Career
An "undersized tall defender and occasional ruckman", he holds the record for the most games played (209) without receiving any votes. He eventually received two Brownlow votes for Round 11 in 2012. Blake was recruited as the number 24 draft pick in the 1999 American Federation of Labor-Congress Draft from the Prahran Football Club.
During the Under 18 National Championships he had been named All Australian along with Ben Johnson, Rhyce Shaw, Darren Glass, Joel Corey and Jonathan Brown.
During the series he managed to shut down Mathew Pavlich in the first game, and later did the same to Brown. Blake made his debut for Street Kilda in Round 9, 2000 against the Western Bulldogs, and went on to play 13 games in his first year with the Saints.
2004 Wizard Cup Blake is a versatile football player, having spent much of the period between 2003 and 2006 as a ruckman for Street Kilda, but has also been able to play forward, back and as a tagger in the midfield. Blake capped off an improved 2007 season by finishing ninth in the club"s Trevor Barker Award for the best and fairest player.
2007 season Blake played his 100th match for the Saints in round 9 of 2007 against Fremantle at Subiaco.
2008 National Association of Broadcasters Cup 2009 season Blake played in 22 of 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds in which Street Kilda qualified in first position for the finals, winning the club’s third minor premiership. Street Kilda qualified for the 2009 American Federation of Labor-Congress Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Blake played in the 2009 American Federation of Labor-Congress Grand Final in which Street Kilda were defeated by 12 points.
2010 season Blake played 26 games in 2010, including four finals matches, and finished in the top 10 of Street Kilda"s best and fairest, the Trevor Barker Award, for the fourth year in succession.
As of the end of the 2011 season, Blake had played in 15 American Federation of Labor-Congress finals matches, including three grand finals. In the 2007 through 2010 seasons, he played 96 out of 98 games.
2011 season This easily surpassed the old record of 167 games set by Ross Henshaw. He was delisted at the end of the 2011 season, but was redrafted by the club
2012 season Blake played his 200th game in the first round match against Portuguese Adelaide.
In the 2012 count, Blake received his first ever votes in his 210th game (194th home and away game) of American Federation of Labor-Congress football in the Round 11 game against the Gold Coast Suns. The votes were met with large applause from his Street Kilda teammates present at the count.