(202nd Eagles player)
Western Bulldogs (AFL) 2007-2011
East Perth (WAFL) 2014-2017
Nthn Blues (VFL) 2018
A lively forward hailing from Broome, Josh Hill spent five years with the Western Bulldogs before joining West Coast in 2011.
Western Bulldogs career[]
Hill was drafted by the Bulldogs at pick 61 in the 2006 national draft after playing colts for Claremont. He played 66 games for the Dogs, with his best year coming in 2009 when he kicked 33 goals from 23 games.
His form tapered off in 2010 and 2011, with the goalsneak spending time in the VFL and being trialled off a back flank. At the end of the season, he was traded home to West Coast for a late pick.
West Coast career[]
Hill may have expected to spend some time at Claremont given the strength of West Coast's forward line in 2011, but his recruitment proved more than fortuitous when medium forwards Mark LeCras and Mark Nicoski both suffered serious injuries in the pre-season. In the side from round 1 when he kicked three goals against his old team, Hill played almost every game for 2012 and finished second in the club's goalscoring behind Jack Darling. Just as importantly Hill, despite gaining a reputation at the Bulldogs as a lazy footballer, proved himself able to provide fantastic defensive pressure inside the forward 50.
Hill remained a regular in the senior side in 2013 although, with LeCras returning, he was less of a forward target. He added another 28 goals from 20 games and finished in the top 10 in the Club Champion award.
After playing nearly every game in his first two seasons at the club, Hill found himself on the outer for most of 2014. He played a handful of games early in the season when LeCras was unavailable, and then the last few rounds of the season. Seemingly destined for the scrapheap when he was left out of the senior side in the first couple of rounds in 2015, Hill got a chance due to injuries and grabbed it with both hands, kicking 18 goals in his first half-dozen games to maintain his spot even after Darling returned to the line up. He finished the season with 40 goals, a career-high, and was rewarded with a new contract.
Used further up the ground in 2016 than in previous years, Hill's goal tally was lower than usual, kicking multiple goals on only four occasions and just 24 for the season. After brnging up his 100th Eagles appearance early in 2017, Hill found himself at East Perth in the second half of the year, playing just twice at senior level after the mid-season bye, and was delisted at the end of the season.
Post-AFL career[]
Hill moved back to Victoria and signed with Carlton's VFL affiliate side, Northern Blues, for the 2018 season.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 22 | 36 | 23 | 178 | 92 | 62 | 240 | 69 | 13 | Clar | 0 | ||||||||
| 2013 | 20 | 28 | 19 | 143 | 70 | 64 | 207 | 58 | 17 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 72 | 35 | 31 | 103 | 30 | 10 | EP | 13 | 18 | 17 | 127 | 55 | 41 | 168 | 31 | |
| 2015 | 22 | 40 | 18 | 180 | 85 | 95 | 275 | 56 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 15 | 39 | 6 | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 24 | 9 | 166 | 70 | 103 | 269 | 53 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 79 | 37 | 59 | 138 | 31 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 58 | 21 | 26 | 84 | 20 | ||
| Tot | 107 | 151 | 83 | 818 | 389 | 414 | 1232 | 297 | 78 | ||||||||||
| Avg | 1.4 | 7.6 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 11.5 | 2.8 | 0.7 |
Links[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Josh_Hill.html