Hawk ruckman Ben McEvoy set to join Paul Salmon in playing 100 games after moving clubs

Hawthorn ruckman Ben McEvoy is about to emulate Paul ‘Fish’ Salmon’s effort of playing 100 games for the Hawks after moving from another club. Here’s how.

Just like Paul Salmon before him, Ben McEvoy swtiched to the Hawks and became a club legend.

Ben McEvoy’s remarkable football journey is set to continue into next year as he replicates Paul ‘Fish’ Salmon’s brilliant five-year stint with the Hawks.

McEvoy will play his 100th game with Hawthorn against his old club St Kilda this Sunday at Marvel Stadium.

The big man turned out to be another recruiting masterstroke by the Hawks, being traded for St Kilda’s Shane Savage and pick 18 (Luke Dunstan).

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Ben McEvoy — pictured in a ruck battle with North star Todd Goldstein — began his career at St Kilda.

A little older, a little wiser, a few more premierships, but McEvoy and Goldstein are still battling, albeit with the latter in a Hawks’ guernsey. Picture: AAP

Salmon played an even 100 games at Hawthorn and was chosen as the club’s Team of the Century ruckman as part of a 324-game career that started and finished at Essendon.

McEvoy, who turns 30 in July, will soon tick off a games-based clause in his contract that automatically hands him an extra year on a contract expiring at the end of this season.

Salmon yesterday told the Herald Sun that McEvoy was the reason he went to watch the Hawks live, confident he could play well into his 30s.

Only key forward Harry McKay (15) has taken more contested marks than McEvoy this year (12), ahead of Aaron Naughton (nine), Brody Mihocek (eight) and Shaun McKernan (eight).

The former Saint is also averaging career-highs in disposals, contested possessions, marks, contested marks, intercept marks and goals.

Paul Salmon is an Essendon legend.

Salmon became one of the greatest Hawks’ ruckmen.

He is also the clear standout for goal accuracy since 2012, his 69.5 per cent accuracy from 95 shots well ahead of next-best Tom McDonald (65.9 per cent).

Salmon said yesterday McEvoy’s ability to push forward to kick goals (four so far this year) showed how well he was equipped for the modern game.

“I am a big fan of Ben. He came to the club at a time when they were looking for maturity in the ruck role and with his form at the moment he is as good as anyone going around in the ruck department,” he said.

“Ruck work isn’t always the prettiest part of the game and it’s often the first position challenged but to have players of Ben and Max Gawn out there, it warms the cockles of an old ruckman’s heart.

Bruised, but still smiling, Ben McEvoy laps up another Hawks’ win, this time over North Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

“He has always had great endurance which was going to hold him in good stead with his longevity.

“But his physical make-up is strong all over and that’s an important ingredient for playing for a long time. He gets me to the football these days, which is saying a lot.”

McEvoy, set to eventually retire with his family back to his farm near Stawell, clearly has his marathon-running mothers’s genes.

Many of St Kilda’s champions of the last decade still grimace at the mention of his name, so bemused were they that the club traded him as he was entering his peak.