Joshua Deluca (born 11 May 1996, also known as Josh Deluca-Cardillo) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who most recently played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Deluca made his senior football debut in 2014 for Subiaco in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(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 The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

in the

(WAFL), Fremantle's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. He played in his second WAFL premiership in 2016 when Peel won their first ever flag. Deluca was delisted, and re-drafted twice by Fremantle before he made his AFL debut for Fremantle in round 14 of the

2017 AFL season The 2017 AFL season was the 121st season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

, when Fremantle lost to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

at Simonds Stadium by 2 points. He was again delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season, after having played in his third WAFL premiership when Peel Thunder defeated Subiaco by 16 points. Season 2018 saw Deluca return to the WAFL and re-join Subiaco. 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 Perth Stadium, commercially known as Optus Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Burswood, Western Australia, Burswood suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It was completed during late 2017 and officially opened ...

. Deluca 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 12 May 2019. His 29 possessions and a goal saw him voted WA's best player and was awarded the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pl ...

. On 27 May 2019, Deluca was selected with pick one in the mid season

AFL draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft (sports), draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League ( ...

and later that year was not offered a new contract. After being delisted by the Blues, he remained in Victoria and signed with the

Box Hill Hawks The Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, currently competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Since 2000, Box Hill has had a reserves a ...

(Hawthorn's VFL/reserves team) in the hopes of resurrecting his AFL career once more. On 10 October 2021, Deluca requested a trade out of Box Hill to head back to his home state, Western Australia. He returned to his home club (Subiaco) for the 2022 season onwards in the WAFL.

References

External links

* * *
WAFL Player Profile and Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deluca, Josh 1996 births Living people Carlton Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Subiaco Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Northern Bullants players Box Hill Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen