Ben Stratton

Benjamin Stratton (born 1 March 1989) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Ben Stratton
Stratton playing for Hawthorn in April 2017
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Stratton
Date of birth (1989-03-01) 1 March 1989
Place of birth Western Australia
Original team(s) East Perth
Draft No. 46, 2009 national draft
Debut Round 3, 2010, Hawthorn
vs. Western Bulldogs, at Etihad Stadium
Height 189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2010–2020 Hawthorn 202 (2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early career

Stratton was educated at Dunsborough Primary School and MacKillop Catholic College in Busselton. He played for the Augusta Margaret River Football Club before being recruited to East Perth.[1] He then spent three years playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), playing 23 senior games and kicked three goals for East Perth.[2] A medium-sized defender, Stratton was drafted from East Perth with the 46th selection in the 2009 AFL Draft.[3]

AFL career
Stratton in January 2015

Stratton made his AFL debut against Western Bulldogs in round 3 of the 2010 AFL season.[4] Despite being a mature-age rookie, Stratton was awarded the AFL Rising Star nomination for round 14, against the Bulldogs once more.[5]

He dislocated his knee in the third quarter of the Hawks’ win against Richmond in round 3 of the 2011 season and had surgery to repair his posterior cruciate ligament and have the lateral ligament in his right knee stabilised. He missed the most of the remainder of the year,[6] he returned to play in the last home and away game of the season against the Gold Coast Suns and all the 2011 final series.

After a solid 2012 season where he played every game,[7] he was singled out for praise by coach Alastair Clarkson after performing a match saving tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield in the Preliminary Final.[8] However, the Hawks lost the Grand Final to Sydney by 10 points,[9] with Stratton having a quiet game, but restricting Sam Reid to one goal.

Stratton again played every game in 2013,[7] including notching up his 50th consecutive game in the first qualifying final against Sydney. Stratton again played in the Grand Final, with Hawthorn defeating Fremantle and granting him his first premiership.[10]

Stratton's consecutive run was broken in 2014 after a hamstring injury forced him to miss the first 4 rounds of the year.[11] He would return to the side, playing consistent football. Hawthorn would triumph in the 2014 Grand Final over the Sydney Swans, giving Stratton his second premiership.[12]

Stratton played all but one game in the 2015 season, generally performing well and picking up his third premiership after Hawthorn defeated West Coast in the Grand Final.[13]

Despite suffering from a pectoral injury in round 20,[14] Stratton was regarded as having a good 2016 season, drawing especial praise for his performance in round 3 on Western Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer.[15]

Stratton had a good start to 2017,[16] but he injured his posterior cruciate ligament once again in round 8, sidelining him for the rest of the season.[17]

Stratton played his 150th game against Melbourne in round 4 of the 2018 season.[18] Stratton had a decent year in 2018, finishing seventh in Hawthorn's best and fairest medal tally.[19]

Captaincy

He was appointed captain of the club at the start of the 2019 season.[20] In round 13 Stratton was suspended for repeatedly pinching Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia as well as stomping on Shaun McKernan. He received a one week suspension for each incident.[21] Stratton was the subject of a considerable negative reaction for these actions, with Hawthorn CEO (Justin Reeves) declaring that he had 'let himself and the club down'.[22]

On the 14th of September 2020, it was announced that Stratton would retire from the AFL following the 2020 season.[23] He played his final game for Hawthorn the following Sunday in a 108-57 win over the Gold Coast Suns.

Statistics

[24]

Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
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 G B K H D M T
2010Hawthorn39 2110184107291108430.00.08.85.113.95.12.00
2011Hawthorn24 60039347324210.00.06.55.712.24.03.50
2012Hawthorn24 250017511829397700.00.07.04.711.73.92.80
2013#Hawthorn24 2501192175367123740.00.07.77.014.74.93.00
2014#Hawthorn24 1500989819659460.00.06.56.513.13.93.10
2015#Hawthorn24 250415811126992720.00.26.34.410.83.72.90
2016Hawthorn24 210114610725396470.00.17.05.112.14.62.20
2017Hawthorn24 800545010427240.00.06.86.313.03.43.00
2018Hawthorn24 230016411628093440.00.07.15.012.24.01.90
2019Hawthorn24 1900967917564290.00.05.14.29.23.41.50
2020Hawthorn24 1410665512141170.10.04.73.98.62.91.20
Career 202261372105024228244870.00.06.85.212.04.12.40

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References
  1. "East Perth Versus Peel". Margaretrivermail.com.au. 10 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009.
  2. "Stratton's WAFL stats". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  3. "Hawthorn drafts Ben Stratton". Busseltonmail.com.au. 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  4. Holmesby, Luke (4 March 2010). "100 per cent footy suits Stratton". Hawthorn Football Club. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  5. Holmesby, Luke (6 June 2010). "Stratton soars to rising star status". Hawthorn Football Club. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  6. Morwood, Sam (13 April 2011). "Stratton to sit out year". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  7. Bertilli, Lincoln (23 September 2013). "WA's Ben Stratton aiming to end Fremantle dream". The Age. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  8. "Hawks hang on against gutsy Crows". ABC News. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  9. "Swans snatch victory in classic grand final". ABC News. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. Maasdorp, James (28 September 2013). "AFL grand final 2013: Hawthorn v Fremantle as it happened". ABC News. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  11. Timms, Daryl (11 March 2014). "Hawthorn confirm Brad Sewell, Ben Stratton suffered hamstring injuries against Melbourne". News Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  12. Bilton, Dean (27 September 2014). "2014 AFL grand final: Sydney v Hawthorn at the MCG as it happened". ABC News. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  13. Duxson, Nick (19 November 2015). "Season Review: Ben Stratton". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  14. Morris, Tom (9 August 2016). "Hawthorn defender Ben Stratton strains pectoral muscle, will miss 3-4 weeks". Fox Sports. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  15. Hill, Jeremy (21 October 2016). "Season Review: Ben Stratton". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  16. "Season review: Ben Stratton". Hawthorn Football Club. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  17. "Hawthorn defender Ben Stratton to miss rest of season with knee injury". Herald Sun. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  18. Paine, Jackson (12 April 2018). "The rise of Ben Stratton". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  19. Smith, Gordon P. (10 November 2018). "The comprehensive end-of-year review: Hawthorn Hawks". The Roar. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  20. Staff Writers (28 February 2019). "AFL 2019: Hawthorn unveils popular defender Ben Stratton as 2019 skipper". Fox Sports. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  21. "Hawthorn's Ben Stratton suspended for two weeks for pinching, stomping on Essendon players". ABC News. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  22. Staff writers (15 June 2019). "Stratton 'let himself and the club down': Hawks CEO". Australian Football Club. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  23. "Hawks to farewell two champions this Sunday". www.hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  24. Ben Stratton's player profile at AFL Tables
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