Shane Crawford Biography

Shane Crawford reveals that Sam Mitchell requested that he be part of his Brownlow Medal ceremony.

Crawford will present Mitchell with the 2012 Brownlow Medal.

"I said, absolutely," Crawford told SEN radio.

"The way I look at it, Sam Mitchell has been an unbelievable player. I think he has been an inspirational story. He was doubted early on, and was told he wasn't good enough in a lot of areas.

"To have the career he's had is quite incredible. I'm really looking forward to giving him his Brownlow Medal, which he deserves."

Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin officially become Brownlow medallists after retrospectively receiving the 2012 award in a unique ceremony attended by family and close friends in Melbourne.

Before a crowd of about 100 people, Mitchell was presented with his medal by 1999 winner and former Hawthorn teammate Shane Crawford.

Richmond skipper Cotchin was crowned with the game's highest individual honour by triple Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart.

"It's obviously different, something no one else has really been through, so Trent and I will share something unique for the rest of our lives," Mitchell said.

"I'll enjoy the moment. I've tried to be really humble in the whole thing, and obviously the decisions have been out of our hands so we just went with the flow," Cotchin said.

Hawthorn champion Shane Crawford is inducted into the AFL's Hall of Fame.

"A lot of clubs thought I was too small but Hawthorn gave me an opportunity, and I wasn't going to let it slip," he said.

"My mum Diane taught me that if you want to get anywhere you've got to work hard and make sacrifices. And that's what I did.

"I can proudly say I did everything possible to get the most out of myself from a training and preparation point of view."

Retired Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford has accused Port Adelaide midfielder Danyle Pearce of giving up against the Melbourne Demons while former Power player Josh Francou says the club should seriously consider trading Pearce at the end of the season.

"It looked like he had hoisted the white flag and thought 'this is too hard'," Crawford said.

"He should have used his pace and run to try to shake Jones off but instead he seemed to go into his shell, which was disappointing. He's just got to work harder in that situation."

Hawthorn star Shane Crawford has lifted the lid on the Hawks' defensive zone, just two days before the club's clash against Geelong.

The premiership star revealed every Hawthorn player had an exact location they were ordered to cover as soon as the ball entered the Hawks' forward-50.

And rather than guard a player as opposition defences kick out - or rebound from defence - the zone was always the absolute priority.

Essendon veteran Matthew Lloyd hopes to emulate the feats of evergreen Shane Crawford, who retired after winning the premiership with Hawthorn last year.

Retired Hawthorn great Shane Crawford says his former teammate Luke Hodge is the most inspirational player he has played alongside.

"I was fortunate enough to play in teams with the likes of Jason Dunstall, John Platten, Gary Ayres, Darren Jarman and Chris Langford in my time at Hawthorn," Crawford said.

"And I mean this with no disrespect to them, because they were all fantastic in their own way, but Luke Hodge has the greatest on-field presence of any footballer I have played alongside. It's a massive call, but I don't make it lightly."

Hawthorn, St Kilda and Melbourne have temporarily retired the guernseys of champions Shane Crawford, Robert Harvey and David Neitz.