Eddie Hocking (born 6 January 1970) is a former 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 who played for the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

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). Originally from Clare, South Australia, Hocking began training with

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) club Central District aged sixteen and within 12 months made his SANFL league debut. After a strong season with Central District in 1990, when he was runner-up in the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

, Hocking was signed by Adelaide prior to its first season in the AFL. He came off the interchange bench in Adelaide's Round One,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and played ten further games that year.AFL Tables: Eddie Hocking
/ref> An

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, Hocking is the shortest ever footballer to have played for Adelaide.Argent, P. "Pint-sized pioneer", ''Koori Mail'', 6 May 2015, p. 61. Hocking’s trademark was his ability to baulk the player on the mark when lining up for goal. The clever onballer would make out he was going to take the set shot, and then at the last minute dodge around his opponent, who by that point was mid-air, and run into an open goal. He remained on the Adelaide Crows list for

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

however did not play a game. Hocking finished his SANFL career with the

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (South Australia), Richmond Oval (current ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocking, Eddie 1970 births Australian rules footballers from South Australia Adelaide Football Club players Central District Football Club players West Adelaide Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Living people