Nick Blakey

Nick Blakey (born 27 February 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Nick Blakey
Personal information
Full name	Nicholas Blakey
Nicknames	Lizard,[1] Liz
Born	(2000-02-27) 27 February 2000 (age 25)
Original team	East Sydney Bulldogs/UNSW-Easts (AFL Sydney)/Sydney Swans Academy
Draft	No. 10, 2018 national draft
Height	195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2019–	Sydney	135 (43)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 7, 2025.
Career highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee: 2019 All-Australian team: 2024
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Blakey was born in Melbourne. His father, John Blakey, was a Fitzroy player and dual premiership midfielder for North Melbourne.

He moved to Brisbane with his family at two years of age, due to his father assistant coaching at Brisbane Lions, before settling in Sydney as a six-year-old when his father joined Sydney Swans coaching panel. He grew up in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and attended Waverley College.^[2] Blakey participated in the Auskick program at East Sydney Bulldogs.^[3] In his final year of junior football, he scored 18 goals.^[4]

Blakey had a choice of three possible clubs, North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions through the father-son rule, and the Sydney Swans as a member of the Swans' Development Academy. In early 2018, Blakey revealed his preference was to play for the Sydney Swans.^[5]

He was recruited by the Sydney Swans with the 10th draft pick in the 2018 AFL Draft matching a bid from Greater Western Sydney.^[6] Blakey received a 2019 AFL Rising Star nomination in round 14 of the 2019 AFL season, for his two goal effort against Hawthorn.^[7]

AFL career

On 5 June 2023, Blakey became the first player contracted until the 2030s with a seven year contract extension handed to him by the Sydney Swans.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.^[8]

Legend

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
2019	Sydney	22	21	19	14	153	68	221	50	48	0.9	0.7	7.3	3.2	10.5	2.4	2.3
2020[a]	Sydney	22	16	8	13	126	36	162	36	36	0.5	0.8	7.9	2.3	10.1	2.3	2.3
2021	Sydney	22	17	3	6	138	75	213	65	28	0.2	0.4	8.1	4.4	12.5	3.8	1.6
2022	Sydney	22	24	2	3	350	118	468	104	50	0.1	0.1	14.6	4.9	19.5	4.3	2.1
2023	Sydney	22	24	2	1	318	175	493	98	32	0.1	0.0	13.3	7.3	20.5	4.1	1.3
2024	Sydney	22	26	5	5	414	130	544	154	31	0.2	0.2	15.9	5.0	20.9	5.9	1.2
2025	Sydney	22	23	10	10	400	92	492	126	33	0.4	0.4	17.4	4.0	21.4	5.5	1.4
Career			151	49	52	1899	694	2593	633	258	0.3	0.3	12.6	4.6	17.2	4.2	1.7

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

• Minor Premiership: (Sydney Swans) 2024

Individual

• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2019 (round 14)