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Australian rules footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joel Smith (born 25 February 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.91 metres (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighing 90 kilograms (200 lb), Smith plays primarily on the half-back flank. He played Australian rules football at a young age before switching sports to basketball where he represented Australia at under-19 level. The son of former North Melbourne and Melbourne player Shaun Smith, he followed in his father's footsteps when he was recruited by Melbourne in 2015 as a category B rookie. After spending his first AFL season playing in the reserves, he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.
| Joel Smith | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smith playing for Melbourne in August 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Joel Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 25 February 1996 | ||
| Original team(s) | Maribyrnong Park (EDFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 41, 2016 rookie draft | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2017, Melbourne vs. St Kilda, at Etihad Stadium | ||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2016– | Melbourne | 42 (12) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Smith played Australian rules football with Taylors Lakes from the under-10 level, where he won two best and fairest awards, before moving to the Maribyrnong Park Football Club for the under-16 season. He then switched sports to basketball[1] and had a successful career, representing Australia at under-19 level and playing with the Geelong Supercats in the South East Australian Basketball League in 2015.[2][3]
Smith was signed by the Melbourne Football Club in October 2015 as a category B rookie and was eligible to join Melbourne's list immediately as he hadn't been registered in an Australian rules football competition for at least three years.[4] He played his first match in the 2016 season in the Victorian Football League (VFL) Development League for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions; after one match in the development league, he was promoted to the VFL seniors in a 56-point win over Collingwood at Olympic Park Oval in round two.[5] After four matches in the VFL, he was sidelined for over two months due to a groin injury.[6] After returning from injury to the VFL, he played the remainder of the season including the grand final loss against Footscray at Etihad Stadium.[7]
Described as one of the standouts at training during the 2017 pre-season by AFL Media journalist Ben Guthrie,[8] Smith played in the opening two matches of the JLT Community Series.[9] He was forced to miss the week-three match against West Coast at Domain Stadium due to a toe injury.[10] Despite the injury, he was promoted to the senior list in place of Mitch King, who was on the long-term injury list, and made his debut in a 30-point win against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in the opening round of the season.[11] During the first quarter, he dislocated his shoulder and was forced to miss the remainder of the match.[12]
Smith was provisionally suspended in mid-October 2023 after a drug-test sample he provided after the Demons' win over Hawthorn in round 23 returned a positive result for cocaine.[13] In February 2024, he was accused of trafficking cocaine and was set to face a minimum two-year suspension. [14]
Updated to the end of 2024.[15]
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 | ||||
| 2017 | Melbourne | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| 2018 | Melbourne | 44 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 48 | 94 | 29 | 31 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 11.8 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2019 | Melbourne | 44 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2020[a] | Melbourne | 44 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 15 | 38 | 9 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 5.4 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| 2021 | Melbourne | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
| 2022[b] | Melbourne | 44 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 18 | 48 | 14 | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | Melbourne | 29 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 59 | 28 | 87 | 37 | 32 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| 2024 | Melbourne | 29 | Banned for the 2024 season | ||||||||||||||
| Career | 42 | 12 | 6 | 181 | 132 | 313 | 100 | 97 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 7.4 | 2.4 | 2.3 | ||
Notes
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