Luke Ball | |||
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Ball wearing St Kilda colours
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Luke Patrick Ball | ||
Date of birth | 25 May 1984 | ||
Original team(s) | Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup) | ||
Draft | No. 2 (PP), 2001 National Draft, St Kilda No. 30, 2009 National Draft, Collingwood |
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Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Playing career | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2003–2009 | St Kilda | 142 (58) | |
2010–2014 | Collingwood | 81 (33) | |
Total | 223 (91) | ||
International team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
2004 | Australia | 2 | |
Career highlights | |||
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Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a retired professional Australian rules football player who played for St Kilda and Collingwood football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club where he was captain in 2007 and best and fairest and All-Australian in 2005. He is one of the only players in AFL history to have played in three consecutive grand finals for two clubs; 2009 for St Kilda and 2010 and 2011 for Collingwood.
Ball is the younger brother of Hawthorn player Matthew Ball, both of whom played for the local football club at Ashburton in their junior years. Both brothers and little sister Sophie grew up with their parents in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris, attending St Roch's Primary School. His father, Ray Ball, was also a footballer, who played for Richmond and South Melbourne.
He was drafted to the St Kilda Football Club in 2001 with the priority pick (number 2 overall) in the AFL Draft. The draft that year was known as the "super draft" and Ball was taken behind Luke Hodge and ahead of Chris Judd. He debuted in 2003 after having injury problems and choosing to play football for Xavier College in his final school year. Ball finished his schooling with a VCE ENTER score of 98.8.