Luke Breust

Luke Breust (born 11 November 1990) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) as a small forward.

Early career

Recruited from Temora, New South Wales, Breust played both rugby league and Australian rules football as a junior but turned his focus to Australian rules from age 14.^[1] Breust played football and basketball with Isaac Smith in Temora before the latter moved to Wagga Wagga when he was 13, with both ending up at Hawthorn where they played together in the 2013 AFL Grand Final.

Before being drafted at the age of 18, Breust played as a member of the NSW/ACT Rams. He also played for the Sydney Swans reserves team.^[2]

He was drafted by Hawthorn with selection 47 in the 2009 AFL Rookie Draft in December 2008. Breust fractured his left tibia during 2008, but after recovering from that injury he received an invitation to trial with the Hawks and was then selected in the draft.^[3]

AFL career

In Round 8 of the 2011 AFL season, Breust made his debut against St Kilda after performing well for Hawthorn's affiliate side in the Victorian Football League, Box Hill.^[4] He kicked 2 goals after coming on as a substitute. In Round 15 after a 2-goal, 16-possession game against Collingwood, he was nominated for the 2011 AFL Rising Star Award.^[5]

Breust improved more during the 2012 AFL season, particularly with his five-goal effort in Hawthorn's eight-goal win over Collingwood. He played predominantly as a forward, but had short bursts in the midfield throughout the year. Breust played in Hawthorn's losing Grand Final team. At the end of the year, he placed fourth in the Peter Crimmins Medal behind winner Sam Mitchell.

In 2013, Breust kicked a goal in the last quarter of the AFL Grand Final against the Fremantle Dockers to win his first AFL Premiership.

In 2014, Breust began a streak of 29 consecutive goals without scoring a behind, tying with the record set by Tony Lockett in the 1995 season. The streak began during the last quarter of Round 5 against the Geelong Cats and was broken in Round 17 against the Adelaide Crows.

In Round 21, 2017, Breust kicked his 300th career goal in a 27-point victory over North Melbourne. Breust was widely regarded as having a below average 2017 season, kicking only 33 goals, his second-lowest annual tally to that date, just surpassing the 30 goals in his debut season.^[6]

Breust enjoyed a return to form in the 2018 season, with him kicking 53 goals, being a member of the All-Australian team for the second time, and finishing sixth in the Peter Crimmins Medal tally.^[7][8]

Breust had a below-average 2019. Without tall marking targets around them, his combination in the forward line with Jack Gunston was seen as being rather ineffective, with the pair kicking just 60 goals between them, as opposed to 105 the previous season.^[9]

On 18 February 2023, Breust was announced as co-vice captain of Hawthorn Football Club alongside fellow small forward Dylan Moore to support newly announced captain James Sicily.^[10]

Breust kicked his 500th career goal in Round 12, 2023 against Port Adelaide.

On 14 August 2025, Luke announced his retirement from the AFL at the end of the season after 14 seasons.

Statistics

|- | 2009 || || 47^{[citation needed]} | 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0 |- | 2010 || || 47^{[citation needed]} | 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0 |- | 2011 || || 47 | 17 || 30 || 15 || 116 || 91 || 207 || 56 || 50 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 6.8 || 5.4 || 12.2 || 3.3 || 2.9 || 2 |- | 2012 || || 22 | 24 || 45 || 25 || 175 || 199 || 374 || 77 || 113 || 1.9 || 1.0 || 7.3 || 8.3 || 15.6 || 3.2 || 4.7 || 3 |- |bgcolor=F0E68C | 2013^# || || 22 | 25 || 40 || 30 || 192 || 173 || 365 || 91 || 110 || 1.6 || 1.2 || 7.7 || 6.9 || 14.6 || 3.6 || 4.4 || 2 |- |bgcolor=F0E68C | 2014^# || || 22 | 25 || 57 || 12 || 199 || 183 || 382 || 80 || 85 || 2.3 || 0.5 || 8.0 || 7.3 || 15.3 || 3.2 || 3.4 || 5 |- |bgcolor=F0E68C | 2015^# || || 22 | 25 || 52 || 19 || 196 || 171 || 367 || 94 || 96 || 2.1 || 0.8 || 7.8 || 6.8 || 14.7 || 3.8 || 3.8 || 3 |- | 2016 || || 22 | 24 || 47 || 27 || 215 || 162 || 377 || 85 || 94 || 2.0 || 1.1 || 9.0 || 6.8 || 15.7 || 3.5 || 3.9 || 1 |- | 2017 || || 22 | 21 || 33 || 17 || 176 || 125 || 301 || 69 || 85 || 1.6 || 0.8 || 8.4 || 6.0 || 14.3 || 3.3 || 4.0 || 0 |- | 2018 || || 22 | 24 || 54 || 24 || 221 || 157 || 378 || 99 || 99 || 2.3 || 1.0 || 9.2 || 6.5 || 15.8 || 4.1 || 4.1 || 7 |- | 2019 || || 22 | 22 || 34 || 17 || 165 || 137 || 302 || 61 || 85 || 1.5 || 0.8 || 7.5 || 6.2 || 13.7 || 2.8 || 3.9 || 2 |- | 2020^[a] || || 22 | 13 || 16 || 6 || 77 || 65 || 142 || 24 || 51 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 5.9 || 5.0 || 10.9 || 1.8 || 3.9 || 0 |- | 2021 || || 22 | 19 || 33 || 11 || 122 || 117 || 239 || 47 || 62 || 1.7 || 0.6 || 6.4 || 6.2 || 12.6 || 2.5 || 3.3 || 0 |- | 2022 || || 22 | 21 || 40 || 19 || 156 || 79 || 235 || 47 || 51 || 1.9 || 0.9 || 7.4 || 3.8 || 11.2 || 2.2 || 2.4 || 3 |- | 2023 || || 22 | 21 || 47 || 23 || 144 || 81 || 225 || 77 || 44 || 2.2 || 1.1 || 6.9 || 3.9 || 10.7 || 3.7 || 2.1 || 1 |- | 2024 || || 22 | 19 || 21 || 8 || 89 || 53 || 142 || 40 || 25 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 4.7 || 2.8 || 7.5 || 2.1 || 1.3 || 0 |- | 2025 || || 22 | 8 || 4 || 3 || 32 || 22 || 54 || 15 || 11 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 4.0 || 2.8 || 6.8 || 1.9 || 1.4 || 0 |- class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 | Career^[11] ! 308 !! 553 !! 256 !! 2275 !! 1815 !! 4090 !! 962 !! 1061 !! 1.8 !! 0.8 !! 7.4 !! 5.9 !! 13.3 !! 3.1 !! 3.4 !! 29 |}

Notes

1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

• 3× AFL premiership player (): 2013, 2014, 2015
• 2× Minor premiership (): 2012, 2013
• 3× McClelland Trophy (): 2012, 2013, 2024

Individual

• 2× All-Australian team: 2014, 2018
• 5× Hawthorn leading goalkicker: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
• 2× 22under22 team: 2012, 2013
• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2011
• 2× Australian international rules football team: 2014, 2015
• All-Stars team: 2020

Personal life

Breust's wife is Anthea née Pellow, a primary school teacher. He is the cousin of rugby league coach Trent Barrett.

References

1. ^ Paton, Al (May 13, 2011). "Rugby convert Luke Breust to debut for Hawks". Herald Sun
2. ^ "Breust's remarkable journey from Swans reserves to Hawks". afl.com.au. 2014-09-20. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
3. ^ Malone, Matt (December 16, 2008). "Riverina Players Picked". The Daily Advertiser
4. ^ Malone, Matt (May 13, 2011). "Living a dream". The Daily Advertiser
5. ^ Holmesby, Luke (5 July 2011). "Rising Hawk". AFL BigPond Network. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
6. ^ Paine, Jackson (September 8, 2017). "Season review: Luke Breust". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
7. ^ Beveridge, Riley (August 27, 2018). "Revealed: The All Australian squad for 2018". Australian Football League. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
8. ^ Smith, Gordon P. (November 10, 2018). "The comprehensive end-of-year review: Hawthorn Hawks". The Roar. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
9. ^ Meyers, H.B. (January 16, 2020). "The Good, Bad and Ugly - Hawthorn Season Preview 2020". The Mongrel Punt. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
10. ^ "Sicily to captain Hawks in 2023"
11. ^ "Luke Breust". AFL Tables. Retrieved 10 February 2026.