44 Facts About Liam Baker

Liam Baker was born on 27 January 1998 and is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League.

Liam Baker played junior representative football with West Perth in the WAFL and represented Western Australia at national championships at under 18 level.

Liam Baker was drafted by Richmond in the 2018 rookie draft and made his AFL debut in round 19,2018.

Liam Baker was an AFL premiership player with Richmond in 2019 and 2020, and in 2020 was named to the AFL's 22Under22 team, recognising the best young players in the league.

Liam Baker grew up on a wheat and sheep farm in Pingaring, Western Australia, a town 341 kilometres east of Perth.

Liam Baker took up junior football with the semi-local Lake Grace-Pingrup Football Club in the Ongerup Football Association, traveling more than 60 kilometres to do so.

Liam Baker later played representative football in Perth as a junior with the colts program of WAFL club West Perth.

In 2016 Liam Baker represented Western Australia at the 2016 AFL Under 18 Championships.

Liam Baker was passed over in national, pre-season and rookie drafts that year, before making a switch to play senior football with rival WAFL club Subiaco in 2017.

Liam Baker played a total of 13 matches at senior level including a "shining" performance in Subiaco's losing grand final in which he recorded 19 disposals, six inside-50s and five tackles.

Liam Baker kicked 19 goals that season and held averages of 16 disposals and three tackles per game.

Liam Baker was drafted by Richmond with the club's first pick and the 18th selection overall in the 2018 AFL rookie draft in November 2017.

Liam Baker made his first appearance for the club in a series of AFLX exhibition matches in February 2018.

Liam Baker did not play in any of the club's pre-season matches however, nor did he earn senior selection in the early part of the home and away season.

Liam Baker earned an AFL debut on the back of the performance, turning in 12 disposals, five score involvements and two behinds in his side's round 19 win over Collingwood at the MCG.

Liam Baker held his senior spot the following week, adding 14 disposals and another two behinds before being omitted from the club's round 21 side to face Gold Coast.

Liam Baker earned a third match in four weeks though when he was immediately recalled for the club's round 22 match against Essendon.

Liam Baker accepted a one match suspension for the act and subsequently missed the club's losing semi-final against Essendon that saw the VFL side eliminated from the finals series.

Liam Baker finished the year having kicked one goal in three games at senior level while kicking 13 goals in 14 games with the reserves side in the VFL.

Liam Baker was a travelling emergency in round 3 of the AFL season, before injuries to Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin saw him earn selection for the club's round 4 match against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval.

Liam Baker kicked a goal and recorded 17 disposals in that win, before setting a new career-best with 21 disposals in a dual role as a midfielder and a forward the following week against Sydney.

Liam Baker's run of form continued when he was among his side's best in round 6, tallying 19 disposals along with two goals.

Liam Baker was named an AFL emergency that week and played well as a forward in the lower league with 18 disposals and one goal.

Liam Baker was moved into a backline role in the VFL the following week after a teammate suffered an injury mid-match.

Liam Baker was exceptional as a defender, collecting a match-high 29 disposals along with eight marks and six tackles in what the club website labelled his best performance at any level in his two seasons at the club.

Liam Baker held his spot over the final five matches of the home and away season before contributing 16 disposals in a qualifying final victory over the Brisbane Lions at The Gabba In a home preliminary final against Geelong a fortnight later, Baker matched up with opposition forward Gryan Miers while recording 18 disposals as Richmond won through to a grand final match up against Greater Western Sydney.

Liam Baker recorded 12 disposals and spent parts of the match defending Giants forwards Brent Daniels and Toby Greene, both of whom went goalless for the match.

Liam Baker starred in that position during the pre-season series, including with a team-high 30 disposals in a practice match loss to Collingwood.

Liam Baker recorded 16 disposals in a round 1 win over Carlton when the home and away season began, but under extraordinary conditions imposed on the league as a result of the rapid progression of the coronavirus pandemic into Australia.

Liam Baker returned for the club's round 4 loss to St Kilda and remained in the senior side through round 6, when it was relocated to the Gold Coast in response to a virus outbreak in Melbourne.

Liam Baker earned a career-first Brownlow Medal vote in round 6's win over Sydney, and contributed an equal game-high six intercepts in round 8's loss to Greater Western Sydney, after which he ranked equal-second among all defenders in the league for fewest goals conceded to direct opponents so far that season.

Liam Baker contributed a best on ground performance in round 10, earning nine coaches association award votes for 580 metres gained and a then-career-high 26 disposals.

Liam Baker earned another two coaches votes for 16 disposals in round 13's Dreamtime in Darwin win over Essendon.

Liam Baker kicked his only goal of the year in the opening match of the club's finals campaign, a qualifying final loss to the Brisbane Lions.

Liam Baker was among Richmond's best players in a semi-final win over St Kilda the following week, adding 19 disposals and an equal team-high six intercepts.

Liam Baker bested the latter of those stats in the preliminary final win over Port Adelaide, recording eight intercept possessions to help his side through to another Grand Final.

Liam Baker became a two-time premiership player the following week, playing what AFL Media described as "an excellent game" with 14 disposals and four inside-50s in a 31-point victory over Geelong.

Liam Baker played in his 50th career match in round 8's loss to Geelong, before the next week being named as a full-time midfielder in light of injuries to Shane Edwards, Shai Bolton, Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia.

Liam Baker was outstanding in the role, recording career-highs in disposals, inside-50s and clearances to earn eight coaches votes as second-best on ground during the comeback win over Greater Western Sydney.

At the midpoint of the season, Liam Baker was named by both AFL Media and 1116 SEN as a potential winner of the club's best and fairest award.

Liam Baker is a versatile small utility player, playing the 2021 season primarily as a half-forward, with stints at half-back and in the midfield, after winning two premierships as rebounding half-back and a small defender.

Liam Baker played as a small forward in his debut year and as a half forward, small forward and a wing in the first half of his second season in 2019.

Liam Baker has been noted for his corralling and tackle pressure while he is acclaimed for taking clean possession of ground balls and rarely fumbling.

Outside of football Liam Baker has worked part-time as a carpenter's apprentice and studied a carpentry course at TAFE.