Hugh Greenwood

Hugh Greenwood (born 6 March 1992) is an Australian former sportsman who played Australian rules football and basketball.

Greenwood was a promising under-16 footballer, but opted to attempt a career in basketball in 2008, moving to the United States in 2011 to play college basketball for the University of New Mexico. He returned to Australia in 2015 and joined the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League, but abruptly switched codes to sign with the Adelaide Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) as a category B rookie in September 2015

He moved to the Gold Coast Suns in 2019 and then North Melbourne Football Club in 2022. He retired from the AFL in August 2024 after 121 senior games across the Crows, Suns and Kangaroos.

Early life Greenwood was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and played junior football for Lauderdale Football Club. He was a talented junior footballer, representing Tasmania at the national under-16 championships in 2007. He later accepted a basketball scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, For the 2011 SEABL season, Greenwood played for the Hobart Chargers.

College Freshman year In April 2011, Greenwood signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for the University of New Mexico.

As a freshman in 2011–12, Greenwood earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference selection. The Lobos won the Mountain West Tournament title and reached the third round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Greenwood scored a season-high 22 points in 19 minutes against Air Force on 8 March 2012, which marked his first 20+ point performance of his career.

Sophomore year As a sophomore in 2012–13, Greenwood earned Honorable Mention All-Mountain West and repeated as an Academic All-Mountain West selection. He was also named to Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award Watch List. He started every game for the Lobos as a sophomore, and led the team in steals with 47. He had a season-best game in win against Boise State on 16 January 2013, recording 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds, all while battling the flu. He also hit a layup to send the game into overtime, where he scored five points in the extra period to clinch the win. Greenwood signed a three-year contract with the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League on 1 June 2015. He joined the Wildcats for pre-season in early August. However, on 20 August 2015, Greenwood parted ways with the Wildcats to pursue a career in the Australian Football League (AFL).

National team After winning Basketball Australia's Junior Male Player of the Year in 2008, Greenwood joined the Australian Boomers for their 2009 program. At 17 years and 4 months, he was the youngest athlete on the squad. He later made his debut for the Australian Emus under-19 basketball team at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Two years later, he helped the Emus to a sixth-place finish at the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Latvia. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. He helped Australia win its group with a 5–1 record, and finished 6–3 in the tournament overall. He also scored a tournament-best 26 points against the United States.

Greenwood joined an Australian squad for the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea.

AFL career

While at New Mexico, Greenwood was approached by several AFL teams, but he knocked them back to continue with basketball. By mid-August 2015, however, Greenwood had lost the motivation to play basketball and subsequently retired from the game to pursue AFL. After training with the Adelaide Football Club for two weeks, Greenwood signed a two-year category B rookie contract with the club on 4 September 2015.

In 2016, Greenwood made a smooth transition into the Crows' State League side after an eight-year hiatus from competitive football. He played every game of the season, impressing in roles through the midfield and half-forward. He showed strong physicality and developed his ball skills throughout the year, averaging 16 disposals and kicking 25 goals from 21 games, and helped the club reach the SANFL finals for the first time. As a result, he finished sixth in the State League Club Champion award.

On 10 May 2017, the Crows promoted Greenwood to their senior list as possible cover for the concussed Tom Lynch, naming him as an emergency for their Round 8 clash. A week later, the Crows named Greenwood to make his debut on 20 May 2017 against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. In his debut, he kicked three first-half goals and finished with 15 disposals, two marks and nine tackles in helping Adelaide defeat Brisbane 140–60. Greenwood quickly became an important part of Adelaide's midfield and impressed in his first season at AFL level, having a mature body and kicking with high efficiency. He was a member of the Crows' 2017 Grand Final side.

At the conclusion of the 2019 AFL season, Greenwood requested a trade to . The trade was finalised on 15 October 2019.

After the 2021 AFL season, as a list measure, the Suns delisted Greenwood with the intent to re-draft him. However, in a shock move, Greenwood instead opted to leave the Suns and sign a two-year deal with .

In August 2024, Green announced his retirement from the AFL. He played 38 senior games for the Kangaroos, including just three in 2024.

In September 2024, Greenwood returned to the Gold Coast Suns as a development coach in the club's AFL program. He subsequently played for the Gold Coast reserves in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 2025.

Personal life Greenwood is the son of Mike and Andree Greenwood. His father played water polo and his mother played basketball. Greenwood's sister, Josie, also played college basketball at New Mexico.

In 2015, his mother was diagnosed with terminal secondary breast cancer.

Statistics

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