Leon Baker - Misplaced Pages

Australian rules footballer

Leon Baker
Personal information
Full name	Leon Francis Baker
Date of birth	(1956-08-17) 17 August 1956 (age 68)
Original team(s)	South Bunbury
Playing career
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1981–1983	Swan Districts (WAFL)	64 (100)
1984–1988	Essendon (VFL)	86 0(70)
Total		150 (170)
Playing statistics correct to the end of 1988.
Career highlights
Essendon premierships 1984, 1985 Swan Districts premierships 1982, 1983 Swan Medal 1983 All Australian Team 1985 WA State of Origin Team 1984,1985,1986
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Leon Baker (born 17 August 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Swan Districts in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) during the 1980s.

Baker started playing senior football quite late by modern standards and was recruited by Swan Districts when he was 24 years old after playing many years of football in the country leagues including Cairnsfor Souths Balaclava in Queensland and South Bunbury in Western Australia. Regarded as a highly skilled and fearless player he slotted easily into the South Bunbury team that Won the 1980 Grand Final with Baker playing on a half forward flank.He then moved to Swan Districts in 1981 and had an immediate impact at the club. Swan Districts went on to win the next two grand finals (1982 and '83) with Baker playing in the centre and once at full forward. Baker was awarded the 1983 Swan Medal for being the club's fairest and best player.

Essendon Football Club then recruited Baker in 1984 where he played until 1988. A dual premiership player, Baker held down the centreman position in both the 1984 and 1985 grand finals. He came second in the club's fairest and best award for both years. Baker remained with the Bombers until the end of the 1988 season with injuries hampering his career toward the end. Swan Districts named Baker in their team of the century. Baker began coaching after retirement and has coached Gippsland club, Maffra and The Port Douglas Crocodiles in 1993.

References

"Essendon Football Club - Champions of Essendon". 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
"Swan Districts Football Club – Playertracker – Leon Baker". 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
"Leon Baker – Player Bio". 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
"Australian Rules – Footy in Paradise". 2002. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.

External links

Leon Baker at AustralianFootball.com
Leon Baker player profile page at WAFLFootyFacts

v t e Swan Districts Football Club - Team of the Century
Full-back	Graham Melrose Joe Lawson Jack Murray
Half-back	Stan Nowotny Fred Castledine Ken Bagley
Centre	Phil Narkle Leon Baker George Krepp
Half-forward	Peter Manning Garry Sidebottom Mike Richardson
Full-forward	Haydn Bunton Jr. Ted Holdsworth Ron Boucher
Ruck	Keith Slater Tony Nesbit Bill Walker
Interchange	Tom Mullooly Craig Holden Keith Narkle Duggan Anderson Don Langsford Don Holmes Bob Beecroft
Coach	John Todd

v t e Essendon Football Club 1984/85 VFL premiers
1984: Essendon 14.21 (105) defeated Hawthorn 12.9 (81), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground 1985: Essendon 26.14 (170) defeated Hawthorn 13.8 (92), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
4. Baker 5. Daniher (c) 8. Clarke 10. Foulds 13. Williams 15. Ezard 18. Vander Haar 22. Duckworth 25. Merrett 26. Thompson 27. Madden 28. Weston 30. Walsh 32. Watson 33. Hawker 38. Harvey
Coach: Sheedy

v t e 1984 VFL Team of the Year
Full-back line	David Ackerly (Sydney) Chris Mew (Hawthorn) Peter Moore (Melbourne)
Half-back line	Bruce Doull (Carlton) Ross Glendinning (North Melbourne) Ross Thornton (Fitzroy)
Centre line	Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn) Leon Baker (Essendon) Robert Flower (Melbourne) (vc)
Half-forward line	Gary Ablett Sr. (Geelong) Terry Daniher (Essendon) (c) Gerard Healy (Melbourne)
Full-forward line	Mark Lee (Richmond) Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy) Tony Shaw (Collingwood)
Ruck	Simon Madden (Essendon) Russell Greene (Hawthorn) Kym Hodgeman (North Melbourne)
Interchange	Rod Ashman (Carlton) Denis Banks (Collingwood) Andrew Purser (Footscray) Doug Hawkins (Footscray) Greg Burns (St Kilda) Bernie Evans (Sydney)
Coach	Kevin Sheedy (Essendon)
← 1983 1986 →

v t e 1985 All-Australian team
Coach Kevin Sheedy (Essendon)
South Australia Malcolm Blight (Woodville) Craig Bradley (Port Adelaide) Stephen Kernahan (Glenelg) Peter Motley (Sturt) John Platten (Hawthorn)
Victoria Dermott Brereton (Hawthorn) Terry Daniher (Essendon) (Captain) Garry Foulds (Essendon) Russell Greene (Hawthorn) Mark Harvey (Essendon) Mark Lee (Richmond) Roger Merrett (Essendon) Gary Pert (Fitzroy) Geoff Raines (Collingwood) Paul Roos (Fitzroy) Dale Weightman (Richmond)
Western Australia Leon Baker (Essendon) Gary Buckenara (Hawthorn) Rod Lester-Smith (Hawthorn) Michael Mitchell (Claremont)

v t e Western Australian team – 1984 Interstate Championships
Western Australia 14.14 (98) defeated South Australia 14.13 (97), at Football Park, 9 June 1984 Western Australia 21.16 (142) defeated Victoria 21.12 (138), at Subiaco Oval, 17 July 1984
Both games	Aitken Bosustow Carter Daniels Hardie Harding Langsford Malaxos (c) Rance Wiley
State game vs. South Australia	Baynes Brenton Campbell Fogarty Hart Holmes Keene Mosconi Panizza Ware Wilkinson
State of Origin vs. Victoria	Baker Blackwell Cronan Dorotich Glendinning Holden Peake Purser Richardson Rioli Sidebottom Taylor
Coach: Todd

v t e Western Australian team – 1985 Interstate Championships
South Australia 30.18 (198) defeated Western Australia 16.15 (111), at Subiaco Oval, 15 June 1985 Victoria 19.16 (130) defeated Western Australia 9.11 (65), at Subiaco Oval, 16 July 1985
Both games	Browning Mitchell G. Sidebottom
State Game vs. South Australia	Bairstow Bradmore Brennan Carter Caton Cousins Fogarty Harding Lamb Langsford (c) Rance S. Richardson Scott Skwirowski Waterson Wilkinson Wilson Wrensted
State of Origin vs. Victoria	Annear Baker Beasley Blackwell Buckenara Daniels Glendinning Hardie Holden Hunter Krakouer Lester-Smith Peake Purser Richardson Rioli Sewell A. Sidebottom Wiley
Coach: Todd

v t e Western Australian team – 1986 Interstate Championships
Western Australia 18.19 (127) defeated South Australia 12.16 (88), at Football Park, 27 May 1986 Western Australia 21.11 (137) defeated Victoria 20.14 (134), at Subiaco Oval, 8 July 1986
Both games	Bairstow Ellis Harding Keene Laidley Lamb Macnish Miles Mitchell Peake Sartori Waterson Wilson
State game vs. South Australia	Bewick Christie Dean Malaxos Panizza Taylor Wiley Wilkinson Wrensted
State of Origin vs. Victoria	Baker Blackwell Buckenara Davidson Glendinning Hardie Lester-Smith Narkle Rioli
Coach: Alexander

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