Shane Crawford’s Dancing With The Stars Inspiration

AFL legend Shane Crawford is back on the small screen, this time joining the cast of Dancing with the Stars.

After years of keeping fans entertained on Channel Nine’s The Footy Show and exploring various entertainment ventures, Crawford has decided it’s time to waltz his way back into the limelight.

The football icon, who won the prestigious Brownlow Medal in 1999 and captained Hawthorn from 1999 to 2004, is eager to set an example for his four sons, Charlie, Ben, and twins Jack and Harry.

‘It’s funny because my boys have never seen me play footy ever,’ Crawford told the Herald Sun.

‘They know I was a famous footballer back in the day, that’s what I did for a living. Last thing they saw me doing was a musical dressed as a character playing a King,’ he said, referring to his stint in the musical Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

‘I don’t know what they say to their friends their dad does…All I want with them is they go, “do you know what, Dad had a try” and hopefully that flows into whatever they want to do with their lives,’ Crawford added.

He said he wants his children to learn they can ‘try and fail at different things’ as long as they give it a go.

Since hanging up his boots in 2008 after a total of 305 games and a premiership-winning year, Crawford has enjoyed a successful media career, including a long stint on The Footy Show.

AFL legend Shane Crawford is back on the small screen, this time joining the cast of Dancing with the Stars

In 2022, he made his musical theatre debut after landing the lead role of Pharaoh in the hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat.

The AFL great will make his Dancing With the Stars debut alongside professional dancer Ash-Leigh Hunter on Sunday night.

Crawford is joined by a cast that includes four-time Gold Logie winner Lisa McCune, model Nadia Bartel and singer Samantha Jade.

The football icon, who won the prestigious Brownlow Medal in 1999 and captained Hawthorn from 1999 to 2004, is eager to set an example for his four sons, Charlie, Ben, and twins Jack and Harry 

SAS Australia’s Ant Middleton, Masterchef favourite Julie Goodwin and Olympian and former senator Nova Peris will also be strutting their stuff.

Rounding out this year’s competitors are comedian Nikki Osborne, Home and Away’s James Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens presenter Adam Dovile and chef Hayden Quinn.

 Dancing With The Stars continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Seven and 7Plus. 

‘All I want with them is to go, “do you know what, Dad had a try” and hopefully that flows into whatever they want to do with their lives,’ Crawford told the Herald Sun. Pictured Shane in musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat