Blanchfield 350: A Career Timeline

Perth Wildcats veteran Todd Blanchfield will join a select group of NBL stars on Monday night as he suits up for his 350th career game in the competition.

The forward has been an ever-present since debuting for the Townsville Crocodiles as a wide-eyed 18-year-old back in 2009 and has turned out for five NBL teams across his career.

NBL Media takes a look at Blanchfield’s career timeline ahead of his milestone game against the Taipans

Townsville Crocodiles

The Townsville Crocodiles signed Blanchfield as a development player in July 2009 after impressive stints with the Mackay Meteors in the QBL (2007, 2009-10) and the Australian Institute of Sport (2008).

Like all development players, Blanchfield had to fight tooth and nail to get onto the court in his debut NBL campaign. He made 10 appearances over the season at an average of just 3.7 minutes per game, averaging a touch over one point in each contest.

Those 10 appearances were enough to convince the Crocs to invest in the young Queenslander, with Blanchfield being awarded a three-year contract at the conclusion of the season, and he saw his minutes jump up to 10 per game in his second season.

It was the 2011/12 season where he really began to thrive at NBL level. His accurate free throw shooting and solid field goal percentage became hallmarks of his game, as for the first time in his career he would average above 80 per cent and 40 per cent respectively – a mark he’s achieved in nine seasons of his career.

The season would end in heartbreak for a strong Crocodiles side that was ably led by import star Peter Crawford, as they went down to a dominant New Zealand Breakers side in the semi finals.

That 2012 semi finals appearance would be as good as it got for Blanchfield from a team performance perspective in Townsville. The Crocs’ off-court struggles saw them slide down the NBL rankings to finish second bottom in 2013 and 2014, and third bottom in 2015.

Despite the team’s tough run, Blanchfield remained a strong contributor in each of these difficult campaigns, averaging over 24 minutes a game in each of them.

His final season with the Crocs, 2015, saw him gain high-profile recognition across the league. He won the NBL’s Most Improved Player and earned a spot on the All-NBL Second Team.

Todd Blanchfield throws a dunk down for the Townsville Crocodiles in 2014.

Melbourne United

With the Crocodiles struggling to gain clarity on their future in the competition, Blanchfield elected to make the move south to the recently re-branded Melbourne United ahead of the 2015/16 season.

While his individual numbers took a hit Blanchfield experienced far more on-court success in his time in Melbourne. Although he missed out on an NBL championship he would be an integral part of the side that finished top of the ladder in 2016.

Ahead of the 2017 season he was selected as part of the NBL All-Australian team that played three exhibition games against China in the lead-up to the Rio Olympics.

After suffering elimination at the hands of New Zealand in the 2016 semi-finals, United fell off in the 2017 season and missed the playoffs all together.

Todd Blanchfield issues instructions to Mitch McCarron while on the NBL All-Australian tour of China.

Sydney Kings

Blanchfield crossed the divide of the capital city rivalry ahead of the 2017/18 season to play one season with the Kings.

He started the season with a gold medal in his pocket after being part of Australia’s FIBA Asia Cup winning squad in Lebanon.

He top scored in the group game win over Hong Kong with 18 points, as the side went a perfect 6-0 for the tournament.

While putting up solid numbers of nine points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal on 41 per cent shooting from the field the Kings would finish second bottom as Blanchfield’s former side Melbourne United won the NBL championship.

Blanchfield only played on season for the Kings before heading to Illawarra.

Illawarra Hawks

For the second time in two seasons Blanchfield would be crossing a rivalry divide, this time heading up the freeway to Illawarra from Sydney.

He was back to some of his best scoring numbers at the Hawks and experienced upticks in almost every major statistic from his previous season in Sydney.

In the 2019/20 season the Hawks were the talk of the basketball world after signing LaMelo Ball, and Blanchfield played a key role in the development of the young but still raw guard.

The two formed a close bond off the court, with Blanchfield often going into bat for the then 18-year-old as he came to grips with the professional game.

He left the Hawks with two club MVP awards, highlighting his importance to an organisation that was, at the time, struggling for its future.

Todd Blanchfield won back-to-back club MVP awards during his time with the Hawks.

Perth Wildcats

After two seasons in Illawarra Blanchfield moved onto his current team, the Perth Wildcats.

He arrived at the club as they were coming off an NBL championship with the Bryce Cotton led side defeating Blanchfield’s former United in an exciting four-game series.

He played in his first ever NBL grand final series in NBL21 against Melbourne United, and despite his 27 points in game one the Wildcats would go on to be swept.

Blanchfield would endure an injury hit NBL22 campaign after requiring surgery on his left knee in the early stage of the season. He would re-injure the same knee in just his second game back from the initial injury.

At the conclusion of the season he signed a three-year extension at the club.

Blanchfield is a key part of the Wildcats sqaud looking to get back into the NBL playoffs.