Tom Hickey (born 6 March 1991) is an

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 plays for the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a rese ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, 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 ...

(AFL). He previously played for 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 St Kilda Football Club, and the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

Early life

Hickey was born into a Brisbane family in which his father, Mick, is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played 10 years of A-grade rugby league for

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...

in the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queen ...

. While in primary school between the ages of six and fourteen, Hickey played rugby league for the Redland Rugby League Football Club in the position of

five-eighth Five-eighth or Stand-off is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Wearing jersey number 6, this player is one of the two half backs in a team, partnering the . Sometimes known as the pivot or second receiver, in a traditional a ...

. Upon graduation from St Anthony's Catholic Primary School he moved to

Iona College Iona University is a private Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bronxville, ...

and tried his hand at basketball, rugby union, water polo, athletics and volleyball. He made his main focus volleyball while in high school and represented the Queensland state team and the schoolboys team throughout his schooling life. During his last term of high school in 2008 he joined friends at Iona to compete in four football games at the Associated Independent Colleges school competition and in doing so played Australian rules football for the first time at 17 years of age. While playing he was spotted by an

AFL Queensland AFL Queensland (AFLQ) is the governing body of Australian rules football in Queensland. AFL Queensland has over 216,000 participants (including Northern Rivers which is governed by AFLQ) playing at all levels of football from the introductory N ...

representative and was invited to join the AFLQ Rookie Search Program.

Junior football

At the beginning of 2009, Hickey joined the

Morningside Australian Football Club The Morningside Australian Football Club, also known as the Morningside Panthers, is an Australian rules football club based at Jack Esplen Oval in the suburb of Hawthorne in Brisbane. The club consists of Masters, Amateurs, Women's, Junior and ...

's under 18 side. His under 18 team would win the premiership that year and Hickey finished second in the league

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

medal. The following year he was picked to represent Queensland in the

2010 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2010 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 15th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in Division 1, and New South Wales/Australian ...

where he was the Queensland ruckman. He also established himself as a ruckman in Morningside's senior team and was a part of the 2010 QAFL premiership winning team. Matching up against former AFL players

Peter Everitt Peter "Spida" Everitt (born 3 May 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Hawthorn Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for St Kilda from 1993 to 2002 ...

and

Trent Knobel Trent Knobel (born 23 May 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Knobel, a ruckman originally from the Gold Coast, was recruited to the AFL in his home state with the Brisbane Lions onto their rookie ...

in the grand final, Hickey's team would come back from a 20-point deficit at three quarter time to win the premiership. Following the 2010 season he travelled to Canberra to showcase himself at the AFL Draft Combine. He was the best performed ruckman in the agility test and equal second best among ruckmen in the beep test as well as being ranked second overall in the "clean hands" test. Hickey was drafted under zone concessions to the newly formed Gold Coast Suns in October 2010 and moved to the Gold Coast to begin his first AFL preseason.

AFL career

2011–2012: Gold Coast

Hickey made his AFL debut in round 22 of the 2011 season against

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, kicking his first AFL goal. After two seasons with the Suns, Hickey requested a trade to St Kilda to be closer to his Melbourne-based girlfriend. Complications arose when the Gold Coast demanded a first-round selection for Hickey's service and the Saints eventually agreed to the deal.

2013–2018: St Kilda

Hickey debuted for St Kilda in round 1 of the 2013 season in a loss to his former club Gold Coast at

Metricon Stadium Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of th ...

. He played as a second ruckman throughout the season, becoming the sole ruck in round 21 against

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

after

Ben McEvoy Ben “Big Boy” McEvoy (born 11 July 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career McEvoy is an Austr ...

was substituted. The next week, Hickey recorded a personal best of 17 disposals against Gold Coast. He had the second-most hit-outs at St Kilda in 2013. After McEvoy was traded to

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

, Hickey became the first-choice ruckman at the Saints. After a good start to the 2014 season, which included a 19-disposal and three-goal performance against the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

in round 2, Hickey suffered foot and quad injuries, restricting him to just one game after round 6.

Knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

tendonitis ended his season. In the meantime, Billy Longer played 12 games and established himself as St Kilda's principal ruckman. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Hickey became second ruckman after Longer, mostly playing as a pinch-hitting forward. He played 11 games and signed a two-year contract extension, tying him to St Kilda until 2017. Hickey returned as the premier Saints ruckman in

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 ...

, playing his best game at St Kilda according to coach Alan Richardson in round 1 against

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

. Hickey amassed 56 hit-outs and 20 disposals – career highs. He extended his contract until 2019 after playing 20 games for the season. In

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 ...

, Hickey again fell behind Longer in the ruck pecking order. Strong form in a

2017 JLT Community Series The 2017 JLT Community Series was the Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season competition played before the 2017 home and away season. It featured 27 matches across 25 days, which began on 16 February 2017 and ended on 12 March 2017. For t ...

match against Sydney – in which Hickey accumulated 29 disposals, 39 hit-outs and 18 contested possessions – did not translate to the regular season. Hickey suffered back, medial ligament,

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

and right shoulder injuries, the latter of which required post-season surgery. When uninjured, he struggled to break into the St Kilda team as Longer continued to maintain his form. He was selected against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in round 17 after Longer suffered a hamstring injury, but played poorly and was replaced the next game. Hickey played 13 games in

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 ...

, suffering a left hamstring tendon injury late in the season 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 ...

2019–2020: West Coast

After six years and 67 games with the Saints, Hickey was traded to the West Coast Eagles at the end of the 2018 season for pick 39 and West Coast's 2019 fourth-round selection. The Eagles also received pick 60 and St Kilda's fourth-round pick for 2019. Hickey was recruited to replace the departing ruckman

Scott Lycett Scott John Lycett (born 26 September 1992) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career Lycett played junior football for the Thevenard Magpies, playin ...

2021–present: Sydney

After two years at the Eagles in which he remained behind

Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...

in the club's ruck stocks, Hickey was traded to his fourth club, the

, during the 2020 trade period. This made him the first AFL player to play for four clubs based in four different states.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''.Tom Hickey's player profile at AFL Tables
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Tom Living people Gold Coast Football Club players 1991 births Australian rules footballers from Queensland Morningside Australian Football Club players Sportsmen from Queensland St Kilda Football Club players Sportspeople from Brisbane Sandringham Football Club players West Coast Eagles players Sydney Swans players