Damian Houlihan is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (AFL).

Houlihan was the first of a set of four brothers to be drafted to the AFL. His younger brothers Adam

Adam Houlihan

Adam L. Houlihan is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League...

 and Ryan

Ryan Houlihan

Ryan Houlihan is a former Australian rules footballer who played 12 seasons and 201 games for the Carlton Football Club from 2000 to 2011.-Background:...

 also became league footballers and another brother Josh was briefly on St Kilda's list.

A forward, he was picked up by Collingwood with the 15th selection of the 1992 AFL Draft

1992 AFL Draft

The 1992 AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League...

. He kicked three goals with his first three kicks in league football, against Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

. In his fifth AFL game, against Adelaide, he was awarded three Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 votes, despite having just 12 disposals. He missed three matches mid season after being suspended for striking Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 player Chris Naish

Chris Naish

Chris Naish is a former Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League between 1990 and 1997 for the Richmond Football Club and then from 1998 until 1999 for the Port Adelaide Football Club....

. By the end of the year he had played 11 games and a back injury would ensure he never made it into the park in 1995.

After spending the 1997 season with Tatura

Tatura Football Club

The Tatura Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League.-External links:*...

 in the Goulburn Valley Football League

Goulburn Valley Football League

The Goulburn Valley Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia...

, Houlihan was selected by North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 in the AFL pre-season draft. North Melbourne made their second grand final in three years in 1998 and Houlihan wasn't able to break into the seniors.

Delisted by North Melbourne, he went on to have a long career in country football. His greatest performance came in the 2000 Ovens & Murray Football League

Ovens & Murray Football League

The Ovens and Murray Football League, often referred to locally as the O&M, is a semi-professional Australian rules football league based around ten clubs in north-eastern Victoria and the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, and affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League...

 (OMFL) Grand Final, playing as an assistant coach for his original club Corowa-Rutherglen, when he kicked ten goals. This broke the previous record for a OMFL grand final, which was nine goals by Albury's Doug Strang

Doug Strang

Doug Strang was an Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL between 1931 and 1935 for the Richmond Football Club.Whilst several injuries restricted his VFL career to just 64 games...

, and also helped Corowa-Rutherglen to a 108 point win, another league record. Houlihan, who also played at East Burwood and Gisborne

Gisborne Football Club

The Gisborne Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Bendigo Football League.-Premierships:Riddell District Football League * 1934, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1997, 1998, 1999)...

, joined Sunbury in 2007. He then played for Keilor

Keilor Football Club

Keilor Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 20 km north west of Melbourne in the suburb of Keilor.The first football match played at Keilor was in 1894 against an Essendon junior team...

in 2008 and was a member of their premiership team that year, again putting in a strong grand final performance. He returned to Sunbury in 2009 and then finished his career with a season at North Bendigo in 2010.