Peter Nicholas Kanis (13 April 1931 – 25 November 2021) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL)^[2] and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).^[3]

The son of Constantine Kanis (1898-1983), and Asimina Kanis (1902-1968), née Amonis, Peter Kanis was born on 13 April 1931.

He attended Melbourne High School, and was the captain of the school's First XVIII.^[4]

The VFL established a competition known as the Victorian Junior Football League in 1919; it was renamed "the Seconds" in 1924 (i.e., the clubs' Second XVIIIs), and "the Reserves" in 1960.^[5] In between 1946 and 1959 the VFL conducted a "Thirds" competition (i.e., the clubs' Third XVIIIs), it was renamed "the Under-19s" in 1960. One of the important advantages of a "Thirds" team was seen to be that it "enable[d] players to move from team to team without the necessity of obtaining a clearance to rise from Third to Second Eighteen or vice versa".^[6]

Although some sources indicate that Kanis came to Hawthorn via the Melbourne High School Old Boys Football Club (MHSOB) in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA),^[7] others indicate, more strongly, that he had risen through the Hawthorn system from playing with the "Thirds",^[8] to playing with the "Seconds".^[9][10] and, as well the fact that he was listed, by the MHSOB, as one of the "former AFL/VFL players who started their football at MHS and/or MHSOBFC",^[11] suggests that the "or" applies in his case, and that he was recruited while still a student at Melbourne High School.

In his last match for the Hawthorn club he was the captain of the team that played in the 1956 (Seconds') first semi-final, against Richmond, at the MCG on 25 August 1956 — the Hawthorn Club's first-ever appearance in a VFL final in any grade^[12] — and, although Hawthorn lost the match, 5.9 (39) to 9.12 (66), Kanis was one of the Hawthorn Seconds' best players.^[13]