Heath Hocking

Last updated

Heath Hocking
Personal information
Full name Heath Hocking
Date of birth (1987-12-27) 27 December 1987 (age 35)
Original team(s) Eastern Ranges (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 20, 2006 rookie draft
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2007–2017 Essendon 126 (45)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2017.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Heath Hocking (born 27 December 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Originally from Mooroolbark, he was drafted by Essendon with the 20th selection in the 2006 rookie draft from Eastern Ranges in TAC Cup. He was elevated to the main list in 2007, playing one game late in the 2007 season.

Hocking is a solid and hard-at-it midfielder, who primarily plays a defensive tagging role on opposition midfielders. [1] He finished second in the Essendon's best and fairest award, the Crichton Medal, in 2010 and fifth in 2011. [2]

His father, Graham Hocking played one game for South Melbourne in 1971 and his older brother Evan has played in the Victorian Football League for Port Melbourne Football Club. [1]

Hocking, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his teammates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, [3] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 AFL season. [4]

With the retirements of Jobe Watson and Brent Stanton at the end of the 2017 AFL season, Hocking was the last player remaining on the Essendon playing list to be coached by Kevin Sheedy until he was delisted in September 2017. [5]

In 2022, Hocking was enticed back to his former junior club where his Mooroolbark team was defeated in the Division One Eastern  FNL Grand Final.

Hocking has also taken to ultra-running and finished second in the 12 hour run section of the 2023 Coburg 24 Hour Carnival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jobe Watson</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1985

Jobe Watson is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion Tim Watson, was drafted by Essendon under the father–son rule in the 2002 national draft, and went on to become one of the best midfielders of the modern era. A dual All-Australian and three-time Crichton Medallist, he captained Essendon from 2010 to early 2016, and was the face of the Essendon playing group during the most turbulent period in the club's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Crowley</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1984

Ryan Crowley is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played as a midfielder and specialised in a tagging role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angus Monfries</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1987

Angus Monfries is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Monfries played as a forward pocket or half forward.

Nathan Lovett-Murray is a former Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club.

Sam Lonergan is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted from the Launceston Football Club, via the Tassie Mariners U18s and the Tasmanian Devils, with selection 50 in the 2005 Draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Stanton</span> Australian rules footballer

Brent Stanton is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Scott Gumbleton is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon and Fremantle Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Henry Slattery is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Prismall</span> Australian rules footballer

Brent Prismall is a former Australian rules football player for the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cale Hooker</span> Australian rules footballer

Cale Hooker is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Kyle Hardingham is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Howlett</span> Australian rules footballer

Ben Howlett is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart Crameri</span> Australian rules footballer

Stewart Crameri is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon, Western Bulldogs and Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dyson Heppell</span> Australian rules footballer

Dyson Heppell is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Heppell won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season in 2011, and won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2014. He served as Essendon captain from the 2017 season, and relinquished the captaincy before 2023 season proper having lead the side 107 times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hibberd</span> Australian rules footballer

Michael George Hibberd is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 93 kilograms (205 lb), Hibberd plays primarily on the half-back flank. After spending the 2008 season with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, he missed out on selection in the 2008 AFL draft, which saw him spend two seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with the Frankston Football Club. After winning Frankston's best and fairest and the Fothergill-Round Medal as the VFL's most promising young player in 2010, he was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the fourth selection in the 2011 pre-season draft.

Alex Browne is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Browne played for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup. He was drafted by Essendon with pick 48 in the 2010 national draft and made his debut against Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round 11 of the 2011 AFL season. He was delisted in October 2015.

Cory Dell'Olio is an Australian rules football player who last played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, before he was delisted at the end of the 2014 season. He was recruited with pick #29 in the 2011 Rookie Draft, having played as a small forward for the South Fremantle Football Club in the WAFL.

Brendan Lee is a former professional Australian rules football player at the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and most notable for his long career with East Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).

The Essendon Football Club supplements saga was a sports controversy that occurred during the early- and mid-2010s. It centred around the Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was investigated starting in February 2013 by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over the legality of its supplements program during the 2012 AFL season and the preceding preseason. After four years of investigations and legal proceedings, thirty-four players at the club were found guilty of having used the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 and incurred suspensions.

Michael Hartley is a professional Australian rules footballer who most recently played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

References

  1. 1 2 Gullan, Scott (7 June 2013). "Essendon gun Heath Hocking carves out career the hard way". Herald Sun.
  2. ↑ "Club Best and Fairest Awards". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Twomey, Callum (31 March 2015). "Thirty-four present and former Bombers cleared of all drug charges". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Essendon Veteran Delisted". Triple M . 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.