Joel Bowden

Joel Francis Bowden (born 21 June 1978) is an Australian politician, former union leader and former professional Australian rules footballer. He was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly at the 2020 Johnston by-election, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously played professional football for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1996 to 2009.

Joel Bowden
MP
Bowden in May 2009
Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for Johnston
Assumed office
2020
Preceded byKen Vowles
Personal details
Born
Joel Francis Bowden

(1978-06-21) 21 June 1978
Mildura, Victoria[1]
Political partyLabor
Australian rules football career
Personal information
Original team(s) West Alice Springs (CAFL)
Draft Father-son selection, 1995 AFL Draft
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s) Defender/forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1996–2009 Richmond 265 (171)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Bowden was born at the Mildura Base Hospital in Mildura, Victoria to mother Judy and father Michael Bowden (a Richmond Football Club premiership player),[2] one of four biological brothers (including older brother Sean Bowden and younger brother Patrick Bowden) he was part of a football dynasty.[3]

Bowden's family moved to the remote South Australian community of Ernabella in the 1980s as a very young boy where his father Michael was a community advisor. He spent a couple of years playing with indigenous children in the area. The family returned to Mildura for a few years before returning to Alice Springs in 1987 where Michael became a teacher and where Joel completed his schooling from the age of 9.[2]

Joel played for the Northern Territory Schoolboys in 1993. He was named in the All-Australian Schoolboy’s team and won the J.L Williams Medal as best player. In 1994 he once again represented the Northern Territory.[4] In addition to football, Bowden represented the Northern Territory twice in cricket at under 17 level.[2]

AFL career

Bowden was drafted at the end of the 1995 AFL season under a father-son selection.

In 2006, Bowden was among the leading possession getters in the AFL, and had the most possessions shared between any two players with his brother Patrick. He played his 200th AFL game in round 8 against Adelaide, gathering 34 possessions as the Tigers used low risk short-passing tactics to upset the then-ladder-leading Crows by three points just a week after suffering a 118-point loss to the Sydney Swans.[5]

In round 16, 2008, Bowden was at the centre of a major controversy regarding rushed behinds. With Richmond up by 6 points against Essendon with less than a minute left, Bowden proceeded to wipe the remaining time off the clock by rushing 2 behinds from the kick out.[6] These tactics which caused an uproar with many calling for the current rules to be changed; football journalist Mike Sheahan even likened it to the infamous Trevor Chappell underarm delivery incident. He played his last game against Collingwood in Round 20, 2009, who defeated Richmond by 93 points.[7]

Statistics
[8]
Legend
  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
1996 Richmond 11543171431730.80.63.42.86.21.40.6
1997 Richmond 11132191467522151211.60.711.25.817.03.91.6
1998 Richmond 1118171917813130972360.91.19.97.317.24.02.0
1999 Richmond 1122151123818342182380.70.510.88.319.13.71.7
2000 Richmond 11221914293203496124510.90.613.39.222.55.62.3
2001 Richmond 11252622381210591149511.00.915.28.423.66.02.0
2002 Richmond 11221817334171505125630.80.815.27.823.05.72.9
2003 Richmond 1122129300181481128740.50.413.68.221.95.83.4
2004 Richmond 112196345177522128510.40.316.48.424.96.12.4
2005 Richmond 112275324188512131380.30.214.78.523.36.01.7
2006 Richmond 112130326169495133370.10.015.58.023.66.31.8
2007 Richmond 112232329220549179380.10.115.010.025.08.11.7
2008 Richmond 1118176259153412153390.90.314.48.522.98.52.2
2009 Richmond 11123119510129684200.30.116.38.424.77.01.7
Career 265 174 124 3665 2176 5841 1546 560 0.7 0.5 13.8 8.2 22.0 5.8 2.1

Achievements and honours

Unions NT

In 2018, Bowden was appointed general secretary of Unions NT, the peak body for the labour movement in the Northern Territory.[9]

Politics
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Years Term Electoral division Party
2020–2020 13th Johnston Labor
2020–present 14th Johnston Labor

In February 2020, Bowden ran for and won the 2020 Johnston by-election to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.

References
  1. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 56. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  2. Territory Story By Leon Loganathan & Peter Gowers
  3. At home with the Bowdens by Lyall Johnson for The Age April 28, 2006
  4. Joel Bowden from AFL Northern Territory Team of the Century
  5. Phelan, Jason (20 May 2006). "Crows come up short". Adelaide Football Club official website. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  6. "Joel Bowden Rushed Behinds (AFL, Richmond v Essendon, Round 16, 2008)". YouTube. Channel93. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. The Rushed Behind Debate Archived 10 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Joel Bowden's player profile at AFL Tables
  9. Manicaros, Ashley (21 July 2018). "Bowden to carry the banner for Unions NT" (PDF). Northern Territory News. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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