Mark Blake (born 9 September 1985) 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

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

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). A tap ruckman, tall and weighing , Blake played 99 games for Geelong between 2005 and 2010, including the 2009 AFL Premiership.

Career

Blake was drafted in the 2003 AFL Draft under the father-son rule, he debuted in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

in a losing game in front of a crowd of 28,165 at the SCG. Blake kicked his first two career goals against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

at Skilled Stadium in round 18, 2007. After having little impact in the 2007 preliminary final against Collingwood, Blake was dropped on the eve of the 2007 AFL Grand Final for former Geelong captain and ruckman, Steven King.

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

was a successful year for Blake, seeing him permanently become a part of Geelong's ruck duo along with

Brad Ottens Brad Ottens (born 25 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Richmond: 1998–2004 Selec ...

. Blake developed as a footballer substantially in 2008 and has improved his around the ground work.

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

was a terrible year for Blake, getting no AFL appearances and was said to be trade bait. On 19 October 2011 Blake announced his retirement, effective immediately.

Personal life

Blake attended high school at Belmont High in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, and played grassroots football for

South Barwon South Barwon is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. Located in a mixed urban and rural area south of the Barwon River, it covers an area of 621 km², including the Geelong suburbs of ...

in the

Geelong Football League The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former AFL players n ...

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, , 24 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 24 , , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 7 , , 11 , , 18 , , 6 , , 1 , , 27 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , , 3.7 , , 6.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 9.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , 24 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 12 , , 45 , , 57 , , 16 , , 9 , , 97 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 5.6 , , 7.1 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , 12.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , , 24 , , 22 , , 2 , , 6 , , 62 , , 147 , , 209 , , 65 , , 26 , , 379 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 2.8 , , 6.7 , , 9.5 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , 17.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 24 , , 25 , , 6 , , 6 , , 77 , , 179 , , 256 , , 87 , , 22 , , 525 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 3.1 , , 7.2 , , 10.2 , , 3.5 , , 0.9 , , 21.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , 24 , , 21 , , 3 , , 2 , , 47 , , 149 , , 196 , , 46 , , 25 , , 482 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 7.1 , , 9.3 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , 23.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , 24 , , 20 , , 1 , , 2 , , 43 , , 156 , , 199 , , 45 , , 13 , , 379 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 7.8 , , 10.0 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 19.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 24 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 99 ! 12 ! 16 ! 248 ! 687 ! 935 ! 265 ! 96 ! 1889 ! 0.1 ! 0.2 ! 2.5 ! 6.9 ! 9.4 ! 2.7 ! 1.0 ! 19.1

Honours and achievements

Team * AFL Premiership (Geelong): 2009 * AFL

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

(Geelong): 2007, 2008 * AFL NAB Cup (Geelong): 2006, 2009 Individual * Vic Country representative honours at the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

: 2003

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Mark Australian rules footballers from Geelong Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Geelong Falcons players South Barwon Football Club players 1985 births Living people St Mary's Football Club (NTFL) players Aberfeldie Football Club players Mooroopna Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players