0 |- style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2016 | | 11 || 22 || 14 || 17 || 269 || 197 || 466 || 91 || 83 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 12.2 || 9.0 || 21.2 || 4.1 || 3.8 |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3| Career ! 129 ! 58 ! 56 ! 1737 ! 988 ! 2725 ! 634 ! 386 ! 0.4 ! 0.4 ! 13.5 ! 7.7 ! 21.1 ! 4.9 ! 3.0 |}

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See also

• Irish experiment
• List of players who have converted from one football code to another

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External links

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