Hayden Ballantyne (born 16 July 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League. He was a 2014 All Australian and has previously won a Sandover Medal while playing with Peel Thunder.
| Hayden Ballantyne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Hayden Ballantyne | ||
| Date of birth | 16 July 1987 | ||
| Original team(s) | Baldivis JFC | ||
| Draft | No. 21, 2008 National Draft | ||
| Debut | Round 13, 2009, Fremantle vs. Collingwood, at MCG | ||
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Weight | 79 kg (174 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2009–2019 | Fremantle | 171 (254) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2007–2008 | WAFL | 2 (3) | |
| International team honours | |||
| 2015 | Australia | 1 (1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Early career
editOnly 174 cm tall, Ballantyne started his career with Peel Thunder in the West Australian Football League in 2005 as a midfielder. In 2008, Ballantyne moved into the forward line with great success, kicking 75 goals to finish second in the Bernie Naylor Medal behind Subiaco's Brad Smith, and winning the Sandover Medal by 2 votes from Callum Chambers as the fairest and best player in the league.[1] To recognise this achievement, Peel Thunder named the outer wing at Rushton Park the Hayden Ballantyne Wing in April 2009.
AFL career
editBallantyne's success in the WAFL attracted the attention of AFL recruiters, and at the age of 21, he was drafted by the Fremantle Football Club[2] with its second round selection in the 2008 AFL National Draft (pick No. 21 overall).[3] Ballantyne risked being excluded from the draft when he missed the Western Australian state screening session due to being overseas on a holiday. He was later tested individually and allowed to remain nominated for the draft.[4] Ballantyne was a mature-age draftee at the age of 21, with most draftees no older than 18.
Ballantyne won the 2011 AFL Goal of the Year in a play which saw him gather three possessions before goaling from 45 metres out.[5]
In his role as a small forward, Ballantyne became noted for his ability to pester and annoy his opponents, and to often win free kicks by encouraging overzealous retaliation from them. In April 2012, the Herald Sun newspaper named him as the league's "chief pest" for his success in this aspect of the game, in the week after champion Geelong full-back Matthew Scarlett had received a three-week suspension for such a retaliatory punch (Ballantyne himself was suspended for one week for a separate incident in the same match).[6][7] Ballantyne received some criticism following his lacklustre performance in the 2013 AFL Grand Final, which Fremantle lost by 15 points.[8][9]
At the end of the 2017 season, Ballantyne signed a one-year contract extension.[10]In August 2018, he signed a further one-year contract extension for the 2019 season.[11] In August 2019 Ballantyne was informed that he would not be offered a contract extension for 2020.[12]
Post-AFL career
editBallantyne signed with Peel Thunder for the 2020 WAFL Season.[13]
In January 2021 Ballantyne announced his retirement from the WAFL competition.[14]
Personal life
editBallantyne's father, Graeme Ballantyne is a horse trainer based at Lark Hill, Rockingham. The winner of the 2013 Perth Cup, Talent Show, is trained by Graeme and part owned by Hayden and his Fremantle teammate Nick Suban.[2]
On 30 September 2018 Ballantyne's brother Brendan Ballantyne was struck by a pizza delivery car on Ennis Avenue in Waikiki and was killed. He was engaged to his fianceè, who was pregnant with their second child. He was 22.[15]
Honours and achievements
editTeam
- McClelland Trophy (Fremantle) 2015
Individual
WAFL
- Peel Thunder leading goalkicker: (2008)
- Peel Thunder best and fairest: (2008)
- Sandover Medal: (2008)
AFL
- AFL Goal of the Year: (2011)
- All-Australian Team: (2014)
- Fremantle leading goalkicker: (2014)
- Fremantle 25 since '95 Team
- Fremantle Life Member: 2017
Statistics
edit- Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season[16]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 2009 | Fremantle | 17 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 64 | 23 | 87 | 25 | 14 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 8.0 | 2.9 | 10.9 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| 2010 | Fremantle | 1 | 19 | 33 | 17 | 180 | 85 | 265 | 64 | 62 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 9.5 | 4.5 | 13.9 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| 2011 | Fremantle | 1 | 17 | 23 | 19 | 190 | 66 | 256 | 52 | 59 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 11.2 | 3.9 | 15.1 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| 2012 | Fremantle | 1 | 21 | 31 | 17 | 236 | 81 | 317 | 58 | 79 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 11.2 | 3.9 | 15.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 |
| 2013 | Fremantle | 1 | 21 | 34 | 30 | 204 | 72 | 276 | 82 | 66 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 9.7 | 3.4 | 13.1 | 3.9 | 3.1 |
| 2014 | Fremantle | 1 | 20 | 49 | 26 | 194 | 49 | 243 | 86 | 54 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 9.7 | 2.5 | 12.2 | 4.3 | 2.7 |
| 2015 | Fremantle | 1 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 119 | 50 | 169 | 36 | 59 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 7.9 | 3.3 | 11.3 | 2.4 | 3.9 |
| 2016 | Fremantle | 1 | 20 | 26 | 17 | 159 | 84 | 243 | 64 | 60 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 8.0 | 4.2 | 12.2 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| 2017 | Fremantle | 1 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 71 | 33 | 104 | 32 | 34 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 7.1 | 3.3 | 10.4 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| 2018 | Fremantle | 1 | 17 | 21 | 14 | 127 | 60 | 187 | 57 | 37 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 11.0 | 3.4 | 2.2 |
| 2019 | Fremantle | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 10 | 33 | 8 | 6 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 3.3 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| Career | 171 | 254 | 172 | 1567 | 613 | 2180 | 564 | 530 | 1.49 | 1.01 | 9.16 | 3.58 | 12.74 | 3.3 | 3.1 | ||
References
edit- ^ Pike, Chris (21 October 2009). "Ballantyne wins Sandover". news.com.au. News Corp Australia.
- ^ a b Butler, Steve (14 September 2013). "Dad knew son would be a star". The West Australian.
- ^ Clarke, Tim; Ballantynes rise continues with Sandover glory Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine; WAToday; 16 September 2008
- ^ Ballantyne unconcerned by AFL draft drama; ABC News; 22 October 2008
- ^ White, Simon (19 September 2011). "Ballantyne snares goal of the year with a Krakouer".
- ^ Ralph, Jon (3 April 2012). "AFL pests: silent but deadly". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
- ^ "Scarlett, Ballantyne accept AFL bans". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ "Hawthorn lead Fremantle by 23 points at the MCG". The Roar. 28 September 2013.
- ^ Paton, Al (28 September 2013). "Parting shots: Rioli's chicken wing, Hayden Ballantyne's shocker among talking points from Hawthorn's Grand Final win". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ King, Travis (13 September 2017). "Dockers veteran signs new one-year deal". AFL.com.au. Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ^ Fee, Tom (17 August 2018). "Duo on board for 2019". fremantlefc.com.au.
- ^ King, Travis (15 August 2019). "Goodbye Ballas: No contract extension for Freo goalsneak". AFL.com.au.
- ^ McArdle, Jordan (9 December 2019). "Retired Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne signs with Peel Thunder for 2020 season". The West Australian.
- ^ Davies, Owen (7 January 2021). "Thank you Ballas". Peel Thunder Football Club.
- ^ Baker, Emily (30 September 2018). "Brother of Dockers' star Ballantyne killed by car". The West Australian.
- ^ Hayden Ballantyne's player profile at AFL Tables
External links
edit- Hayden Ballantyne's profile on the official website of the Fremantle Football Club
- Hayden Ballantyne's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- WAFL profile