Luke Ball Biography

In an interview with Damian Barrett, Ross Lyon speculates that trading Luke Ball to Collingwood may have resulted in the Pies' Grand Final success in 2010 against his team.

"He took some IP (intellectual property), with Max Hudghton (as an assistant coach) to help teach the press to Collingwood, and their talent was very strong," Lyon said.

"Clarko (Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson) started that mobile grid and we did a bit of work and turned it into a strong press, and Collingwood hadn't done it very well in 2009, but in 2010, they became good."

Essendon appoints Luke Ball as their people performance manager.

Ball will work closely with football manager Dan Richardson and coach John Worsfold in maximising the relationships between coaches and players and enhancing players' and coaches' individual leadership skills.

"Luke is highly respected and brings over 15 years of AFL industry experience to the club," Richardson said.

"His extensive knowledge of football both as a player and in many areas throughout the AFL make his appointment a significant result for the club."

Luke Ball steps down as the AFL Players' Association president.

AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh told News Ltd that Ball's decision had not come as a complete surprise.

"Like most blokes who are transitioning out of the game, you weigh up a lot of your options and I think it's taken him a while to work out what he wants to do," Marsh said.

"It's been pretty much standard practice for the president of the PA to be a current player ... but the indications probably were that he would stay on.

"I think he reflected on things around the Christmas break ... that's fair enough and it wasn't completely surprising."

Recently retired premiership stars Brad Sewell and Luke Ball have been appointed to the Match Review Panel for 2015 as part of a complete overhaul of the system.

The pair make up half of the newly-appointed panel, which also includes former Saint Nathan Burke and Collingwood premiership player Michael Christian.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley pays tribute to Luke Ball after the veteran midfielder played his last AFL as a Magpie against the Hawks.

Ball gathered 21 disposals in a 65-point loss to Hawthorn.

"These type of blokes don't come around all the time, and it does highlight that it doesn't last forever," Buckley said of Ball.

"Even the best blokes who have given everything of themselves for the time they have, it comes to an end for everyone unfortunately.

"The message for the young blokes is take advantage of it, make hay while the sun shines and enjoy your field of dreams when you've got that chance."

Luke Ball has had a change of heart and will retire at the end of the season.

The Magpie midfielder would have required back surgery to play on in 2015 and has instead opted to call it a day.

"I still have the competitive will to play on but the team is evolving and physically I know I need everything to go right to meet my expectations and the standard required by the team," Ball said in a statement.

"To be honest, I'm at peace with the decision. If I step back and consider the sweep of my career, I've got so much to appreciate and be thankful for. I've had great fun, met all sorts of people, made some wonderful friends, been challenged by disappointments and injuries and derived enormous satisfaction from competing and striving for success.

"I love the game and I want to leave loving it."

Magpies veteran Luke Ball says he wants to play on in 2015.

"I've had a look at both scenarios in the last couple of weeks, and I still feel like I've got enough competitive juice in the body to go again," Ball told Triple M radio.

"But the club might decide that it's time to go another way."

Luke Ball says he will use the latter half of this year to determine whether he will continue his career next season.

"We'll sit down at the end of the year and see how I'm going, see how the team's going and make a decision then," Ball said.

"I'm not too fussed about that at the moment."

Luke Ball makes his return to football in a win against Geelong after spending 13 months recovering from an arterior cruciate ligament injury.

"You can't define what he brings to his teammates with any kicks, marks, handballs or any stats, it's that intangible," Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said.

"It's (his) great leadership, his drive, his will to win, especially when the game's on the line, (that's when) he generally has an impact. He was fantastic for us and he'll just get better week to week."

Luke Ball makes his return to football via the VFL after his knee reconstruction and says he has pulled up fine.

"I am (feeling good), actually. After 12 months you don't know how it's going to feel," Ball said.

"I got a hit-out and gave the knee a couple of tests and it held up. It's good."

Luke Ball is unlikely to be ready for round one following complications with major knee surgery last season.

The Magpies admit to having to lighten Ball's training loads due to tenderness where a piece of the hamstring tendon was removed to replace his torn knee ligament.

"Where he had the insertion of the graft it's just a bit tender still, so we backed his training off a week or two ago just to try to give him some time to get over that soreness," Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh said.

"There's soreness there and that's the symptom of the graft itself rather than any injury, but it's something that our medico guys wanted to back off and he's now just starting to build back up."

Luke Ball reveals he has changed his game to lessen the risk of concussion

"I reckon going back a few years I've subconsciously changed a little bit the way I've gone about it," Ball said.

"[But] I can't even specifically point out how."

Nick Maxwell will captain the Pies in 2013, with Scott Pendlebury as vice captain. Luke Ball and Dayne Beams will serve as deputy vice-captains.

"They're all fantastic positive examples about how to go about your footy, they're great teammates, they're great footballers and we're looking forward to their influence throughout the group," Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said of the leadership group.

"These four guys lead the way for their teammates and they'll be expected to drive this playing group to great things this season.

"[They] were clearly seen as the guys that the group looked up to and wanted to follow."

Collingwood secures Steele Sidebottom, Luke Ball and Jarryd Blair for the next two years.

Steele Sidebottom steps up his game for the Magpies in the absence of Luke Ball.

"He's really built and progressed. He works so hard; he's a hard runner up and back, two-way running," Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said.

"He's cut his teeth as an inside mid through the NAB Cup and he's really developed from that.

"[He's had] the opportunity to push up against some of the bigger bodies in the competition and he doesn't look out of place".

Luke Ball says he definitely won't sue Collingwood over his ACL injury after Magpie medicos sent him back onto the field following a knee injury just minutes earlier.

"I'm not a doctor, all I know is I've got full faith and confidence in our medical stuff," he said," Ball said.

"I think it was just one of those unlucky nights for me, it was Friday the 13th - so I think I'll be pretty superstitious from now on."

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley admits the loss of Luke Ball due to an ruptured ACL is big, but has challenged lesser lights to fill his role.

"He's a phenomenal individual. I can't stand here and tell you it's not going to hurt the club because a bloke with his character and with his football pedigree not out on the field is going to really challenge our structures," Buckley said.

"It's going to challenge the personnel that have existed around him for the years he's been at the club - it's an opportunity for [them]."

Luke Ball will miss the rest of the 2012 AFL season and undergo traditional knee reconstruction after tearing his ACL against Carlton.

"Unfortunately the scan is showing he's ruptured his ACL," Magpies football manager Geoff Walsh said.

"He will undergo surgery at some stage early in the week. It's a terrible blow for both Luke and ourselves, obviously."

Former St Kilda skipper Luke Ball will captain Collingwood in its NAB Cup opener.

"It is a fantastic honour when you come to a new side. And not any side, but a side with the history and culture of the Collingwood footy club," Ball said.

"To be recognised in that role, albeit just for a NAB Cup game, it's very special."

Saints high performance manager David Misson reveals reasons behind Luke Ball falling out of favour at St Kilda in his book The Bubble.

"Our round 15 six-point win over Geelong emphasised the need for high-quality consistent contributions from all our midfield," Misson wrote.

"Luke played less than 50 per cent of the game time during the Geelong match, after which the microscope started to sharply focus on his ability to run and spread and keep up with an opponent."

Ball responds by saying he has already moved on from his time at the Saints.

"I hope they're not spending too much time thinking about it - I'm pretty sure they're not - and I'm certainly not. It's been 18 months now, so let's move on," Ball said.

Former St Kilda skipper Luke Ball will be part of the Magpies' leadership group in 2011.

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse refuses to be drawn on the return date of star midfielder Luke Ball who has again succumbed to a recurrent groin injury.

"I think players who have an early history of (injury in a particular area) will have a long history of it. What they learn to do is manage their bodies better," Malthouse said.

"They know their bodies a bit better at 26 than what they do at, say, 18. It's also management by the fitness coordinators and the science staff and so forth."

Collingwood assistant coach Gavin Brown says Luke Ball is not worried about facing off against his former St Kilda teammates in their first 2010 NAB Cup game.

"I'm sure they respect him and they've got a game to win, as we do," Brown said.

"So I don't know if there'll be too much of that going on. I think it's probably the furthest thing from Luke's mind."

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has hit back at St Kilda over Luke Ball's transfer between the clubs following public statements by Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt that Ball had chosen to leave despite being presented with a contract.

"He would have agonised over this and being the kind of person he is he would have agonised long and hard and it wouldn't have come as an easy choice," Malthouse said.

"Players always know when they're wanted and if they're not wanted, it means really they should move on."

Nick Riewoldt says Luke Ball initiated his move from St Kilda, and joined his coach in stating that the Saints have already moved on from his departure.

"With Ball, it was disappointing that he left. He was offered a contract and knocked it back and wanted to leave," Riewoldt told Triple M.

"I've spoken to Luke during the pre-season. I haven't spoken to him since yesterday when I said what I said. There is no simmering tension from my end. Luke is a player at another club now and I'm more focussed about us than I am about him."

Collingwood recruit Luke Ball is poised to face his former club in this month's NAB Cup clash.

New Magpie Luke Ball says that he has no hard feelings for his former club St Kilda after moving to Collingwood via the 2009 national draft.

"I've moved on from St Kilda with absolutely no bitterness or no resentment or anything like that at all," Ball said.

"I had eight fantastic years at the club. I thank them very much; they gave me an opportunity ... after eight years I basically just felt I needed a fresh start and a fresh opportunity."

Collingwood recruit Luke Ball says he's 'supremely confident' that he can produce better form than in his time at St Kilda.

"Looking back I've probably only really ever done one full pre-season, if I'm going to be honest about it," he said.

"So I'm really confident that, provided I want to do the work - which I'm pretty sure that I do - that I've still got some good footy left in me."

Collingwood selects Luke Ball at pick 30 in the 2009 national draft ending weeks of speculation that Ball would be headed to Melbourne.

"It's been a long six weeks," Ball's manager Paul Connors said.

"He nominated for the draft, he understood what the process was and Luke can speak for himself that Melbourne has a terrific future ahead of it, he just believes he has the opportunity to make a difference in Collingwood's midfield."

Manager Paul Connors says Luke Ball deserved better than having to nominate for the draft and that free agency would have been a much better option if allowed.

"I think that free agency, for someone like Luke who's served his club for eight terrific years, deserves the opportunity to be able to go to a club of his choice if he was out of contract," Connors said.

David Armitage is named by St Kilda coach Ross Lyon as one of several players capable of stepping into the void created by Luke Ball's absence.

"Armo's done his apprenticeship. He had a great pre-season last year. He tore his hammy leading into the first pre-season game so it really put him behind," Lyon said.

"He is ready to go, a fourth-year player, endurance animal, clearance beast. As disappointed as we are to lose Luke, certainly David is one of those players who can step into that void."

Collingwood defender Heath Shaw says former Saint Luke Ball would be a valuable addition to his side's midfield.

"He's obviously a quality player, he's been around the traps for a while and he's been captain of his former club," Shaw said.

"He'd definitely bring a lot of experience to the club."

Luke Ball has nominated Collingwood or Essendon as his preferred destinations in the national draft.

St Kilda has delisted defender Leigh Fisher and confirmed the departure of former skipper Luke Ball, who will take his chance in the draft.

Former St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball confirms his nomination for the national draft, after walking out on the Saints.

''Lyon recently met with Ball to reiterate the Saints' interests in retaining Luke and also outlined the improvements necessary for both Luke and the entire St Kilda playing list to again be competitive in 2010,'' the Saints said in a statement yesterday.

''However, Luke has now made the decision to pursue his career elsewhere.

''While St Kilda is disappointed with Luke's decision, the club believes it has conducted itself appropriately through what have been lengthy and complex negotiations in attempting to find a fair and reasonable outcome for all concerned.''

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says former Saint Luke Ball will be judged against the other talent available in the national draft.

"Luke Ball has put himself into the draft and every team that has a pick gets a chance to pick him up," he said.

"We have pick 30 and if he's there at pick 30, he'll be judged compared to the available talent."

Essendon assistant coach Alan Richardson confirms the club's interest in disgruntled St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball.

"I don't actually know where it sits but I will say this - he's a fantastic person and I'm sure we would absolutely be interested if it worked for us and it worked for him," Richardson said today.

"He's a quality fellow and player and we'd be very interested."

Melbourne football manager Chris Connolly says they will try to convince Luke Ball to join the Demons.

"We are looking to meet Luke some time next week and that's a request from Luke and his manager," Connolly said.

"We need to convince him Melbourne is the club for him. We think he has a fantastic opportunity at Melbourne. He can get on with the next chapter of his life, and he can play an important role at the club."

Richmond CEO Brendon Gale says the club may be interested in Luke Ball but only in the pre-season draft, prefering instead to use their national draft picks on youngsters.

"We've got eight or nine picks. We've got to exercise our judgement very carefully in getting those picks right; there'll be a focus on youth and developing our own players.

"But certainly, if Luke was available in the pre-season draft, I'd imagine we'd be having a close look.

"At 24, 25 years of age I think it'd be a great opportunity to be a great role model and leader of our young and exciting, emerging players."

Melbourne hopes the vice-captaincy will attract disgruntled St Kilda on-baller Luke Ball to their club.

"For our team, we're looking at players at that age bracket who can help lead and develop our younger group," Demons football manager Chris Connolly said.

"We've got a very talented group with all the picks we've had over the last two drafts, and this one coming up, so we need a real mentor and role model. I think everyone who knows Luke knows he's an outstanding young man."

Luke Ball's future up in the air as Collingwood-St Kilda talks break down.

Luke Ball's career hangs in the balance after trade talks with Collingwood broke down and his former club St Kilda withdrew its earlier three-year offer.

"What Luke needs to do is go away and assess what he wants to do. There are two evident options which are come back to St Kilda and train and deliver the actions that get you in the senior team; or go into the pre-season draft and take your chances," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.

Now that Collingwood has failed to snare Luke Ball, Melbourne is hopeful of grabbing him in the draft.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has stressed that his club would need to be compensated accordingly, should Luke Ball cross to Collingwood.

"We just want a quality player. He's All Australian, captain, best and fairest winner, started in the centre square bounce in the grand final, sixth in our best and fairest last year. I think played 18 of a possible 24," Lyon said.

"We'll want a commercial and equitable deal."

Former St Kilda captain Luke Ball has rejected a three-year contract and requested a trade, preferably to Collingwood.

"We were confident Luke would stay with the club, as he has always been a required player," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said in a statement.

"However we will now do what is best for the St Kilda Football club's interests and those of its members and supporters with the aim of completing an equitable trade for a person of Luke's calibre, leadership, playing honours and experience."

St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball attracts interest from rival clubs as trade week approaches.

Luke Ball tells of his devastation in losing the 2009 Grand Final to the Cats.

"Half an hour ago was the worst feeling I've had in my life, to be honest. It was shocking," Ball said.

"Just looking around at a few of the older guys as well, it was as bad as I've felt."

St Kilda's Luke Ball says his brother Matthew offered some words of advice after he was dropped from the team.

"I was in constant communication with the coaches, so it wasn't like it was me against them and me having a look elsewhere for guidance or support - they were terrific the whole time and still continue to be," Ball said.

"It wasn't the case of me having to go out and have a look for someone to talk to, to get through it."

St Kilda's Luke Ball says his enforced absence has motivated him to work harder after making his way back into the side for the qualifying final against Collingwood.

"I've been in constant communication with the coaches," Ball said.

"They've been fantastic and I guess you've got to be careful not to talk to too many people because it has been more of an internal issue.

"Hopefully it's been the kick up the arse I needed and I won't look back from here."

Luke Ball again misses out on senior selection and will not line up for the Saints in their final game of the regular season against Melbourne.

'Everyone just felt it would be good for Luke to have another game in the VFL and he was obviously OK about that and he'll go and play for Sandringham and do what he has to do,'' Saints football operations manager Greg Hutchison said.

''Players are obviously disappointed when they don't get a game in the AFL team but he knows where he's at and he's a terrific person, Luke, and understands what he's trying to do and what he has to do. So, he'll definitely make a contribution for Sandringham and then we'll just weigh it up after that game.''

Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas believes Luke Ball should play for the Saints in the finals after Ball was dropped to the VFL for the second time this year.

'We can only read between the lines about what we've heard from Ross Lyon and other sections of the footballing community and that's that there's a question mark on Luke's ability to spread from contests and to be a damaging player and hurt the opposition, and his accountability when the opposition's got the ball,'' Thomas said.

''What I do know is that Luke is at the top of the tree in contested footy, in tackles and he's got some other great qualities that are probably outside the week-to-week key performance indicators of the footy team.''

Former St Kilda midfield coach Mick McGuane says St Kilda must play Luke Ball in the finals where the tough midfielder can apply his strength around the contested balls.

"Luke Ball, in a finals situation, will play in that team," McGuane said.

"I've got no doubt about it . . . providing he is healthy. You need players who can win their own footy."

A chest injury to Luke Ball after a collision during a VFL match has the Saint midfielder in doubt for a return to the senior side.

"He's got some bruising to his chest and he will be assessed during the week but we expect him to be available," St Kilda's football manager Greg Hutchison said.

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt says a breach of the players' 'trademark' saw onballer Luke Ball dropped from the seniors.

"Without getting into specifics, because that's between Luke and Ross, there are a few areas of his game he has to improve," Riweoldt told Foxtel's On the Couch.

"It's certainly not a discipline decision, and Luke is one of the most respected players at the club.

"He's been given a few areas to go away, address and work on, and he's in constant consultation with the coach.

"Hopefully we see him back soon."

St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball says he was probably handed captaincy too early in his career.

"At the time it was a fantastic honour and something I've learned from. In hindsight I might not have been ready for it back then," he said.

"I would say there were other factors as well. I was struggling a bit with injury but I wouldn't say it is as cut and dry as that.

"I've learnt from that experience a bit and it has made me a better player."

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has told Nick Riewoldt, Luke Ball and Lenny Hayes to rise to Ben Cousins playing standards.

Luke Ball stands down as co-captain of the Saints for the 2008 season.

"I'm going to concentrate on getting my body right and re-establishing myself as a valued member of the Saints' midfield," Ball said.

Ball expresses optimism that his post-season adductor release operation will help relieve the pain he has had to endure in the past season from osteitis pubis.

"I don't want to make any big statements because I remember saying last year that I was going along better than I ever had in December and January," Ball said.

"But at this stage it feels pretty good. I haven't really felt it at all. Hopefully it's a step in the right direction and I can slowly progress back to full strength and fitness."