Mil Hanna

Mil Hanna
Personal information
Full name Milham Hanna
Date of birth (1966-04-05) 5 April 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Qantara, Lebanon[1]
Original team(s) East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 92 kg (203 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1986–1997 Carlton 190 (83)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1997.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Milham Hanna (born 5 April 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer best known for his playing career with the Carlton Football Club in the 1980s and 1990s.[2]

Nicknamed The Cranium (after his cleanly shaven head, due to alopecia)[3] or simply Mil for short, Hanna is distinguished as having been the first Lebanese-born player in the history of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).[4] and the only AFL player of Lebanese descent until the debut of Bachar Houli in 2007.[citation needed]

Hanna grew up in the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne, where he played his junior football in Brunswick East.[2] He was educated at East Brunswick High and Strathmore Secondary College.[5]

He was known in the VFL/AFL for his athletic physique and fast pace playing as a tall running wingman.[2]

Hanna made his senior playing debut in 1986, but ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during his first game. Following almost a year of rehabilitation, he enjoyed a largely injury-free career with Carlton.[citation needed]

Hanna played in two AFL Grand Finals for Carlton: in the 1993 losing side and Carlton's premiership-winning team in 1995. He was selected as a member of the All-Australian team in 1992.[2]

After being delisted by Carlton, he trained with Richmond, but was unable to be drafted by them due to Richmond being banned from participating in the 1998 pre-season draft due to them exceeding the salary cap in 1997.[6]

Hanna was inducted into Carlton's Hall of Fame in 2016.[7]

  1. ^ "OUR HISTORY: Mil Hanna". Carlton FC.
  2. ^ a b c d Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2003). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (5th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 291. ISBN 1-74095-032-1.
  3. ^ Paula Hunt; Glenn Manton (1 January 2006). Mongrel Punts and Hard Ball Gets: An A-Z of Footy Speak. Red Dog Books. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-921167-28-7. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  4. ^ Garry Chapman (June 2007). The Lebanese in Australia. Macmillan Education Australia. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4202-0893-1. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Mil". Humans of Hampton. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  6. ^ "1998 review". Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  7. ^ Collins, Ben (16 April 2016). "Blue note night as Carlton names greats". AFL.com.au.