Luke Ball Information & Luke Ball Links at HealthHaven.com

**Luke** **Ball**
	; ; #14 - Luke Ball - St Kilda FC; ;
Personal information
Birth	25 May 1984 (age 25)
Recruited from	Xavier College/Sandringham U18 (TAC Cup)
Height and weight	184cm / 83kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 1, 29 March 2003, St Kilda vs. North Melbourne, at Melbourne Cricket Ground; ;
Team(s)	St Kilda 2003 - 2009 142 games, 58 goals
	¹ Statistics to end of 2009 season
Career highlights
	; St Kilda Minor Premiership Side 2009; St Kilda AFL Cup Winning Side 2008; St Kilda AFL Cup Winning Side 2004; St Kilda Co-Captain 2007; St Kilda Captain 2006; St Kilda Best & Fairest Award 2005 (equal); All Australian Team 2005; 9 AFL Finals Series matches; International Rules 2004;

Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played for the St Kilda Football Club.

[edit] Early life

Ball is the younger brother of Hawthorn player Matthew Ball, both of whom played for Ashburton in their junior years. Both brothers and little sister Sophie, grew up with their parents in Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris, attending St Rochs Primary School. Luke was drafted to the St Kilda Football Club in 2001 with the priority pick (no 2 overall) in the AFL Draft. The draft that season was known as the "super draft", and Ball was taken behind Luke Hodge and ahead of Chris Judd. He debuted in 2003 after having injury problems and choosing to play football for Xavier College in his final school year.

[edit] AFL career

Ball was a Rising Star nominee in his debut season of 2003.

[edit] 2004 season

Ball played in St Kilda’s 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup winning side - St Kilda's second AFL Cup win.^[1]

2004 was a big year for Ball, coming second in St Kilda's Trevor Barker Award for the club's best and fairest player.

[edit] 2005 season

In 2005 Ball won the Trevor Barker Award for St Kilda's best and fairest player, tying with Steven Baker.

Ball was also recognised for his excellent season with selection in the 2005 All-Australian Team as a midfield player, his first All-Australian Team award.

When Nick Riewoldt was injured in the opening round of the 2005 season (and consequently missed the next five weeks), Ball was appointed as acting captain.

[edit] 2006 season

In 2006 Ball was announced as the St Kilda captain, succeeding Nick Riewoldt under the Saints' then rotational captaincy policy. Early in the season groin problems kept the young captain from performing at his best, but he was cleared in mid-June of having Osteitis pubis from which many media outlets had claimed he was suffering. Ball's second half of the season saw improvement in his game.

[edit] 2007 season

In 2007 Ball was co-captain along with Lenny Hayes and Riewoldt. He played a total of 18 games of the home and away season - picking up 345 disposals, 5 goals and 91 tackles. Although well down on his 2005 form, he played a valuable role in the team and solidified his reputation as a "hard-nut" and core member of St Kilda's midfield.

[edit] 2008 season

Ball played in St Kilda’s 2008 NAB Cup winning side - St Kilda's third pre-season cup win. ^[2] ^[3]

In 2008 Ball again missed only four games with injury - picking up 392 disposals, 7 goals and 107 tackles. A hamstring tear late in the season caused him to miss the finals series.

[edit] 2009 season

Ball played in 16 of 22 matches in the 2009 AFL season home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals, winning the club’s third minor premiership.^[4]

St Kilda qualified for the 2009 AFL Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Ball played in the grand final when St Kilda was defeated by 12 points.

At the end of 2009 season Ball requested to be traded, with Collingwood being his preferred club. A deal between the two clubs, however, was not settled before the trade week deadline and he was not traded. There was much speculation about his future, with St Kilda withdrawing a three year contract renewal offer. Other clubs such as Melbourne (who possess the first pick in the pre-season draft) offered Ball similar deals to acquire his services. On 10 November 2009, Ball officially left St Kilda and will nominate himself for the national draft.

[edit] References

^ "AFL 2004 Wizard Cup Grand Final - Geelong v St Kilda". Slattery Media Group. 2004-03-13 22:10:53. http://images.slatterymedia.com/image/?image_id=114726. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
^ "St Kilda wins NAB cup". The Age. March 8, 2008 - 9:47PM. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/st-kilda-wins-nab-cup-by-five-points/2008/03/08/1204780132457.html?s_cid=rss_news. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
^ "Saints are NAB Cup Champions in 2008". Jeld-Wen. 08 March 2008. http://www.jeld-wen.com.au/pr/St-Kilda-2008/20080308.php. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
^ "2009 Season Scores and Results - Ladder". AFL Tables. 2009. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/2009.html#lad. Retrieved 2009-11-08.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Nick Riewoldt	St Kilda Football Club Captain 2006	Succeeded by -

Preceded by -	St Kilda Football Club Co-Captain 2007	Succeeded by Nick Riewoldt

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St Kilda Football Club

Luke Ball's statistics from AFL Tables

[0] "AFL 2004 Wizard Cup Grand Final - Geelong v St Kilda". Slattery Media Group. 2004-03-13 22:10:53. http://images.slatterymedia.com/image/?image_id=114726. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

[1] "St Kilda wins NAB cup". The Age. March 8, 2008 - 9:47PM. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/st-kilda-wins-nab-cup-by-five-points/2008/03/08/1204780132457.html?s_cid=rss_news. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

[2] "Saints are NAB Cup Champions in 2008". Jeld-Wen. 08 March 2008. http://www.jeld-wen.com.au/pr/St-Kilda-2008/20080308.php. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

[3] "2009 Season Scores and Results - Ladder". AFL Tables. 2009. http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/2009.html#lad. Retrieved 2009-11-08.

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