Eric Hipwood (born 13 September 1997) is a 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 playing for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

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). Primarily a key forward, Hipwood is a premiership player and leading goalkicker for the club.

Early life

Hipwood was born in Melbourne's inner suburb of St Kilda. His parents were passionate St Kilda Saints fans who had married in the stands of Moorabbin Oval prior to his birth. His grandfather, Ken, was instrumental in establishing the Aspley Football Club in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

's northern suburbs and his father, Brad, was a former senior player for Aspley. His grandparents are also life members of the Aspley Football Club. At the age of three, Eric moved to his father's home state of Queensland and settled on the Sunshine Coast with his family where he began playing junior football for Kawana Park at the age of eight. At 13 years of age he was placed in the

Brisbane Lions Academy The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the reigning AFL premiers, having won the ...

and switched allegiances to the Caloundra Panthers. Two years later, at the age of 15, he played his first QFA senior match for Caloundra in their away clash against Aspley and kicked three goals on debut. In his final year of junior football he switched clubs again and played for Aspley in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL ) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural ...

(NEAFL). Hipwood was selected to represent Queensland at the

2015 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2015 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 20th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Victoria Metro, Victoria Country, South Australia and Western Australia in division one, and New South Wal ...

and was named in the All Australian team for his performances. He was then invited to attend the

AFL Draft Combine The AFL Draft Combine, formerly known as the AFL Draft Camp, is a gathering of prospective talent, where selected potential draftees display their athletic prowess and relevant Australian rules football skills. Over four days participants are req ...

in November 2015.

AFL career

Hipwood was drafted by the with their second selection and fourteenth overall in the 2015 national draft as an academy selection after Brisbane matched 's bid on him. He made his AFL debut in the forty-nine point loss against at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

in round 13 of the 2016 season. After the thirty-two point loss against the at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53,600, making it the 7t ...

in round five of the 2017 season, in which he recorded twelve disposals, five marks, four tackles and three goals, he was the round nominee for the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...

. Hipwood played all 22 matches of the 2018 season. With 37 goals, he was Brisbane's leading goalkicker for the year. In round 16, Hipwood kicked 6 goals in Brisbane's win against Carlton. Hipwood received three

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

votes in both this game and the round 9 win against Hawthorn. 2019 saw Hipwood play 23 games including finals with 35 goals kicked for the year. He signed a contract extension, keeping him at Brisbane until at least the end of 2023. In

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 ...

, Hipwood ruptured his ACL in the round 17 match against . He would go on to miss Brisbane's finals series, and only returned 10 months later for a

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 ...

match against . After Hipwood led the Lions in goals during the 2022 finals series, he extended his contract with the club for six additional years, making the signature Brisbane's longest contract since Alastair Lynch in 1994. Hipwood was suspended for one game during the round 10 clash against for a dangerous tackle against Nick Vlastuin. Vlastuin was also fined for striking back at Hipwood. The Lions forward returned from suspension and had a career-best game in round 13 against the , kicking a personal-best six goals. Hipwood was a part of the Brisbane's 2024 premiership winning team, kicking a goal in a 60 point victory over the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

. His goal, a miraculous left-foot goal from the pocket, was celebrated with an imitation of club legend

Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...

. Following the premiership, Hipwood revealed that he played the finals series through an injury.

Statistics

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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Honours and achievements

Team * AFL premiership player:

Individual * Brisbane Lions leading goalkicker: 2018 (37) * 3× 22under22 team: 2017, 2018, 2019 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017 (round 5)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hipwood, Eric 1997 births Living people Brisbane Lions players VFL/AFL premiership players Brisbane Lions premiership players Aspley Football Club players People from St Kilda, Victoria Australian rules footballers from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen