Connor Blakely

Connor Blakely
Blakely playing for Fremantle in August 2016
Personal information
Full name Connor Blakely
Date of birth (1996-03-02) 2 March 1996 (age 28)
Original team(s) Swan Districts (WAFL)
Draft No. 34, 2014 National draft, Fremantle
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Gold Coast
Number 26
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015–2022 Fremantle 78 (3)
2023 Gold Coast 0 (0)
Total 78 (3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2022.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Connor Blakely (born 2 March 1996) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early career

Originally from Bunbury, Western Australia, he was drafted with the 34th selection in the 2014 National Draft from Swan Districts in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He made his league debut in 2013, and then in 2014 played all season in Swan Districts league team. He also represented Western Australia at the 2014 AFL Under 18 Championships, where he was selected to the tournament's All-Australian team.[1] In 2015 he played for Peel Thunder in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), Fremantle's reserve team. He was awarded the clubs Best and Fairest award at the seasons end.

He again played for Peel during the 2016 WAFL season and was a part of their inaugural premiership, beating Subiaco by 23 points.[2] He was awarded the Simpson Medal for the best player on ground.[3]

AFL career

Blakely was selected to make his AFL debut for Fremantle in the final round of the 2015 AFL season, when Fremantle sent a weakened team to play Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval. Twelve changes were made to the team, and Blakely was one of four players to make their AFL debuts.[4]

Blakely was awarded a 2016 AFL Rising Star nomination during round 11 against Essendon at Domain Stadium , collecting 25 disposals and 7 tackles.[5]

In July 2019, Blakely signed a three-year contract extension with Fremantle, to remain at the club until the end of 2022.[6]

Following the conclusion of the 2022 AFL season Blakely was delisted by Fremantle,[7] but was picked up as a rookie by Gold Coast in the subsequent rookie draft.[8]

Blakely spent the entirety of 2023 playing for Gold Coast's reserve team in the Victorian Football League, and was a part of the clubs inaugural VFL grand final win.[9] After one season with the Gold Coast Suns, Blakely announced his retirement from AFL Football, stating “I’m at a point in my life where I’m ready to let go of football…”.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of round 10, 2022[10]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015 Fremantle 19 1 0 0 3 9 12 1 1 0.0 0.0 3.0 9.0 12.0 1.0 1.0 0
2016 Fremantle 19 15 1 6 129 175 304 40 56 0.1 0.4 8.6 11.7 20.3 2.7 3.7 3
2017 Fremantle 19 17 1 4 210 196 406 88 67 0.1 0.2 12.4 11.5 23.9 5.2 3.9 5
2018 Fremantle 19 13 0 1 172 137 309 92 33 0.0 0.1 13.2 10.5 23.8 7.1 2.5 1
2019 Fremantle 19 14 0 0 156 121 277 72 32 0.0 0.0 11.1 8.6 19.8 5.1 2.3 0
2020[a] Fremantle 19 5 0 0 26 49 75 12 12 0.0 0.0 5.2 9.8 15.0 2.4 2.4 0
2021 Fremantle 19 13 1 2 50 66 116 30 11 0.1 0.2 3.8 5.1 8.9 2.3 0.8 0
2022 Fremantle 19 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Career 78 3 13 746 753 1499 335 212 0.0 0.2 9.6 9.7 19.2 4.3 2.7 9

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ Twomey, Callum (6 November 2014). "21 days to the draft: Meet Connor Blakely".
  2. ^ "Squad: Peel Thunder v Subiaco". fremantlefc.
  3. ^ Hondros, Nathan (25 September 2016). "Peel Thunder makes history with first WAFL premiership after 20 years". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. ^ Hope, Shayne (5 September 2015). "Another Docker goes out".
  5. ^ "Blakely rising star nomination". fremantlefc. 6 June 2016.
  6. ^ Woodcock, Mitchell (31 July 2019). "Connor Blakely commits to Fremantle Dockers future". PerthNow. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Fremantle list update". fremantlefc. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  8. ^ Hope, Shayne. "Former Fremantle Dockers player Connor Blakely given Gold Coast Suns lifeline on rookie list". perthnow.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  9. ^ Rhodes, Brendan. "Flag Suns as Gold Coast wins epic". afl.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  10. ^ Connor Blakely's player profile at AFL Tables
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Connor Blakely.