| 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 (age 35) | ||
| Place of birth | Colbinabbin | ||
| Original team(s) | Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No. 9,2007 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 13, 2008,St Kilda vs.Fremantle, atTelstra Dome | ||
| Height | 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) | ||
| Weight | 101 kg (223 lb)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Ruckman,Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2008–2013 | St Kilda | 91(27) | |
| 2014–2022 | Hawthorn | 161(79) | |
| Total | 252 (106) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2022 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Ben McEvoy (born 11 July 1989) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer who played for theSt Kilda Football Club andHawthorn Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL).
McEvoy is anAustralian 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 theMurray Bushrangers in theTAC Cup. In 2007 he captained theMurray Bushrangers and won the best and fairest award.
McEvoy was recruited bySt Kilda with the ninth selection in the2007 AFL draft from theMurray Bushrangers. With an injury toMichael Gardiner he made his debut for St Kilda againstFremantle 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]
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 theGrand Final.[3] With injury to first ruck Michael Gardiner, McEvoy regained his place in the side for thegrand final replay in which St Kilda were defeated byCollingwood.
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 withSteven King before and during the season to improve his technical skill to assume the lead ruck role for the club.
He was St Kilda's number one ruckman again in 2012, but had mid season surgery to his knee after he injured it at 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.
McEvoy played all 22 games for St Kilda in season 2013 and held down the number one ruck role.
During the 2013 trade period, McEvoy was traded by St Kilda to Hawthorn in exchange for young midfielderShane 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 inCambodia 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 ruckmanMax 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 defeatedSydney 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 replacingBen Stratton who retired following the 2020 season.[9] McEvoy was the first player sinceKeith Shea in 1945 to become Hawthorn captain after playing for another club. McEvoy also became the first ruckman to captain Hawthorn sinceDon Scott in 1980.
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | H/O | Hit-outs |
# | Played in that season's premiership team |
| 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 | |||||
| 2008 | St Kilda | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2009 | St Kilda | 5 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 49 | 81 | 30 | 20 | 94 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 7.4 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 8.5 | 0 |
| 2010 | St Kilda | 5 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 71 | 128 | 199 | 75 | 50 | 205 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 10.5 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 10.8 | 0 |
| 2011 | St Kilda | 5 | 22 | 4 | 5 | 121 | 199 | 320 | 118 | 85 | 497 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 14.5 | 5.4 | 3.9 | 22.6 | 1 |
| 2012 | St Kilda | 5 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 95 | 101 | 196 | 85 | 60 | 405 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 12.3 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 25.3 | 0 |
| 2013 | St Kilda | 5 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 116 | 137 | 253 | 103 | 63 | 449 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 11.5 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 20.4 | 1 |
| 2014# | Hawthorn | 7 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 55 | 112 | 167 | 57 | 34 | 271 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.2 | 8.6 | 12.8 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 20.8 | 0 |
| 2015# | Hawthorn | 7 | 19 | 12 | 1 | 83 | 127 | 210 | 80 | 62 | 371 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 11.1 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 19.5 | 0 |
| 2016 | Hawthorn | 7 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 86 | 147 | 233 | 79 | 61 | 443 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.7 | 6.4 | 10.1 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 19.3 | 0 |
| 2017 | Hawthorn | 7 | 22 | 14 | 1 | 110 | 164 | 274 | 88 | 76 | 712 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 12.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 32.4 | 5 |
| 2018 | Hawthorn | 7 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 91 | 144 | 235 | 69 | 61 | 583 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.8 | 7.6 | 12.4 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 30.7 | 8 |
| 2019 | Hawthorn | 7 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 101 | 135 | 236 | 91 | 46 | 538 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 5.3 | 7.1 | 12.4 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 28.3 | 4 |
| 2020[a] | Hawthorn | 7 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 69 | 72 | 141 | 51 | 31 | 161 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 8.8 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 10.1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Hawthorn | 7 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 135 | 140 | 275 | 111 | 78 | 370 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 12.5 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 16.8 | 0 |
| 2022 | Hawthorn | 7 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 57 | 93 | 17 | 26 | 178 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 4.5 | 7.1 | 11.6 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 22.3 | 0 |
| Career[10] | 252 | 106 | 42 | 1206 | 1713 | 2919 | 1058 | 754 | 5277 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 4.8 | 6.8 | 11.6 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 20.9 | 19 | ||
Notes
Team
Individual
McEvoy has a younger brother Peter, who played for theBox Hill Hawks Football Club development team, and lead theDevelopment League in goalkicking in2014, booting 59 goals. The two brothers played alongside each other in the 2014 qualifying final againstPort 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]
