Jason Blake (born 15 March 1981) is a former

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 for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The 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). An "undersized tall defender and occasional ruckman", he held the record for the most games played (209) without receiving any

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

votes until he eventually received two Brownlow votes for Round 11 in 2012. The record was subsequently beaten by Nick Smith. Retrieved 14 October 2020.

AFL career

Blake was recruited as the number 24 draft pick in the 1999 AFL Draft from the

Prahran Football Club Prahran Assumption Football Club (), nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club is currently in D ...

. During the Under 18 National Championships he had been named All Australian along with

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football * Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...

Rhyce Shaw Rhyce Shaw (born 16 October 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the former senior coach of the North Melbourne ...

Darren Glass Darren Glass (born 14 May 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a full-back for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Northam, Western Australia, he attended Carine Senior High Sc ...

Joel Corey Joel Corey (born 17 February 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Corey is able to contribute inside or outside whi ...

and Jonathan Brown. During the series he managed to shut down

Matthew Pavlich Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premi ...

in the first game, and later did the same to Brown. Blake made his debut for St Kilda in Round 9, 2000 against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

, Retrieved 7 June 2012. and went on to play 13 games in his first year with the Saints.

2004 Wizard Cup

Blake played in St Kilda's

2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup The 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup was the Australian Football League competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2004 Premiership Season began. The AFL National Cup is also sometimes referred to as the pre-season cup ...

winning side - St Kilda's second pre-season cup win. Blake is a versatile footballer, having spent much of the period between 2003 and 2006 as a ruckman for St Kilda, but has also been able to play forward, back and as a tagger in the midfield. Blake capped off an improved 2007 season by finishing ninth in the club's

Trevor Barker Award The Trevor Barker Award is an Australian rules football award for the player voted the St Kilda Football Club best and fairest player during the home and away season in the Australian Football League by a voting panel. The St Kilda Best & Fair ...

for the best and fairest player.

2007 season

Blake played his 100th match for the Saints in round 9 of 2007 against Fremantle at Subiaco.

2008 NAB Cup

Blake played in St Kilda's 2008 AFL National Australia Bank Cup winning side - St Kilda Football Club's 3rd AFL Cup Win.

2009 season

Blake played in 22 of 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals, winning the club's third minor premiership. St Kilda qualified for the 2009 AFL Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Blake played in the 2009 AFL Grand Final in which St Kilda were defeated by 12 points.

2010 season

Blake played 26 games in 2010, including four finals matches, and finished in the top 10 of St Kilda's best and fairest, the

, for the fourth year in succession. As of the end of the 2011 season, Blake had played in 15 AFL finals matches, including three grand finals. In the 2007 through 2010 seasons, he played 96 out of 98 games.

2011 season

By the end of the 2011 season, Blake had played 199 games, including 16 finals, without polling a single

vote, more than any other player in VFL/AFL history. This easily surpassed the old record of 167 games set by

Ross Henshaw Ross Henshaw (born 13 August 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, ...

. He was delisted at the end of the 2011 season, but was redrafted by the club.

2012 season

Blake played his 200th game in the first round match against Port Adelaide. In the

2012 Brownlow Medal The 2012 Brownlow Medal was the 85th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. The award was won jointly by Sam Mitchell of the Hawthorn Foo ...

count, Blake received his first ever votes in his 210th game (194th home and away game) of AFL football in the Round 11 game against the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

. The votes were met with large applause from his St Kilda teammates present at the count.

Personal life

During 2008, Blake studied a double degree in Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Construction Management) and a Bachelor of Business (Finance Specialisation) at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

, and worked eight hours a week at Thinc Projects, construction, management and consulting firm, on top of his footballing duties with St Kilda. For his efforts, Blake was awarded the AFL Players Association's Education and Training Excellence Award.

References

External links

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Jason Blake 200th game tribute on Red, White and Black
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Jason 1981 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players Sandringham Dragons players Sandringham Football Club players