| Toby McGrath | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Toby Jason McGrath | ||
| Born | (1980-10-11)11 October 1980 (age 45) Northam,Western Australia | ||
| Original team | Kent Districts | ||
| Draft | No. 12,2000 Rookie Draft,West Coast No. 57,2002 Rookie Draft,Essendon | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) | ||
| Positions | Midfield, half-back flanker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | South Fremantle | ||
| Number | 39 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1998–2001; 2004–12 | South Fremantle | 234 (107) | |
| 2000–01 | West Coast | 0 (0) | |
| 2002 | Essendon (VFL) | 12 (0) | |
| 2003 | Bendigo Bombers | 15 (?) | |
| Total | 261 (107+) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2000; 2004–05; 2008–10 | WAFL | 6 (1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of Round 22, 2011. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
Toby Jason McGrath (born 11 October 1980) is anAustralian rules footballer who played forSouth Fremantle in theWest Australian Football League (WAFL). He wasrookie-listed with both theWest Coast Eagles andEssendon in theAustralian Football League (AFL), but did not play a game for either club.
McGrath was born inNortham,Western Australia. He has three brothers: Bradley,Cory andAshley McGrath. Cory and Ashley both played in the AFL, forCarlton and theBrisbane Lions respectively. McGrath played junior football inKatanning before being recruited toSouth Fremantle in the WAFL, where he made his debut 1998.
McGrath had a brief taste of the professionalAustralian Football League, when he was recruited fromSouth Fremantle to theWest Coast Eagles’rookie list. He was delisted after spending a year on their list without playing a game. He was then given another chance by theEssendon Football Club in 2002 & 2003, where he played with his brotherCory, although again did not manage to make his senior debut.
He won the South Fremantle Football Club's Best & Fairest Awardin 2004 andin 2005 he won both theSandover, the WAFL’s prestigious best player award andSimpson Medal for the Best player in the Grand Final and was a member of South Fremantle’s premiership winning side. He represented WA on six occasions in 2000, 2004 and 2005, and was captain of the 2008 WA side that defeated Queensland in Townsville, 2009 and 2010.
In 2008 he was appointed captain of South Fremantle and played his 150th game for the Bulldogs while also winning his second Best & Fairest award.[1] In 2009, he played in his fifth WAFL Grand Final[2] and captained South Fremantle to the WAFL premiership, his second after being a member of the 2005 team.[3] He played his 200th game for South Fremantle in the final round ofthe 2010 season. In 2011 Toby McGrath was named in South Fremantle’s Indigenous Team of The Century and he in 2012 was included in the WAFL’s Best 25 players of the Last 25 Years. He was inducted into the South Fremantle Hall of Fame in 2022 and is recognised as one of the WAFLs most decorated players.[4]
McGrath is employed as a firefighter with theFire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia.[5] He has three brothers, Cory andAshley who have both played in the AFL and Bradley. West Coast Eagles premiership player Mark Lecras,Marty McGrath andDion Woods, who played for Richmond and Fremantle respectively, are all cousins.[6]
