Harley Balic (5 January 1997 – 9 January 2022) was a professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fr ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). Balic was born in Sandringham,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. His father Eddie was of Bosnian descent and his mother Nancy was of Italian and German descent. Balic played for the

Sandringham Dragons The Sandringham Dragons are an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham, Victoria, representing the souther ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vict ...

and was drafted by Fremantle with their second selection and 38th overall in the 2015 national draft. In 2016, he was a member of the

Peel Thunder The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

premiership team, collecting 20 disposals in the

WAFL Grand Final The West Australian Football League holds a grand final every year to determine the premiership winning team. Last 10 WAFL Grand Finals The last ten WAFL Grand Finals have featured eight of the nine clubs (Perth last qualified for a Grand Fi ...

. Balic made his AFL debut in the sixteen-point win against the at Domain Stadium in round three of the 2017 season. After playing four games for the Dockers in 2017, he was placed on indefinite leave for "personal reasons". Later that year, Balic requested a trade home to Victoria and was traded to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in October. In August 2018 at the age of 21, Balic retired after losing passion for the game. Balic died on 9 January 2022, four days after his 25th birthday.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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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 s ...

, , 24 , , 4 , , 3 , , 1 , , 26 , , 26 , , 52 , , 13 , , 13 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 6.5 , , 6.5 , , 13.0 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 Unit ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balic, Harley 1997 births 2022 deaths Australian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Australian people of German descent Australian people of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Casey Demons players Fremantle Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Sandringham Dragons players People from Sandringham, Victoria