Joshua Deluca (born 11 May 1996, also known as Josh Deluca-Cardillo) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who last played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) after being delisted.
| Josh Deluca | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Joshua Deluca | ||
| Date of birth | 11 May 1996 | ||
| Original team(s) | Subiaco (WAFL) | ||
| Draft |
No. 68, 2014 National draft, Fremantle | ||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2015–2017 | Fremantle | 4 (2) | |
| 2019 | Carlton | 6 (4) | |
| Total | 10 (6) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Deluca made his senior football debut in 2014 for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and was a member of their 2014 WAFL Grand Final premiership winning team. He was then drafted with the 68th selection in the 2015 AFL national draft by Fremantle. In 2015 he switched to play for Peel Thunder in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), Fremantle's reserve team. He played in his second WAFL premiership in 2016 when Peel won their first ever flag.[1]
Deluca was delisted, and re-drafted twice by Fremantle[2] before he made his AFL debut for Fremantle in round 14 of the 2017 AFL season, when Fremantle lost to Geelong at Simonds Stadium by 2 points.[3] He was again delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season,[4] after having played in his third WAFL premiership when Peel Thunder defeated Subiaco by 16 points.[5]
Season 2018 saw Deluca return to the WAFL and re-join Subiaco.[6] Once again, the season ended in another WAFL premiership win, his fourth, when Subiaco defeated West Perth in the first Grand Final held at Optus Stadium.[7]
Deluca was selected in the WAFL State Team which played the SANFL as a curtain raiser to the Fremantle v Richmond game at Optus Stadium on 12 May 2019. His 29 possessions and a goal saw him voted WA's best player and was awarded the Simpson Medal.[8]
On 27 May 2019, Deluca was selected with pick one in the mid season AFL draft by Carlton Football Club[9] and later that year was not offered a new contract.[10] After being delisted by the Blues, he remained in Victoria and signed with the Box Hill Hawks (Hawthorn’s VFL/reserves team) in the hopes of resurrecting his AFL career a third time.[11]
On 10 October 2021, Deluca requested out of Box Hill to head back to his home state, WA, he returned to his home club (Subiaco) for the 2022 season onwards in the WAFL.
References edit
- ^ "Subiaco v Peel Thunder - Grand Final - 2016 (League) | WAFL".
- ^ Nico, Jessica (28 November 2016). "AFL Rookie Draft: former Dockers taken as Freo selects two youngsters".
- ^ "Josh Deluca joins Sean Darcy as Fremantle Dockers debutants against Geelong". 23 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ "Fremantle list update". fremantlefc.com.au. 6 October 2017.
- ^ "Peel Thunder v Subiaco - Grand Final - 2017 (League) | WAFL".
- ^ "Josh Deluca Rejoins Subiaco". Subiaco Football Club. 13 November 2017.
- ^ "Subiaco v West Perth - Grand Final - 2018 (League) | WAFL".
- ^ Pike, Chris (12 May 2019). "State Game Match Report – SANFL pips WAFL at Optus". West Australian Football Commission.
- ^ Carlton media (27 May 2019). "Blues select Josh Deluca".
- ^ "Carlton makes list change". carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ Schmook, Nathan (18 December 2019). "WAFL premiership star Josh Deluca signs with VFL club Box Hill for 2020". The West Australian.
External links edit
- Josh Deluca's profile on the official website of the Carlton Football Club
- Josh Deluca's profile on the official website of the Fremantle Football Club
- Josh Deluca's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- WAFL Player Profile and Statistics