Josh Deluca

Joshua Deluca (born 11 May 1996, also known as Josh Deluca-Cardillo) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who last played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) after being delisted.

Deluca made his senior football debut in 2014 for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and was a member of their 2014 WAFL Grand Final premiership winning team. He was then drafted with the 68th selection in the 2015 AFL national draft by Fremantle. In 2015 he switched to play for Peel Thunder in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), Fremantle's reserve team. He played in his second WAFL premiership in 2016 when Peel won their first ever flag.[1]

Deluca was delisted, and re-drafted twice by Fremantle[2] before he made his AFL debut for Fremantle in round 14 of the 2017 AFL season, when Fremantle lost to Geelong at Simonds Stadium by 2 points.[3] Deluca was again delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season,[4] after having played in his third WAFL premiership when Peel Thunder defeated Subiaco by 16 points.[5]

Season 2018 saw Deluca return to the WAFL and re-join Subiaco.[6] Once again, the season ended in another WAFL premiership win, his fourth, when Subiaco defeated West Perth in the first Grand Final held at Optus Stadium.[7]

Josh was selected in the WAFL State Team which played the SANFL as a curtain raiser to the Fremantle v Richmond game at Optus Stadium on May 12th, 2019. Josh's 29 possessions and a goal saw him voted WA's best player and was awarded the Simpson Medal.[8]

On the 27th of May 2019 he was selected with pick one in the mid season AFL draft by Carlton Football Club[9] and later that year was not offered a new contract.[10] After being delisted by the Blues, Deluca remained in Victoria and signed with the Box Hill Hawks (Hawthorn’s VFL/reserves team) in the hopes of resurrecting his AFL career a third time.[11]