Heath Scotland

Heath Scotland (born 21 July 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for Collingwood and Carlton, appearing in two AFL Grand Finals during his time with Collingwood. He was awarded the Best and Fairest for the Carlton Football Club in 2012. His professional career ended in 2014.

Playing career Early playing career Scotland grew up and played his junior football for the Darley Football Club, then in the Riddell District Football League, and he played TAC Cup football for the Western Jets. He also featured in the National Under 18s Championships for Vic Metro in 1998.

Collingwood He was recruited to the Australian Football League by the Collingwood Football Club with its third-round selection in the 1998 AFL draft (No. 44 overall). Scotland was initially given guernsey No. 44, and he switched to No. 29 in 2001. He made his debut in Round 3 of 1999 and played twelve senior matches in his debut season, including Collingwood's Round 22 match, which was the last game it ever played at its traditional home ground, Victoria Park. He played another ten in 2000, but managed only two senior games in 2001 – in the first and last rounds of the season. His performance in that final round match, to that stage a career-best with twenty-eight disposals, arguably saved his Collingwood career, with senior coach Mick Malthouse stating that he had matured considerably as a footballer over that season.

Carlton At the end of the 2003 season, Scotland was traded to Carlton in exchange for a third round draft pick (No. 35 overall) in the 2003 AFL draft. Even at the time, the trade was considered to be good value for Carlton, He was given the No. 29 guernsey, the same number he had worn at Collingwood.

Scotland was a regular player throughout most of his time at Carlton. He played 11 seasons with the club and appeared in every game in five of those seasons. As at Collingwood, Scotland played generally as a midfielder, rotating into a sweeping half-back role. before voluntarily stepping down in 2011. He continued to play reliable football through this time. In 2011, Scotland played his 200th game and became the oldest player on the Carlton list, turning 31 during the year; in spite of this, 2011 was widely regarded by pundits as Scotland's best season to date; he was nominated in the 40-man squad for the All-Australian team, but did not make the final team, and he finished 4th in the John Nicholls Medal. He was awarded life membership of the Carlton Football Club in December 2011. Scotland played consistently well again in 2012, and although he attracted less wider acclaim around the league, he won the John Nicholls Medal for the first time in his career. He played four games off the rookie list, before announcing his retirement from the AFL on 20 May 2014, citing a degenerative ankle complaint.

In September 2019, five years after his retirement his playing career, he gave an interview on SEN radio station and reflected on his time at Carlton stating "To be honest, I think it was a poor decision to sack Brett Ratten as senior coach" and "I was always disappointed that happened to Ratts" and "I thought Ratts was doing a great job, I think we might've won 11 games in 2012, we just missed finals, we had a lot of injuries" and "I think Carlton acted on the opportunity to get Mick Malthouse too quickly as senior coach". At the court hearing in October 2012, he pleaded guilty to assault, and was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond with a conviction.