Ben McEvoy

Ben McEvoy (born 11 July 1989) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for and captains the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the St Kilda Football Club between 2008 and 2013.

Ben McEvoy
McEvoy playing for Hawthorn in April 2017
Personal information
Full name Ben McEvoy
Nickname(s) Big Boy
Date of birth (1989-07-11) 11 July 1989
Place of birth Colbinabin
Original team(s) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 9, 2007 national draft
Debut Round 13, 2008, St Kilda
vs. Fremantle, at Telstra Dome
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)[1]
Position(s) Ruckman, Defender
Club information
Current club Hawthorn
Number 7
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2008–2013 St Kilda 091 (27)
2014– Hawthorn 131 (61)
Total 222 (88)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

McEvoy is an Australian Institute of Sport and AFL Academy graduate. He was an All-Australian selection in the NAB AFL Under 18 championships, averaging seven marks per game as a ruck/forward. He played junior football with Dederang-Mt Beauty[2] and U18 football with the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup. In 2007 he captained the Murray Bushrangers and won the best and fairest award.

AFL career

St Kilda
Ben McEvoy playing for St Kilda in 2011.

McEvoy was recruited by St Kilda with the ninth selection in the 2007 AFL Draft from the Murray Bushrangers. With an injury to Michael Gardiner he made his debut for St Kilda against Fremantle in 2008. This was his only game for that year and he has been in and out of the St Kilda senior side for the next two years, wearing the number 5 jumper. In that time he was consistently in the best players for St Kilda's VFL affiliate team, Casey Scorpions.[2]

2010 season

Hawthorn and St Kilda played out a draw in Round 17 after McEvoy kicked a goal with 12 seconds remaining. McEvoy went up uncontested in a ball-up and then dribbled through the goal from 12m out with no Hawthorn player in the goalsquare. After playing strongly into and through the 2010 finals series, including eight consecutive games and 18 for the season, McEvoy was dropped for the Grand Final.[3] With injury to first ruck Michael Gardiner, McEvoy regained his place in the side for the grand final replay in which St Kilda were defeated by Collingwood.

2011 season

The 2011 season was widely considered McEvoy's breakout season. After a strong preseason,[4] McEvoy's fitness and preparation was lauded as outstanding by those close to the club. He worked closely with Steven King before and during the season to improve his technical skill to assume the lead ruck role for the club.

2012 season

He was St Kilda's number one ruckman again in 2012, but had mid season surgery to his knee after he injured it a training.[5] He missed six games and after returning played every game to season's end. He liked to spend time dropping back into defence to take strong contested marks.

2013 season

McEvoy played all 22 games for St Kilda in season 2013 and held down the number one ruck role.

Hawthorn

During the 2013 trade period, McEvoy was traded by St Kilda to Hawthorn in exchange for young midfielder Shane Savage and Hawthorn's first round pick. The Saints had decided to rebuild their playing list by trading players for early draft picks. McEvoy was holidaying in Cambodia when he was contacted to agree to the trade. The Hawks were hopeful at the time that McEvoy could hold down the number one ruck position after premiership ruckman Max Bailey announced his retirement post-season.[6]

After being in and out of the side during the 2014 season, McEvoy featured in the Hawthorn side which defeated Sydney by 63 points to win the club's 12th premiership.[7] He also featured in the 2015 Hawthorn Premiership side where the Hawks defeated the West Coast Eagles to claim their third straight premiership.

On 14 August 2017 McEvoy signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at Hawthorn until the end of 2019.[8]

Following a player vote, McEvoy was named Hawthorn's 37th VFL/AFL captain for the 2021 season replacing Ben Stratton who retired following the 2020 season.[9] McEvoy was the first player since Keith Shea in 1945 to become captain after playing for another club. McEvoy also became the first ruckman to captain Hawthorn since Don Scott in 1980.

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of 2020.[10]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles  H/O  Hit-outs
Significant statistics
# Played in that season's premiership team
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2008St Kilda5 1015164100.01.05.01.06.04.01.00.00
2009St Kilda5 11323249813020940.30.22.94.57.42.71.88.50
2010St Kilda5 19747112819975502050.40.23.76.710.53.92.610.80
2011St Kilda5 2245121199320118854970.20.25.59.014.55.43.922.61
2012St Kilda5 16709510119685604050.40.05.96.312.35.33.825.30
2013St Kilda5 2262116137253103634490.30.15.36.211.54.72.920.41
2014#Hawthorn7 13625511216757342710.50.24.28.612.84.42.620.80
2015#Hawthorn7 191218312721080623710.60.14.46.711.14.23.319.50
2016Hawthorn7 231168614723379604430.50.33.76.410.13.42.619.30
2017Hawthorn7 2214111016427488767120.60.05.07.512.54.03.532.45
2018Hawthorn7 19669114323469615830.30.34.87.512.33.63.230.78
2019Hawthorn7 198210113523691465380.40.15.37.112.44.82.428.34
2020Hawthorn7 1641697214151311610.30.14.34.58.83.21.910.10
Career 222883310351515255093064947290.40.14.76.811.54.22.921.319

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

Personal life

McEvoy has a younger brother Peter, who played for the Box Hill Hawks Football Club development team, and lead the development league in goalkicking in 2014, booting 59 goals. The two brothers played alongside each other in the 2014 elimination final against Port Melbourne, with the brothers combining for 6 goals in a 24-point victory to the Hawks, the same game being Peter's debut VFL match.[11][12]

References
  1. "Ben McEvoy". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  2. True Sainters: St Kilda’s ruck future is in great hands with Ben McEvoy
  3. Bourke, Jake (24 September 2010). "Saints come first for grand final: McEvoy". The Border Mail.
  4. Stevens, Mark (4 February 2011). "Ben McEvoy thinks big for Saints". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. "Ben McEvoy's knee injury will disrupt St Kilda's forward line". The Australian.
  6. http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/2013-10-10/hawks-acquire-mcevoy-as-savage-departs
  7. "McEvoy's 'fairy tale' move". Hawthorn Football Club. 1 October 2014.
  8. "Big Boy bound to Hawks". Hawthorn Football Club. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  9. Zita, David (29 January 2021). "Hawthorn announce Ben McEvoy as new captain, intent on 'making amends' for 'disappointing' 2020". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  10. "Ben McEvoy". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  11. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/mcevoys-help-get-the-job-done-over-port-in-the-vfl-20140830-10aha8.html
  12. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/the-box-hill-hawks-stand-tall-to-defeat-minor-premier-port-melbourne-in-their-vfl-qualifying-final/story-fngnvmqa-1227042783313?nk=5126e14ce4eb55316e32c1dcc98455c9

Further reading
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