Bradley Hill (footballer)

Bradley Hill
Hill playing for the All-Stars in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Bradley Hill
Date of birth	(1993-07-09) 9 July 1993 (age 30)
Original team(s)	West Perth (WAFL)
Draft	No. 33, 2011 national draft
Debut	Round 4, 2012, Hawthorn  vs. West Coast, at Subiaco Oval
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Position(s)	Wingman
Club information
Current club	St Kilda
Number	8
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2012–2016	Hawthorn	095 (58)
2017–2019	Fremantle	054 (21)
2020–	St Kilda	084 (17)
Total		230 (94)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2013–2015	Indigenous All-Stars	2 (1)
2020	All-Stars	1 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2020.
Career highlights
3× AFL premiership player: 2013–2015 Doig Medal: 2017
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Bradley Hill (born 9 July 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2012 to 2016, and for the Fremantle Football Club between 2017 and 2019. He is a very quick running player who plays as a wingman.

AFL career

Hawthorn: 2012–2016

Hill was drafted to Hawthorn with the 33rd selection in 2011 AFL draft from the West Perth Football Club in the WAFL. He is the younger brother of former Fremantle player Stephen Hill, ^{[1] [2]} and the second cousin of former Western Bulldogs and West Coast forward Joshua Hill. ^[3]

He made his debut for Hawthorn against West Coast in round 4 of the 2012 AFL season at Patersons Stadium. He was the substitute player and replaced David Hale in the final quarter. ^[2] Hill kicked 3 goals in his 5 matches for the year.

In the 2013 AFL season Hill switched to the number 10 guernsey and cemented his spot in the starting line-up, playing 24 out of 25 games and kicking 18 goals. The performance that won him a 2013 AFL Rising Star nomination was his 17 disposal and two goal effort in Hawthorn's thrilling win against the Crows at AAMI Stadium in round 6. ^[4]

Hill's good form continued and he was selected for Hawthorn in the 2013 AFL Grand Final at the M.C.G. in front of 100,007 people. In the first quarter Hill passed the ball from the boundary to Jack Gunston in front of goals, which then provided Hawthorn with the first goal of the game. He then repeated the trick in the 3rd quarter when Gunston pounced upon the spilt ball to spin around and kick his 4th goal to re-establish Hawthorn's lead going into the final stanza. Hill also kicked the sealer halfway through the final quarter, running into an open goal to ensure Paul Puopolo's bouncing kick went through, thus giving Hawthorn a 5-goal lead which Fremantle could not overcome.

Fremantle: 2017-2019

At the end of the 2016 season, Hill was traded to Fremantle, joining his brother Stephen. ^[5] Hill won the 2017 Doig Medal, Fremantle's best-and-fairest award, in his first season at the club. In Round 20, 2019 Hill had an outstanding game collecting 27 disposals and having 6 rebound 50s. He claimed that this was his best game since he has been at Fremantle.

St Kilda: 2020–present

See also: 2020 St Kilda Football Club season and 2021 St Kilda Football Club season

In mid 2019, Hill spoke to his manager about seeking a trade to a Victorian-based team at the end of the season. ^[6] It was understood that Hill wanted to return to Victoria, where he played for the Hawks from 2012–2016, for family reasons. As a result, there was significant media speculation throughout the second half of 2019 surrounding Hill's future at Fremantle. ^[7] Hill eventually requested a trade to St Kilda following interest from several Victorian clubs. Trade negotiations between Fremantle and St Kilda were protracted and subject to significant public discussion during the 2019 Trade Period. ^[8] Eventually, on the final day of trading, Hill officially joined the Saints on 16 October in a complicated trade with draft picks 10 and 58, a 2020 second round pick and the Saints' Blake Acres traded to the Dockers in return for Hill and a 2020 third round pick. ^{[9] [10]}

Hill played all 19 possible games in his first season for the Saints (including two finals) in a Covid interrupted season which also saw shorter 16-minute quarters.

Hill played all 22 possible games for the Saints in 2021 and finished equal fifth in the Trevor Barker Award. ^[11]

Statistics

Updated to the end of 2023 ^[12]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
#	Played in that season's  premiership team

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2012	Hawthorn	32	5	3	4	36	14	50	9	3	0.6	0.8	7.2	2.8	10.0	1.8	0.6	0
2013 #	Hawthorn	10	24	18	5	246	141	387	71	50	0.8	0.2	10.3	5.9	16.1	3.0	2.1	0
2014 #	Hawthorn	10	22	10	6	256	193	449	88	53	0.5	0.3	11.6	8.8	20.4	4.0	2.4	2
2015 #	Hawthorn	10	24	16	9	292	185	477	93	48	0.7	0.4	12.2	7.7	19.9	3.9	2.0	4
2016	Hawthorn	10	20	11	13	220	128	348	61	57	0.6	0.7	11.0	6.4	17.4	3.1	2.9	0
2017	Fremantle	9	22	13	14	362	156	518	139	45	0.6	0.6	16.4	7.1	23.5	6.3	2.0	4
2018	Fremantle	9	10	2	2	148	59	207	48	27	0.2	0.2	14.8	5.9	20.7	4.8	2.7	1
2019	Fremantle	9	22	6	8	392	160	552	81	50	0.3	0.4	17.8	7.3	25.1	3.7	2.3	4
2020 [lower-alpha 1]	St Kilda	8	19	2	3	201	92	293	63	27	0.1	0.2	10.6	4.8	15.4	3.3	1.4	2
2021	St Kilda	8	22	3	1	279	155	434	86	50	0.1	0.0	12.7	7.0	19.7	3.9	2.3	4
2022	St Kilda	8	21	6	4	264	176	440	100	37	0.3	0.2	12.6	8.4	21.0	4.8	1.8	4
2023	St Kilda	8	22	6	5	271	184	455	103	43	0.3	0.2	12.3	8.4	20.7	4.7	1.9	0
Career			233	96	74	2967	1643	4610	942	490	0.4	0.3	12.7	7.1	19.8	4.0	2.1	25

Notes

1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

• 3× AFL premiership player (Hawthorn): 2013, 2014, 2015
• 2× Minor premiership (Hawthorn): 2012, 2013

Individual

• Doig Medal: 2017
• 2× Indigenous All-Stars team: 2013, 2015
• All-Stars team: 2020

Trivia

The Hill brothers became the first siblings to play against each other in a Grand Final since the 1912 VFL Grand Final.

References

1. Rynne, Nick; Lewis, Ross (19 April 2012). "Bradley Hill to make Hawks debut". The West Australian . Retrieved 21 April 2012.
2. Reed, Dave (21 April 2012). "Talking points: West Coast v Hawthorn". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
3. O'Donoghue, Craig (3 August 2012). "Hill v Hill as cousins clash". The West Australian. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
4. "Hill's star rises - HAWTHORNFC.com.au". Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
5. Hope, Shayne (13 October 2016). "Brothers reunite as Bradley Hill joins Fremantle". The West Australian . Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
6. "Hill trade talks are heating up". PerthNow. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
7. "Confirmed: Brad Hill will request a trade to Victoria". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
8. "The three-way trade that will give Saints a triple treat". afl.com.au. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
9. "Hill becomes a Saint".
10. "Huge twist in Hill deal: Freo cleans up as speedster, Acres trade places". afl.com.au. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
11. "Steele joins elite company with back-to-back Trevor Barker Awards". saints.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
12. "Bradley Hill". AFL Tables. Retrieved 30 August 2014.

External links

• Bradley Hill's profile on the official website of the St Kilda Football Club
• Bradley Hill's playing statistics from AFL Tables