Trent Bianco (born 20 January 2001) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Trent Bianco
Personal information
Full name Trent Bianco
Date of birth (2001-01-20) 20 January 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Melbourne, Victoria
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers (NAB League)
Draft No. 45, 2019 national draft
Debut Round 11, 2021, Collingwood vs. Geelong, at MCG
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2020–2023 Collingwood 23 (8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2023 season.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life and state football

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Bianco grew up in the Melbourne suburb Doncaster and attended Marcellin College. He played football at the school and was part of the 2017 Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) premiership team, when they beat Ivanhoe Grammar School by 26 points in the grand final.[1] In 2009 Bianco started playing junior football for Doncaster in the Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL). He made 150 appearances with them, winning the best and fairest awards with the under-11s and under-12s, as well as a premiership in 2016.[2]

Bianco played for and co-captained the Oakleigh Chargers in the NAB League, being one of the first to arrive at training to set an example. He helped lead the club to a premiership in the 2019 season, averaging 27 disposals a game.[3] In April 2019, Bianco represented a team of Australian Under 18s who beat Casey Demons with Bianco standing out as a rebounding defender, collecting 15 disposals.[4] A couple of months later, he represented Vic Metro at the 2019 AFL Under 18 Championships, scoring one goal in the opening defeat to West Australia[5] and being named one of the best on the ground in the one point victory over South Australia.[6] Playing in the half-back position, he was ranked equal third general defender,[7] having averaged 18.5 disposals and 3.5 tackles.[8] During the summer of 2019, as part of the AFL Academy Program, Bianco trained with Australian Football League (AFL) club Collingwood, who would later manage to draft him despite their lack of draft picks.[9]

AFL career

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Bianco was drafted by Collingwood with their second pick of the 2019 national draft, which was the 45th pick overall.[8] Proceeding the 2021 season Bianco received the number 8 Guernsey from the retiring Tom Langdon.[10] He had a knee injury at the beginning of the 2021 season, but then in two appearances for Collingwood's Victorian Football League (VFL) side he averaged 26 disposals and led the tackle count for the team.[11] He made his senior debut for Collingwood in the eleventh round of the season against Geelong at the MCG.[12]

At the end of the 2023 AFL season, Bianco was delisted by Collingwood, having made only one appearance during the season.[13]

Personal life

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Bianco is a life-long Collingwood supporter.[11] Before being drafted, he worked as a waiter at his family-owned Lazy Moe’s restaurant in Oakleigh.[14]

Statistics

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Updated to the end of the 2023 season.[15]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2020 Collingwood 34 0
2021 Collingwood 8 12 7 5 100 47 147 53 21 0.6 0.4 8.3 3.9 12.3 4.4 1.8
2022 Collingwood 8 10 1 1 62 38 100 30 27 0.1 0.1 6.2 3.8 10.0 3.0 2.7
2023 Collingwood 8 1 0 0 7 2 9 3 0 0.0 0.0 7.0 2.0 9.0 3.0 0.0
Career 23 8 6 169 87 256 86 48 0.3 0.3 7.3 3.8 11.1 3.7 2.1

References

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  1. ^ Skeggs, Phil (8 August 2017). "AGS Football grand final: Marcellin wins third premiership on the trot after win over Ivanhoe Grammar". Herald Sun.
  2. ^ "Congratulations to former @doncasterjuniorfootball player Trent Bianco as he makes his @afl debut in todays match with @collingwood_fc". Yarra Junior Football League. 29 May 2021. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ Twomey, Callum (9 November 2019). "Class of 2019: Flag skipper keen to prove he's no flash in the pan". Australian Football League. Telstra.
  4. ^ Balmer, Matt (20 April 2019). "AFL Draft 2019: Matthew Rowell pushes Pick 1 credentials in Australia Under 18s win over Casey". Fox Sports.
  5. ^ Black, Sarah (8 June 2019). "WA skipper dominates to lead Sandgropers past Vic Metro". Australian Football League. Telstra.
  6. ^ Black, Sarah (22 June 2019). "U18: Potential No.1 pick stars as Metro post first win". Australian Football League. Telstra.
  7. ^ Cavanagh, Chris (22 November 2019). "Trent Bianco a high draft fancy with similarities to Collingwood's Steele Sidebottom". The Australian.
  8. ^ a b "Pick 45: Trent Bianco". Collingwood. Telstra. 28 November 2019.
  9. ^ Balmer, Matt (26 April 2019). "AFL draft 2019: Trent Bianco embraced Collingwood life as part of AFL Academy placement". Fox Sports.
  10. ^ "2021 guernsey numbers revealed".
  11. ^ a b Mullan, Alanna (27 May 2021). "Bianco earns long-awaited debut". Collingwood. Telstra.
  12. ^ Slevison, Andrew (28 May 2021). "Kids providing energy for Pendlebury and senior Magpies". 1116 SEN.
  13. ^ Twomey, Callum; Beveridge, Riley; Gabelich, Josh (6 October 2023). "Surgery for Don, Giants' deal for Crow hits snag, Roos meet Tiger". Australian Football League. Telstra. TRENT Bianco is on the hunt for a new home after being informed this week he won't be offered another contract at Collingwood.
  14. ^ "Class of 2019: Flag skipper keen to prove he's no flash in the pan". afl.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Trent Bianco - player stats by season". Australian Football. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
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