Chris Groom

Career

Born in Adelaide, Groom had a very successful junior career for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club South Adelaide, including playing in the 1990 under-17 premiership and the 1991 reserves premiership.

Following Adelaide's entry into the Australian Football League, they recruited Groom as one of the 8 South Australian players they could recruit prior to the 1992 AFL draft.

Groom made his senior SANFL debut for South Adelaide aged 18 in Round 1, 1992, against Glenelg, kicking 5 goals. He finished the year with 42 goals from 25 games, helping South Adelaide make the finals.

In 1993, Groom made his AFL debut in round 1 against , kicking 2 goals. After being plagued by illness and injury he was traded to Fremantle for the 1995 season and played in Fremantle's first ever game, kicking 3 goals. In exchange for Groom, Fremantle traded the rights to Andrew McLeod to Adelaide, a move for which Fremantle have been roundly criticised, as a result of McLeod's glittering career when compared to Groom's.

Despite kicking 18 goals in 7 games for Fremantle, Groom was surprisingly dropped 4 times. When not selected he played for West Perth, kicking 70 goals in 14 games including 5 goals in their premiership win over Subiaco.

After being delisted by Fremantle at the end of the 1995 season, he was selected by North Melbourne in the 1995 AFL draft. However a week before the 1996 season started, he sustained a knee injury requiring a total knee reconstruction. Unfortunately 5 months later the same knee buckled again and a second reconstruction was required; this in a season which saw North Melbourne take out both the reserves and senior premiership.

He returned to play senior football with North Melbourne at the end of the 1997 season and was a member of the 1998 Ansett Australia Cup winning team. He retired from AFL football at the end of 1998 due to injuries but went on to play in lower level leagues. He firstly played for the West Preston Lakeside Football Club in the Diamond Valley League, and then the Melbourne University Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).

In 2011, he came out of retirement to play three games for the Chicago United Football Club in the Mid American Australian League 2011 Madison Invitational Tournament. He played in games against the Milwaukee Bombers, Minnesota Freeze, and Cincinnati Dockers, finishing with 10 goals and at least 10 behinds, helping Chicago United to a 2-1 record and 3rd-place finish.

References

References

1. [[Graham Cornes. Cornes, Graham]]; [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24151050-12428,00.html My guilt over Andrew McLeod]; AdelaideNow; 9 August 2008
2. link. (26 July 2008)
3. [http://www.milwaukeebombers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=89 2011 Madison Tournament]
4. [http://www.chicagofooty.com/2011/06/madison-tournament-results/ 2011 Madison Tournament Chicago Results] {{webarchive. link. (28 July 2011)