Joel Smith (footballer, born 1996)

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, 1.92 metres (6 ft 4 in) tall and weighing 88 kilograms (194 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 fathers 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 (1996-02-25) 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 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s) Forward, Defender
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 29
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016– Melbourne 42 (12)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Smith is the son of former North Melbourne and Melbourne player, Shaun Smith.[1] He played Australian rules football at a young age, playing with Taylors Lakes from under ten level, where he won two best and fairests, before moving to the Maribyrnong Park Football Club for the under-16 season, he then switched sports to basketball.[2] He had a successful career in basketball where he represented Australia at under-19 level and played with the Geelong Supercats in the South East Australian Basketball League in 2015.[3][4]

AFL career

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.[5] Smith played his first match of football for the 2016 season in the Victorian Football League (VFL) Development League playing for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions; after the one match in the development league, he was promoted to the VFL seniors for the fifty-six point win over Collingwood at Olympic Park Oval in round two.[6] After four matches in the VFL, he was sidelined for over two months due to a groin injury.[7] After returning from injury to the VFL, he played the remainder of the season including the grand final loss against Footscray at Etihad Stadium.[8]

Described as one of the standouts at training during the 2017 pre-season by AFL Media journalist, Ben Guthrie,[9] Smith played in the opening two matches of the JLT Community Series.[10] He was forced to miss the week three match against West Coast at Domain Stadium due to a toe injury.[11] Despite the injury, he was promoted to the senior list in place of Mitch King who was on the long-term injury list, and Smith subsequently made his debut in the thirty point win against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in the opening round of the season.[12] During the first quarter, he dislocated his shoulder and was forced to miss the remainder of the match.[13]

Smith was provisionally suspended in mid-October of 2023 after a drug-test sample he provided after the Demons' win over Hawthorn in round 23 returned a positive result for cocaine.[14]

Statistics

Updated to the end of 2023.[15]

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
2017Melbourne44 300121426280.00.04.04.78.70.72.7
2018Melbourne44 81246489429310.10.35.86.011.83.63.9
2019Melbourne44 0––––––––––––––
2020[lower-alpha 1]Melbourne44 7002315389100.00.03.32.15.41.31.4
2021Melbourne44 30011920940.00.03.73.06.73.01.3
2022[lower-alpha 2]Melbourne44 70030184814120.00.04.32.66.92.01.7
2023Melbourne29 1411459288737320.80.34.22.06.22.62.3
Career 42126181132313100970.20.14.33.17.42.42.3

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. 2022 statistics include one game in which Smith was substituted out of the game with an injury (round 7) and was replaced by Kade Chandler and two games in which he was an unused medical substitute (Qualifying Final and Semi Final).

References
  1. "Son of Demons great Shaun Smith recruited by MFC as rookie". Nine.com.au. Nine Entertainment Co. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  2. Burgan, Matt (22 October 2015). "Dees sign SOS: aka Son of Smith". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  3. Uluc, Olgun (1 October 2014). "Australian U19 Men's Squad—Training Camp Roster". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  4. "2015 SEASON PREVIEW - GEELONG SUPERCATS". SEABL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  5. Navaratnam, Dinny (22 October 2015). "Dees secure son of high-flyer as Category B rookie ... and dad says the kid can jump". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  6. "Player Profile—Joel Smith". VFL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  7. Burgan, Matt (9 June 2016). "Dunn, Smith sidelined until after bye". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  8. "Casey Scorpions Grand Final team". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  9. Guthrie, Ben (14 March 2017). "How did your club's new faces fare in the JLT Community Series?". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  10. Ryan, Peter (24 February 2017). "King's pain could be Smith's gain at Melbourne". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  11. Gutrhie, Ben (23 March 2017). "Demons rookie Smith to make debut against Saints". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  12. Burgan, Matt (23 March 2017). "Son of Shaun set to debut". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  13. Schmook, Nathan (25 March 2017). "Match report: Dees break curse, Riewoldt seriously injured". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  14. https://www.afl.com.au/news/1054976/melbourne-demons-forward-joel-smith-tests-positive-to-cocaine-after-home-and-away-game
  15. "Joel Smith". AFL Tables. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
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