Ellie Blackburn

Ellie Blackburn
Blackburn playing for the Western Bulldogs in 2018
Personal information
Full name Ellie Blackburn
Date of birth (1995-03-25) 25 March 1995
Original team(s) Melbourne University (VFLW)
Draft 2016 marquee selection
Debut Round 1, 2017, Western Bulldogs
vs. Fremantle, at VU Whitten Oval
Height 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / forward
Club information
Current club Western Bulldogs
Number 2
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017– Western Bulldogs 15 (9)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2017 Victoria 1 (3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2018 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Ellie Blackburn (born 25 March 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women's (AFLW). In 2017, Blackburn was selected in the inaugural AFL Women's All-Australian team, and was the Bulldogs' inaugural leading goalkicker and joint winner (with Emma Kearney) of the inaugural Western Bulldogs best and fairest award. In 2018, Blackburn captained the Bulldogs to their first AFL Women's premiership in the absence of suspended captain Katie Brennan, and was again selected in the AFL Women's All-Australian team.

Early life

Blackburn began playing competitive football in the under-9s division for the Beaconsfield Junior Football Club.[1][2] 2011 saw her named player of the carnival at the national under-18 championships. In 2013, she was the captain of the Victorian side at the under 18 championships, where she was named the competition's best-and-fairest player.[2][3] She was awarded under 18 All-Australian selection in 2011, 2012, and her final year of eligibility in 2013.[1]

She attended high school at Hallam Senior College in Melbourne's outer east.[1] Blackburn played state football for Melbourne University in the VFL Women's (VFLW). She was drafted by Melbourne with the thirteenth pick in the inaugural women's draft in 2013 and represented the club in the women's exhibition games between 2013 and 2016.[2] Over this time she averaged 20 disposals per match for the club.[2] In July 2016, Blackburn was signed by the Western Bulldogs – the team that she played against in all of the exhibition matches – as one of two marquee players ahead of the inaugural AFL Women's season.[4]

AFL Women's career

Blackburn was announced as a member of the Bulldogs' inaugural four-woman leadership group in late January 2017.[5] Blackburn made her debut in round 1, 2017, against Fremantle at Whitten Oval.[6] She was named among the Bulldogs' best, recording twelve disposals and kicking her first league goal in the match. In round 3, Blackburn was named the Bulldogs' best, recording a team high twenty-six disposals and six tackles for the match.[7]

Blackburn was highlighted as "Player of the Week" by the AFL Players Association for her round 5 performance in the 2017 AFL Women's season.[8] At the end of the season, Blackburn was second in the competition for kicks, one behind Melbourne's Karen Paxman.[9] Teammates also spoke highly of her leadership after she captained the team for majority of the season, with captain Katie Brennan injured.[8]

At the end of the 2017 season, Blackburn was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players' Most Valuable Player Award[10] and was listed in the 2017 AFL Women's All-Australian team.[11] In May 2017, she was announced as the co-winner of the Susan Alberti award, as the equal best-and-fairest player at the club alongside Emma Kearney.[12]

The Western Bulldogs signed Blackburn for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[13] On 2 September, Blackburn played for Victoria in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match, where she was named among Victoria's best players with three goals.[14]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season.[15]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league for the season only
Led the league after the Grand Final only
Led the league after season and Grand Final
Season Team No. Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T Votes
Totals Averages (per game)
2017 Western Bulldogs 276121013513617260.91.714.45.019.42.43.710
2018 Western Bulldogs 28361023313523260.40.912.84.116.92.93.36
Career 15 9 18 203 68 271 40 52 0.6 1.2 13.5 4.5 18.1 2.7 3.5 16

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "#26 Ellie Blackburn". VWFL. Sports TG. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Player Profile: Ellie Blackburn". Western Bulldogs. Bigpond. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "AFL Women's Draft". Hallam Senior College. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Women's AFL: Who are the marquee players?". ABC. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Waterworth, Ben (2 February 2017). "Captains and leadership group members for every AFLW club for 2017 season". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Navaratnam, Dinny (4 February 2017). "Dogs dominate wayward Freo women's side". afl.com.au. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Matthews, Bruce (18 February 2017). "AFLW: Demons far too good for Bulldogs". afl.com.au. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  8. 1 2 "AFLW Player Of The Week: Round 5". AFL Players Association. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  9. ↑ @championdata (4 March 2017). "AFLW Player Stat Leaders after Round 5 matches.(Ties ordered by games played, player name)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "AFLW MVP Nominations Revealed". AFL Players Association. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Navaratnam, Dinny (28 March 2017). "Lions, Crows dominate AFLW All Australian team". afl.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  12. ↑ @bulldogsw (19 May 2017). "Your winners of the 2017 Western Bulldogs AFLW Best and Fairest!! #RealStrength" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period". afl.com.au. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  14. ↑ Black, Sarah (2 September 2017). "AFLW: Daisy stands tall as Big V dominates". afl.com.au. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  15. ↑ "Ellie Blackburn". Australian Football. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.