Joel Jeffrey
| Joel Jeffrey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 12 March 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Darwin, Northern Territory | ||
| Original team(s) | Wanderers (NTFL) NT Thunder (NEAFL) | ||
| Draft | Academy Pre-Selection, 2020 AFL draft, Gold Coast | ||
| Height | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Gold Coast | ||
| Number | 40 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2021– | Gold Coast | 28 (16) | |
| 1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Joel Jeffrey (born 12 March 2002) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Early life
[edit]Jeffrey was born into a Darwin-based family of Indigenous Australian descent from the Northern Territory (Wulwulam) and Queensland (Kukatj).[1] His father, Russell, was a professional Australian rules footballer who played at the highest level for St Kilda before relocating to the Gold Coast to continue his AFL career with the Brisbane Bears. Following his retirement, Russell returned to Darwin to play for Wanderers and coached Palmerston to back-to-back NTFL premierships in 2001–02. He was inducted into the AFLNT Hall of Fame in 2010.[2]
Joel began playing junior football for Palmerston and later switched to the Wanderers Football Club where he made his Men's Premier League debut for the club in 2018 at 16 years of age.[3] In June 2019, at 17 years of age, Jeffrey made his senior NEAFL debut for the NT Thunder at TIO Stadium and kicked a goal in his first game.[4] He was also selected to represent the Allies at the 2019 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom ager[5] and intended to relocate to the Gold Coast in 2020 to take part in the Gold Coast Suns Academy program on a full-time basis until the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated that possibility.[6] In December 2020, Jeffrey was drafted to the Gold Coast Suns via their academy access.[7]
AFL career
[edit]Jeffrey spent the first half of the 2021 season playing for Gold Coast in the VFL and notably kicked a winning goal after the siren to defeat the Sydney Swans after marking the ball one handed with seconds to go in the game.[8] He impressed again a month later with a 9-goal, best on ground performance in the VFL,[9] which earned him an AFL debut the following week against the Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium.[10] In his sixth AFL game, Jeffrey remarkably kicked five goals against the Western Bulldogs, which included a Goal of the Year nomination that involved an intercept and a snap over his head.[11] He was awarded a 2022 AFL Rising Star nomination for his performance.[12]
Statistics
[edit]- Statistics are correct to the end of 2024[13]
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 | ||||
| 2021 | Gold Coast | 40 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 6 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| 2022 | Gold Coast | 40 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 40 | 10 | 50 | 17 | 8 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 3.4 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | Gold Coast | 40 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 13 | 67 | 16 | 23 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 7.7 | 1.9 | 9.6 | 2.3 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | Gold Coast | 40 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 132 | 67 | 199 | 44 | 14 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 11.0 | 5.6 | 16.6 | 3.7 | 1.2 |
| Career | 28 | 16 | 13 | 245 | 96 | 341 | 83 | 49 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 8.8 | 3.4 | 12.2 | 3.0 | 1.8 | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "AFL Players' Indigenous Map 2021" (PDF). AFL Players Association. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "NTFL Hall of Fame - Russell Jeffrey". 3 September 2016.
- ^ "NT Thunder player Joel Jeffrey". 12 December 2019.
- ^ "2019 NEAFL Round 9 Team vs Redland". 31 May 2019.
- ^ "JEFFREY, JUNGFER AND ROSAS COMBINE FOR THE FINAL TWO ALLIES GAMES". 27 June 2019.
- ^ "AFL Draft Prospect Forwards - Joel Jeffrey". 1 October 2020.
- ^ "Gold Coast Suns add academy members Alex Davies and Joel Jeffrey to primary list". 9 December 2020.
- ^ "Suns snatch dramatic VFL win on siren". 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Suns' son of a gun kicks a bag to down Hornets". 25 July 2021.
- ^ "Suns axe former No.3 pick, nine-goal sharpshooter to make debut". 30 July 2021.
- ^ "Joel Jeffrey's incredible over-the-head goal". 26 May 2022.
- ^ "Gun Sun scores Rising Star nomination after five-goal haul". 23 May 2022.
- ^ "Joel Jeffrey". AFLTables. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
External links
[edit]- Joel Jeffrey's profile on the official website of the Gold Coast Football Club
- Joel Jeffrey at AustralianFootball.com
- Joel Jeffrey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
