Blackwell is 2023 Club Legend

By Ken Casellas

Rarely has there been a Claremont footballer with such a selfless attitude, with such balance, precise skills and a calm temperament as Luke Blackwell.

He wasn’t a towering muscular giant, he wasn’t blessed with sizzling speed, he didn’t boot the ball out of sight or fly high to take spectacular marks. But he ranks as one of the club’s greatest players because of his rare ability and his team-first disposition.

His insatiable appetite for hard work and unselfish attitude made him an inspiring leader during his six years at Claremont. His unerring foot-passing, great proficiency with handball on both sides of his body, his nous at knowing where to go to get the football, his ability to think quickly under pressure and to invariably select the right option were the hallmarks of a wonderful career.

Now 36 and living in Victoria, Blackwell has been honoured as Claremont’s 2023 match-day legend.

Blackwell, a champion centreman, retired from senior football at the tender age of 27, mainly because of the wear and tear on his body. Always hard in and under, Blackwell received a constant buffeting from opponents. Never did he shirk any issue or complain. His professionalism and devotion to training made him a great role model for younger players.

He won the E. B. Cook Medal in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014, equalling the feat of club legends Denis Marshall and Graham Moss. He also finished third in 2012 when he missed three matches, and was 20^th in 2013 when a serious ankle injury kept him on the sidelines for three months.

Apart from his four Cook medals, Blackwell won the Sandover Medal in 2011 when he polled 42 votes and finished nine ahead of Subiaco’s Kyal Horsley. He received 34 votes and finished third behind Perth’s Ross Young in the 2009 Sandover Medal, and a year later he was second to Swan Districts rover Andrew Krakouer.

In 2012 Blackwell polled 33 votes and finished in seventh place in the medal. After being injured for more than half the season in 2013 he received 22 votes and was 13^th behind East Fremantle’s Rory O’Brien.

Then in his final year, in 2014, Blackwell polled 46 votes to finish second in the Sandover Medal, one vote behind West Perth’s Aaron Black. He was awarded the Simpson Medal as Western Australia’s best player against Victoria in 2010, and a year later he headed the voting with East Perth’s Josh Smith for the Simpson Medal in the match against Queensland. But Smith was awarded the medal, with the umpires casting the deciding vote.

Blackwell was a shining light in Claremont’s 2011 and 2012 league premiership sides, after the disappointment of playing in the 2010 grand final in which Swan Districts snatched a one-point victory. He was the captain in the 2012 grand final victory over East Fremantle. He also was a member of the Claremont side which won the Foxtel Cup, beating Werribee by 44 points in the grand final in 2012.

Blackwell appeared in 114 WAFL league matches for the Tigers and he played in three Foxtel Cup matches and represented WA on four occasions.

Blackwell is the elder son of Claremont’s 1981 premiership vice-captain Wayne Blackwell, who played in 112 league matches for the Tigers before representing Carlton in 110 VFL matches.

Luke Blackwell was recruited by Claremont at 22 at the start of the 2009 season after he had been delisted by Carlton where he represented the club in 23 AFL fixtures in 2006 and 2007 before a torn quadriceps muscle in his right leg kept him out of action for much of the 2008 season.

At Claremont, Blackwell was the epitome of a team player par excellence who shunned the limelight and simply got on with the job with the minimum of fuss or fanfare. He was modest, unassuming, self-deprecating and a harsh self-critic whose professionalism and exquisite skills earned him the reputation as a superstar and one of Claremont’s all-time greats.