The Swans selected Blakey in the [[2018 AFL draft]] at 10th overall, matching a bid from {{AFL GWS}}.
Blakey started his junior [[Australian Football League|AFL]] footballing at [[UNSW-easts]https://eastsydneybulldogs.com.au/ East Sydney Bulldogs] in 2011 at the age of 11. he started out playing under 11s, scoring 19 goals in his first season. In 2012 Nick was moved up into division 1 for under 13s which is the best division of the league, from here he kicked a further 20 goals. throughout the 2013 season Nick continued to play in division 1 in under 13s however only scored 6 goals for the whole season Also during 2013 Nick played Under 14s for [[UNSW-easts]https://eastsydneybulldogs.com.au/ East Sydney Bulldogs], he was still playing in division 1 at this time and scored 16 goals. In 2014 Nick started under 15s while still continuing to play under 14s, he played both in division 1, scoring 5 goals in under 14s and 27 goals in under 15s. in Nicks final year of junior football, he played under 17s in 2015 at the age of 15. he scored 18 goals.<ref>{{cite news |title=Player Profile Nicholas Blakey |url=http://maps.sportingpulse.com/team_info.cgi?action=PSTATS&pID=191202254&client=0-4015-66452-303234-20586829 |access-date=5 September 2020
