Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is an Australian rules footballer for Collingwood in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played for the St Kilda Football Club but has been drafted to play for Collingwood from 2010.
[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 the Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris, attending St Roch's Primary School. He was drafted to the St Kilda Football Club in 2001 with the priority pick (number 2 overall) in the AFL Draft. The draft that year 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, the club's second pre-season 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 to another club, with Collingwood being his first preference. 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. On 10 November 2009 he officially left St Kilda and nominated for the national draft. On 26 November 2009 he was drafted to Collingwood with their first pick (number 30 overall).[5]
[edit] Career highlights
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Luke Ball's statistics from AFL Tables
