After a frustrating off season, Luke Ball’s first year at Collingwood was scripted to perfection. He played 24 games and averaged a career-high 6.5 tackles per match to lead his club and was fourth overall in the competition in total tackles. His decision to leave the Saints was validated when he held the Premiership Cup high on the second of October. When packs formed supporters expected to see number 12 at the bottom of the pile.
?2010 highlights
Round 6 v Carlton: Talk about complete games. It took six matches before Ball slotted his first goal for his new club and he ended the day with three. 20 possessions, eight tackles and three marks earned his sole Brownlow vote for the season.
Round 19 v Geelong: 14 tackles. Yes that number is correct. After not laying one effective tackle in the loss to Geelong earlier in the year, Ball went for broke. His post-match CTV interview when he used the phrase ‘we’ to describe the club’s efforts in previous seasons against the Cats, rated through the roof.
Grand final replay: What a difference a second grand final can make. Collected 25 possessions (12 more than the week before) and had six more marks. Displayed complete class during the celebrations.
