Ben McEvoy (born 11 July 1989) 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 played for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

and

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

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).

Early career

McEvoy is an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

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 BeautyTrue Sainters: St Kilda’s ruck future is in great hands with Ben McEvoy
/ref> and U18 football with the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta. The Under 1 ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

. In 2007 he captained the

and won the best and fairest award.

AFL career

St Kilda

McEvoy was recruited by with the ninth selection in the

2007 AFL draft The 2007 Australian Football League draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2007/08 Australian Football League off-season. These were AFL trade week, trade week, the national draft, which was held on 24 November ...

from the

. With an injury to

Michael Gardiner Michael Strickland Gardiner (born 5 July 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Albany, Western Australia. Ga ...

he made his debut for St Kilda against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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 The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East. The club, which was previously known as the Springvale Football Club (1903–2005) and the Casey Scorpions (2 ...

2010 season

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 the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

. With injury to first ruck Michael Gardiner, McEvoy regained his place in the side for the

grand final replay A grand final replay was a method of deciding the winner of a competition when a grand final is drawn. It is commonly used in football codes, particularly in Australian rules football. It was most notably used in the Australian Football League on ...

in which St Kilda were defeated by Collingwood.

2011 season

The 2011 season was widely considered McEvoy's breakout season. After a strong preseason, McEvoy's fitness and preparation was lauded as outstanding by those close to the club. He worked closely with Steven King before and during the season to improve his technical skill to assume the lead ruck role for the club.

2012 season

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. 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.

2013 season

McEvoy played all 22 games for St Kilda in season 2013 and held down the number one ruck role.

Hawthorn

During the 2013 trade period, McEvoy was traded by St Kilda to Hawthorn in exchange for young midfielder

Shane Savage Shane Savage (born 5 January 1991) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Hawthorn Football Club, and St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League. Early life Born in New Zealand, Savage moved to Australia as a ...

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 in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

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 ruckman

Max Bailey Max Bailey (born 23 October 1986) is a former Australian rules football coach and player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. He most recently served as the development coach of the Hawthorn Football C ...

announced his retirement post-season. After being in and out of the side during the 2014 season, McEvoy featured in the Hawthorn side which defeated by 63 points to win the club's 12th premiership. 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. Following a player vote, McEvoy was named Hawthorn's 37th VFL/AFL captain for the 2021 season replacing

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). Early career Stratton was educated at Dunsborough Primary School and MacKillop C ...

who retired following the 2020 season. McEvoy was the first player since

Keith Shea Keith Sylvester Shea (10 August 1914 – 27 February 1951) was an Australian rules footballer who played at high levels in both Victoria and Western Australia. His senior VFL playing career spanned from 1932 to 1945, although it was interrupte ...

in 1945 to become Hawthorn captain after playing for another club. McEvoy also became the first ruckman to captain Hawthorn since Don Scott in 1980.

Statistics

, - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , , 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 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , , , 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 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , 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 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , , 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 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , , 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 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , , 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 , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

^# , , , , 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 , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

^# , , , , 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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 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 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 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 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 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 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 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 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 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 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 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 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 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

Honours and achievements

Team * 2× AFL premiership player ():

Minor premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

():

* Minor premiership ():

Individual * Hawthorn captain: 2021–2022 * best clubman: 2021 * life member * Under 18 All-Australian team:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Personal life

McEvoy has a younger brother Peter, who played for the

Box Hill Hawks Football Club 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 ...

development team, and lead the Development League in goalkicking in

, booting 59 goals. The two brothers played alongside each other in the 2014 qualifying final against

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

, with the brothers combining for 6 goals in a 24-point victory to the Hawks, the same game being Peter's debut VFL match.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/the-box-hill-hawks-stand-tall-to-defeat-minor-premier-port-melbourne-in-their-vfl-qualifying-final/story-fngnvmqa-1227042783313?nk=5126e14ce4eb55316e32c1dcc98455c9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McEvoy, Ben 1989 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club premiership players Murray Bushrangers players Box Hill Football Club players Casey Demons players VFL/AFL premiership players AFL Academy graduates 21st-century Australian sportsmen