Blake Hardwick (born 5 February 1997) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He grew up in Mitcham attending Nunawading Primary School and Mullauna Secondary College.

Early career

Hardwick was the leading goal kicker in the 2015 TAC Cup season, kicking 12, 10 and eight goals against the

Bendigo Pioneers The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team in the statewide Victorian under-18s league, the NAB League. Synopsis The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team playing in NAB League since 1993 based in Bendigo, Victoria ...

, Geelong Falcons and Western Jets respectively. He was drafted by the Hawthorn Football Club with their third selection and 44th overall in the 2015 national draft.

AFL career

Hardwick made his debut in a 19-point win against in round 19, 2016, at

Aurora Stadium York Park is a sports ground in the Inveresk and York Park Precinct, Launceston, Australia. Holding 19,000 people – the largest capacity stadium in Tasmania, York Park is known commercially as University of Tasmania Stadium and was formerly ...

in Launceston, recording eight disposals and kicking a behind. He earned a Rising Star nomination in Round 15, 2017, after a string of solid performances, finishing the match with 19 disposals at 94 per cent efficiency, five tackles and three marks in a 24-point win over . On August 14, 2017, Hardwick signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at Hawthorn until the end of 2019. Entering his third season, Hardwick's guernsey number was changed from 37 to the 15 worn previously by

Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, c ...

following the latter's move to Brisbane at the end of the 2017 season. He played every game of the 2018 season, kicking his first goal at AFL level and finishing second in Hawthorn's best and fairest award, the Peter Crimmins Medal, behind 2018 Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell. In 2021, Hardwick played his 100th career game for Hawthorn. He once again finished runner up in the Peter Crimmins medal behind Mitchell.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of round 23, 2024.'' , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , , , 37 , 19 , , 0 , , 1 , , 160 , , 114 , , 274 , , 89 , , 53 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.4 , , 6.0 , , 14.4 , , 4.7 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , , , 15 , 24 , , 3 , , 1 , , 219 , , 175 , , 394 , , 107 , , 57 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 9.1 , , 7.3 , , 16.4 , , 4.5 , , 2.4 , , 0 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 15 , 22 , , 2 , , 2 , , 258 , , 124 , , 382 , , 99 , , 69 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 11.7 , , 5.6 , , 17.4 , , 4.5 , , 3.1 , , 0 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, , , , 15 , 22 , , 0 , , 0 , , 267 , , 99 , , 366 , , 114 , , 42 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.1 , , 4.5 , , 16.6 , , 5.2 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - ,

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

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2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

, , , , 15 , 22 , , 13 , , 5 , , 218 , , 109 , , 327 , , 101 , , 54 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.9 , , 5.0 , , 14.9 , , 4.6 , , 2.5 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 169 !! 21 !! 13 !! 1893 !! 950 !! 2843 !! 811 !! 385 !! 0.1 !! 0.1 !! 11.2 !! 5.6 !! 16.8 !! 4.8 !! 2.3 , , 0 Notes

Honours and achievements

Individual * leading goalkicker: 2016 * 2× Peter Crimmins Medal runner–up: 2018, 2021 * most courageous player: 2022 * most promising player: 2018 * AFL Rising Star nominee:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardwick, Blake 1997 births Living people Hawthorn Football Club players Eastern Ranges players Box Hill Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People from Mitcham, Victoria