Jake Aarts

Aarts kicks for goal while with Richmond's VFL side in May 2019

Aarts was drafted by Richmond with the club's first pick and the 16th selection overall in the 2019 rookie draft.[12]

He began his first AFL-listed season by playing reserves grade practice matches with the VFL team in March 2020, including with a three-goal haul in the last of those outings.[13][14] Aarts missed the opening round of the VFL season with injury but by the end of April was labelled "ready for an AFL opportunity" by reserves coach Craig McRae.[15][16] In mid-May, Aarts was named a round 8 non-playing AFL emergency following a strong three-goal performance in the VFL a week earlier.[17][18] He was rested for one VFL match later that month while dealing with general soreness and missed a further match in July with a minor calf injury.[19][20][21] He turned in an excellent VFL performance in early August, notching 24 disposals and three goals in a showing that saw him named as an AFL emergency in round 22.[22][23][24] While he was again an emergency in round 23, Aarts could not make an AFL debut before the beginning of the VFL finals series, where he contributed one goal in a qualifying final win over the Essendon reserves.[25][26] In the preliminary final a fortnight later, Aarts was reported for rough conduct against Port Melbourne's Tom O'Sullivan and received a four-week suspension.[27][28][29] Due to that suspension, Aarts was one of just six players on the Richmond list to play in neither the AFL nor VFL premiership winning sides in 2019.[30] Aarts finished the 2019 season without having made an AFL debut, but having played 16 matches and kicking 18 goals with Richmond's reserves side in the VFL.[31][32]

In the early months of the 2019/20 pre-season, Aarts suffered from groin and hip soreness and had limited participation in training, before returning to full fitness by the first week of February 2020.[33][34] He was selected to play in the opening match of the pre-season series in early-March, his first top-level game since being drafted to the club.[35][36] Aarts was dropped back to reserves level after recording 10 disposals, instead playing in one VFL practice match the following week before the remainder of pre-season practice matches were cancelled due to safety concerns as a result of the rapid progression of the COVID-19 pandemic into Australia.[37][38][39] After just one round of AFL matches and as a result of the still unfolding pandemic, the AFL season was suspended for a period of 11 weeks.[40][41][42] In place of the cancelled VFL season, Aarts' return to match-play came through organised reserves practice matches against opposition team's unselected players.[43] He performed consistently well in three such matches when the season resumed in June, earning an AFL debut in round 5's win over Melbourne at the MCG.[7][44][45][46] Aarts made a solid debut with 15 disposals and three score involvements in the shortened game, played with quarter lengths reduced by one fifth like all matches in that pandemic-affected 17-round season.[47][48][49] In the week that followed, Aarts moved with the main playing group when the club was relocated to the Gold Coast in response to a virus outbreak in Melbourne.[50] He kicked his first two career goals in his third match, a round 7 win over North Melbourne.[51][52] After that breakthrough, Aarts became a regular goalkicker, contributing eight goals over the next four matches including a career-high three goals in round 9's win over the Western Bulldogs.[53][54][55] He remained in the senior side for the rest of the regular season, including as the game's equal-leading goalscorer in a round 18 win over Adelaide despite a minor shoulder injury sustained during the match.[56][57] Aarts held his place into the first week of the finals, contributing eight disposals and three tackles in a qualifying final loss to the Brisbane Lions.[58] It was to be his last AFL match of the season however, with omitted from the semi-final side but named instead as a non-playing emergency across each of the club's final three matches including for the grand final victory over Geelong.[59][60][61] For his debut season in which he featured in 14 of a possible 21 matches, Aarts earned equal-14th place in the club's best and fairest count.[62]

Ahead of the 2021 season, Aarts switched guernsey numbers, adopting the number 16 last worn by Shaun Hampson in 2017.[63]