Graham Polak was born on 16 June 1984 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League.
15 Facts About Graham Polak
1.
2.
Graham Polak was nominated for the AFL Rising Star award in Round 9 and finished second in the end of year voting behind Sam Mitchell and ahead of Luke Ball and Daniel Wells.
3.
Graham Polak only played 12 games in 2005 and failed to improve due to a pre-season injury.
4.
Graham Polak was recalled in round 3 of 2006, and due to injuries to Aaron Sandilands and Justin Longmuir, was often played in the new role of a ruckman, but still only managed 11 games for the season, and was overlooked for the finals.
5.
On 13 October 2006, Graham Polak was traded to the Richmond Football Club following speculation all week that he would be the key to the mega deal involving Collingwood's Chris Tarrant being traded to the Dockers.
6.
Since being at the Tigers, Graham Polak has mainly played at centre-half back and finished seventh in Richmond's 2007 best and fairest award after playing in all 22 games for the season.
7.
Late on 28 June 2008, Graham Polak was struck by a Melbourne tram, and was placed in an induced coma with bruising to the brain, putting his football career in jeopardy.
8.
Two days after being struck by the tram Graham Polak was able to respond to commands and squeeze a family member's hand.
9.
Graham Polak was then able to remember parts of the game he played against Carlton the day of his accident and was able to recognise loved ones and speak.
10.
Graham Polak returned to training during the 2009 pre-season and was selected to play in a NAB Challenge practice match against St Kilda.
11.
Graham Polak was named to make his return to the AFL in the Round 21 match against Hawthorn, nearly 13 months after being struck by the tram.
12.
Graham Polak was then re drafted by the Tigers in the 2009 rookie draft as a mature aged rookie.
13.
On 26 June 2010 and 31 July 2010 Graham Polak suffered concussions while playing for Coburg in the VFL, again putting his football career in jeopardy.
14.
On 27 August 2010 Graham Polak announced his retirement from AFL football.
15.
Graham Polak returned to Perth to play in the West Australian Football League, but transferred from East Fremantle to East Perth.