Eric Hipwood (born 13 September 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

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

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).

Early life

Hipwood was born in Melbourne's inner suburb of St Kilda. His parents were passionate

St Kilda Saints The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fr ...

fans who had married in the stands of

Moorabbin Oval Moorabbin Oval (also known as RSEA Park under a naming rights agreement) is an Australian rules football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin, Victoria, Moorabbin. The ground was most ...

prior to his birth. His grandfather, Ken, was instrumental in establishing the

Aspley Football Club Aspley Football Club, nicknamed the Hornets, is an Australian rules football club based in the northern-Brisbane suburb of Aspley. The club competes in multiple Queensland-based competitions, including in the Queensland Australian Football Leagu ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

's northern suburbs and his father, Brad, was a former senior player for Aspley. His grandparents are also life members of the Aspley Football Club. At the age of three, Eric moved to his father's home state of Queensland and settled on the Sunshine Coast with his family where he began playing junior football for Kawana Park at the age of eight. At 13 years of age he was placed in the

developmental academy and switched allegiances to the

Caloundra Australian Football Club Caloundra Australian Football Club is an Australian rules football club that is based in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It competes in the QFA Division 1. Known as the Panthers, Caloundra used to play in a higher division but, due t ...

. Two years later, at the age of 15, he played his first QFA senior match for Caloundra in their away clash against Aspley and kicked three goals on debut. In his final year of junior football he switched clubs again and played for Aspley in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural co ...

(NEAFL). Hipwood was selected to represent Queensland at the

2015 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2015 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 20th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in division one, and New South Wales/Australi ...

and was named in the All Australian team for his performances. He was then invited to attend the

AFL Draft Combine The AFL Draft Combine, formerly known as the AFL Draft Camp, is a gathering of prospective talent, where selected potential draftees display their athletic prowess and relevant Australian rules football skills. Over four days participants are re ...

in November 2015. Hipwood was also a very talented

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er in his younger years and accepted an invitation to join the cricket sports excellence program at

Maroochydore State High School Maroochydore State High School (commonly abbreviated as 'MSHS') is a co-educational, state secondary school located on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in the town of Maroochydore, approximately north of Brisbane. It has grown from an enrolment of 2 ...

in Year 10.

AFL career

Hipwood was drafted by the with their second selection and fourteenth overall in the 2015 national draft as an academy selection after Brisbane matched 's bid on him. He made his AFL debut in the forty-nine point loss against at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

in round 13 of the 2016 season. After the thirty-two point loss against the at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

in round five of the 2017 season, in which he recorded twelve disposals, five marks, four tackles and three goals, he was the round nominee for the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

. 2018 Hipwood played all 22 matches of the 2018 season. With 37 goals, he was Brisbane's leading goalkicker for the year. In round 16, Hipwood kicked 6 goals in Brisbane's win against Carlton. Hipwood received three

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 in both this game and the round 9 win against

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 ...

. 2019 2019 saw Hipwood play 23 games including finals with 35 goals kicked for the year. He signed a contract extension, keeping him at Brisbane until at least the end of 2023.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - ,

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

, , , , 30 , 17 , , 25 , , 17 , , 125 , , 49 , , 174 , , 79 , , 18 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 7.4 , , 2.9 , , 10.2 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 127 !! 188 !! 144 !! 932 !! 331 !! 1263 !! 526 !! 157 !! 1.5 !! 1.1 !! 7.3 !! 2.6 !! 9.9 !! 4.1 !! 1.2 !! 16 Notes

Honours and achievements

Individual * Brisbane Lions leading goalkicker: 2018 (37) * 3× 22under22 team: 2017, 2018, 2019 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017 (round 5)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hipwood, Eric 1997 births Living people Brisbane Lions players Aspley Football Club players Sportspeople from the Sunshine Coast Australian rules footballers from Queensland People from St Kilda, Victoria