Melissa Hickey | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Full name | Melissa Hickey | ||
Date of birth | 18 December 1984 | ||
Place of birth | Red Cliffs, Victoria | ||
Original team(s) | Darebin (VFLW) | ||
Draft | 2016 marquee signing | ||
Debut | Round 1, 2017, Melbourne vs. Brisbane, at Casey Fields | ||
Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2017–2018 | Melbourne | 13 (2) | |
2019–2020 | Geelong | 12 (0) | |
Total | 25 (2) | ||
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
2017 | Victoria | 1 (0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2020 season. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017. | |||
Career highlights | |||
AFLW
VWFL/VFLW
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Source: AustralianFootball.com |
Melissa Hickey (born 18 December 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Geelong captain in the club's first two AFL Women's seasons. She also played in the Victorian Women's Football League/VFL Women's for eleven seasons, representing the St Albans Spurs, Darebin and Geelong. In the VWFL/VFLW, Hickey won seven premierships, represented Victoria on three occasions and featured in the VFL Women's team of the year.
Hickey represented Melbourne in the exhibition games staged prior to the creation of AFL Women's before being drafted by the club in 2016 as a marquee signing prior to the inaugural AFL Women's season. She was selected in the inaugural AFL Women's All-Australian team in 2017, and also represented Victoria in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match. Following the 2018 season, Hickey was announced as one of four Melbourne players to join Geelong ahead of the club's inaugural season in the AFL Women's.
Hickey was born in Red Cliffs, Victoria, which is sixteen kilometres south of Mildura, and was raised in Mildura. [1] She was born into a family with a strong history in Australian rules football; her great, great uncle, Pat Hickey, played in the inaugural round of the Victorian Football League in 1897 for Fitzroy and won two premierships with the club, [2] her grandfather's cousin was Geelong legend and Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, Reg Hickey, she's related to former Port Adelaide captain and coach, Matthew Primus, and her father, Peter Hickey, played an extensive career in Mildura. [3] She played Australian rules football at a young age, including playing for her primary school, Irymple South Primary School. [4] Without a pathway to playing football beyond the age of twelve for females, she turned to basketball and netball. [5] She attended high school at St Josephs College in Mildura. [6]
Hickey joined the Darebin Falcons in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) in 2009 [7] and won two premierships in her first two years at the club, in addition to representing Victoria during the 2010 AFL Women's National Championships. [8] She changed clubs for the 2011 season and joined St Albans. [9] She played the entire season until she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the finals series and subsequently missed St Albans' grand final victory; [10] despite the injury, her season was rewarded with All-Australian honours. [11] During the year, she represented Victoria for the second consecutive year at the AFL Women's National Championships. [6]
Hickey was forced to miss the entire 2012 season due to her ACL injury and upon her return in 2013, she rejoined the Darebin Falcons and won her third VWFL premiership; in the grand final, she was awarded the Lisa Hardeman Medal as the best player on the ground. [12] In the same year, she was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with the eleventh selection in the 2013 women's draft [13] and played in the inaugural women's AFL exhibition match against the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of approximately 8000 people in a thirty-two point win. [14] In the week prior to the inaugural women's AFL exhibition match, she represented Victoria in the 2013 AFL Women's National Championships, [15] which included winning the championships and being named in the best players in the final. [16]
Hickey's sixth season in VWFL saw her play in her fourth VWFL premiership with Darebin and play thirteen matches in total for the year. [17] She was also one of thirteen players retained by the Melbourne Football Club to play in the 2014 women's AFL exhibition match against the Western Bulldogs, [18] in which the club won by forty-six points at Etihad Stadium. [19] She played every match for the 2015 VWFL season including Darebin's third consecutive premiership and her fifth overall. [20] She was also one of six players retained by the Melbourne Football Club for the two exhibition matches against the Western Bulldogs in 2015. [21] The club won both matches, the first by eight points and the second by four points. [22] [23] In the second match she received a reprimand for striking Western Bulldogs player, Jessica Wuestchner; although it was only an exhibition match, suspensions and reprimands carried over to the VWFL. [24]
After committing herself to a hard-working pre-season leading into the 2016 season, [25] she reaped the rewards by playing in seventeen matches for the year and was named as the centre half-back in the VFL Women's team of the year. [26] In addition to winning her sixth VWFL premiership and fourth consecutive with the Darebin Falcons. [27] With the expansion of the women's exhibition series, she played in three matches for Melbourne in 2016, including the all-star match in September against the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval as a showcase for the inaugural AFL Women's (AFLW) season in 2017. [28]
In July 2016, Hickey was announced as one of two marquee player signings for the Melbourne Football Club, alongside Daisy Pearce. [29] She was announced as the vice-captain of the club alongside Elise O'Dea in January 2017. [30] She debuted in Melbourne's inaugural match against Brisbane at Casey Fields in a fifteen-point loss, where she recorded thirteen disposals and three marks. [31] In her second match, she was tasked with playing on Collingwood marquee forward, Moana Hope, and kept her goalless when playing on her in the nineteen point win at IKON Park. [32] The next week, she kicked her first AFLW goal in the fourteen point win over the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval, [33] and she was named in Melbourne's best players by AFL Media and The Age . [34] [35] At the end of the season, Hickey was listed in the 2017 All-Australian team. [36]
Hickey played in the opening six rounds of the 2018 AFL Women's season before rupturing her ACL during the round six win against Carlton at Ikon Park and subsequently missed the final round of the season. [37]
In May 2018, prior to the 2018 AFL Women's signing period, Hickey was announced as one of four Melbourne players, along with Richelle Cranston, Erin Hoare and Anna Teague, to join Geelong in the newly expanded competition. [38] Hickey said that AFL head of football operations Steve Hocking, who had previously worked at Geelong as football manager for ten years, gave her "the best bit of advice I got out of all the people I spoke to", telling her to "put money out of the equation". [39] She was officially signed by the club at the beginning of the trading and signing period on 11 May 2018. [40] Hickey was named the club's inaugural captain in December. [41]
After missing the first two rounds of the 2019 season to fully recover from her knee reconstruction, during which Geelong VFL Women's captain Rebecca Goring captained the team, [42] [43] Hickey made her Geelong debut in round 3. [44] She later led Geelong in its first finals appearance the following month. [45] At the end of the 2020 season, which was cut short as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, [46] Hickey announced her retirement. [47]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
2017 | Melbourne | 18 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 45 | 81 | 19 | 26 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.2 | 6.4 | 11.6 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 0 |
2018 | Melbourne | 18 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 30 | 59 | 11 | 24 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 9.8 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 2 |
2019 | Geelong | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 26 | 59 | 18 | 23 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 9.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 0 |
2020 | Geelong | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 20 | 51 | 15 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 8.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0 |
Career [48] | 25 | 2 | 0 | 129 | 121 | 250 | 63 | 79 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2 |
Hickey is currently the coach of the Vic Country team which participates in the AFLW Under 19 Championships, and was named in the All-Australian team as the coach in 2021. [49]
Hickey was in a relationship with fellow AFLW player Katie Brennan from 2012 to 2017. [50]
Hickey is currently in a relationship with former teammate Danielle Higgins, and they share a son, named River, born in 2024. [51]
Individual
The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is a sports club based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that is primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VFLW). It is the only VFLW club that is not affiliated with a side from the national AFL Women's (AFLW) competition or the Australian Football League (AFL).
Daisy Pearce is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagles.
Katie Brennan is an Australian rules footballer with and captain of the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for and captained the Western Bulldogs from 2017 to 2019. Brennan was signed as a marquee player by the Bulldogs ahead of the inaugural AFL Women's season in 2017, and was their leading goalkicker in 2019.
Moana Hope is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the AFL Women's competition from 2017 to 2019, including 13 matches over two seasons at Collingwood and a further seven matches over one season at North Melbourne. Each followed an extended career at state-league level before the creation of a national league.
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Stephanie Chiocci is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Chiocci served as Collingwood captain for the duration of her Collingwood career from 2017 to 2022 (S7), including as co-captain alongside Brianna Davey from 2021 to season seven, following which she moved to St Kilda.
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Meghan McDonald is an Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). She previously played with the Western Bulldogs in the 2017 season. McDonald was recruited by the Western Bulldogs as a free agent in November 2016. She made her debut in the seven point loss to Collingwood at VU Whitten Oval in round four of the 2017 season. She played four matches in her debut season and kicked one goal. She was delisted at the conclusion of the 2017 season. In September 2018 she accepted a contract with Geelong to play in the club's inaugural season in the AFLW in 2019. She was awarded Geelong's best and fairest medal in her debut season at the club. In December 2020, McDonald was announced as Geelong's captain, replacing Melissa Hickey who retired at the end of the 2020 season. In the 2021 AFL Women's season, McDonald was awarded with her second All-Australian blazer, named on the full back position. McDonald achieved selection in Champion Data's 2021 AFLW All-Star stats team, after leading the league for average intercept possessions in the 2021 AFL Women's season, totalling 8.3 a game.
The 2019 season was Geelong Football Club's first in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Geelong joined the league as an expansion club alongside North Melbourne, having initially been denied entry into the competition's first season in 2017. Paul Hood was the club's inaugural senior coach, and Melissa Hickey was appointed club captain.