Justin Crawford (Australian footballer)

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer (1977–2022)}}

{{Distinguish|Justin Crawford (American football)|Justin Crawford (baseball)}}

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Justin Crawford

| image =

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1977|3|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Finley, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|07|21|1977|03|20|df=y}}

| death_place =

| originalteam = Tocumwal

| draftpick = Zone selection, 1994 AFL draft

| height = 181 cm

| weight = 82 kg

| position =

| statsend = 1998

| years1 = 1995–1996

| club1 = Sydney

| games_goals1 = 17 (11)

| years2 = 1997–1998

| club2 = Hawthorn

| games_goals2 = 29 (21)

| games_goalstotal = 46 (32)

| careerhighlights =

• AFL Rising Star nominee: 1995

}}

Justin Crawford (20 March 1977 – 21 July 2022) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Sydney and Hawthorn in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s.

Crawford, the younger brother of Brownlow Medal winner Shane, was recruited from Tocumwal in the Murray Football League by Sydney as a zone selection. He was just 18 when he made his debut in 1995{{cite book|last1=Holmesby|first1=Russell|last2=Main|first2=Jim|title=The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers| publisher=BAS Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-920910-78-5}} and earned an AFL Rising Star nomination for a 26-disposal and two-goal game against Fitzroy. An on-baller, Crawford took part in Sydney's qualifying final win over Hawthorn in 1996 but had just seven disposals and was dropped for the preliminary final to make way for Tony Lockett's return.{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Justin_Crawford.html| title=Justin Crawford| publisher=AFL Tables}}

He joined his brother at Hawthorn in 1997 after being traded for David McEwan and the 17th selection of the 1996 AFL draft, which was used on Rowan Warfe. Playing mostly as a forward, Crawford played 15 games in 1997 and was fined $1000 over an incident at Crown Casino, in which he urinated under a gambling table.Sydney Morning Herald, "AFL star splashes out at casino ", 25 July 1997, Edited by Michael Koslowski{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/123050791/|title=Footballer fined $1000 for urinating in casino|date=26 July 1997|work=The Age|page=8|accessdate=12 October 2016}} He retired from the AFL at the end of the 1998 season, aged just 21.

He resurfaced in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) to play with South Fremantle and was part of the club's premiership in 2005 but left the club at the end of that year.