Jake Aarts

Jake Aarts (born 8 December 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played state-league football with Richmond's VFL side before being drafted to the club's AFL list at the 2019 rookie draft in November 2018. Aarts made his AFL debut in round 5 of the 2020 season.

Jake Aarts
Aarts with Richmond's VFL side in May 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-12-08) 8 December 1994
Original team(s) Richmond (VFL)
Draft No. 16, 2019 rookie draft
Debut Round 5, 2020, Richmond
vs. Melbourne, at MCG
Height 177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb)
Position(s) Small forward
Club information
Current club Richmond
Number 39
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2019– Richmond 6 (8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 10, 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life and state-league football

Aarts played junior and senior local football at the Beaconsfield Football Club in his teenage years, before following Beaconsfield coach Austinn Jones to the Bendigo Football Club in 2013 when Jones became the club's VFL head coach.[1][2][3] He remained with Bendigo for 32 games over two years, but when the club folded at the end the 2014 season, Aarts joined the 2015 VFL-only playing squad for the AFL club Richmond's reserves team.[4][5][6][7] There he played alongside the club's non-selected AFL-listed players for three years before being selected to serve in the team's leadership group for the 2018 season.[8][9] Aarts finished 2018 having played 16 matches and holding averages of 13 disposals, four tackles and one goal a game, and earned an invitation to the Victorian state draft combine.[10][4] By the end of the 2018 season, Aarts had played 49 matches with Richmond's reserves and a total of 81 state-league games.[4]

AFL career

2019 season
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.[10]

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.[11][12] 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.[13][14] 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.[15][16] 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.[17][18][19] 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.[20][21][22] 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 contirbuted one goal in a qualifying final win over the Essendon reserves.[23][24] 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.[25][26][27] 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.[28] 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.[29][30]

2020 season

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.[31][32] 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.[33][34] 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.[35][36][37] 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.[38][39][40] In place of the cancelled VFL season, Aarts' return to match-play came through organised reserves practice matches against opposition team's unselected players.[41] 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.[5][42][43][44] 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.[45][46][47]

Player profile

Aarts plays as a defensive small forward, adept at tackling and applying defensive pressure on rebounding opposition defenders.[48][10] In his junior years, his time with Bendigo and his early seasons with Richmond's VFL side, Aarts played as an inside midfielder, before making a move to the forward line under the direction of Richmond VFL coach Craig McRae.[4][49]

AFL statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of round 5, 2020[29]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2020 Richmond 391016915320.01.06.09.015.03.02.0
Career 1 0 1 6 9 15 3 2 0.0 1.0 6.0 9.0 15.0 3.0 2.0

Personal life

Prior to his professional career, Aarts worked as a qualified carpenter.[2]

gollark: They are called "traffic lights".
gollark: Send in the DMCA ENFORCERS.
gollark: PIE-RAT!
gollark: PIRACY?!???
gollark: Yep!

References
  1. Greenberg, Tony (3 May 2020). "Special step in Aarts' football journey". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. Phelan, Jennifer (27 November 2019). "Mature-age Tiger rookie nails the art of hard work". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  3. Ciconte, Dominic (10 April 2013). "Powerhouses Narre Warren and Cranbourne to become the hunted in Casey Cardinia Football League". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. "AFL DRAFT WATCH: JAKE AARTS". VFL. SportsTG. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. "Aarts to make senior debut against Demons". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 5 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. "VFL Tigers finalise 2015 playing list". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. Cavanagh, Chris (13 April 2015). "Richmond to field youthful side under coach Tim Clarke in VFL in 2015". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Melbourne Leader.
  8. "Riewoldt stars in match practice". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. "Morris to lead VFL Tigers". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. "VFL Tiger Jake Aarts selected in the Rookie Draft". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  11. Mann, Brenton (9 March 2020). "VFL Tigers overtaken by Hawks". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  12. Mann, Brenton (28 March 2019). "VFL Tigers primed for Round 1". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  13. "VFL Report: Round 2". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  14. Mann, Brenton (30 April 2019). "VFL Report: Round 4". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  15. Mann, Brenton (5 May 2019). "VFL Tigers tick another box". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  16. Greenberg, Tony (10 May 2019). "Two Tiger changes". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  17. "Round 12 injury update". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  18. "Rioli to play for VFL Tigers". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  19. Mann, Brenton (18 July 2019). "VFL Report: Round 15". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  20. "In the mix: Who's pushing for selection in round 22?". AFL Media. Telstra Media. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  21. Kalac, Grace (15 August 2019). "Dusty named in squad". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  22. Mann, Brenton (14 August 2019). "VFL Report: Round 19". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  23. Kalac, Grace (23 August 2019). "Two Tiger changes for Lions clash". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  24. Mann, Brenton (31 August 2019). "Nank the hero as VFL Tigers come back from the brink". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  25. Mottershead, James (14 September 2019). "Richmond VFL team through to Grand Final after barnstorming last quarter". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  26. "Aarts to miss VFL Grand Final". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  27. Mann, Brenton (19 September 2019). "VFL Tigers and Seagulls battle for premiership glory". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  28. Marshall, Konrad. Stronger & Bolder. Melbourne, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 192. ISBN 9781743796375.
  29. "Jake Aarts". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  30. "Scoring Summary". 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  31. "Pre-season injury update". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  32. "Pre-Marsh Series Injury Report". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  33. Kalac, Grace (28 February 2020). "Higgins returns for Marsh 1". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  34. Collins, Ben (1 March 2020). "Pie mid's injury sours big win over Tigers as cult hero returns". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  35. Mann, Brenton (8 March 2020). "VFL Tigers overrun Werribee". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  36. Beveridge, Riley (13 March 2020). "Game off: Tiger stars to miss valuable practice match". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  37. "Tigers finalise team for GWS clash". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  38. Barrett, Damien (22 March 2020). "'Most serious threat in 100 years': AFL postpones season". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  39. "AFL suspends season in response to coronavirus, with AFLW season cancelled — but NRL plays on for now". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  40. "AFL 2020 season will restart on June 11 following coronavirus shutdown". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  41. Cleary, Mitch (10 June 2020). "Will your club play a scratch match this weekend?". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  42. "Scratch match player summary". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  43. "Scratch match player summary v Hawks". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  44. "Scratch match player summary v Saints". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  45. Greenberg, Tony (6 July 2020). "Worth the wait for Aarts". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  46. David Mark and James Coventry (14 March 2020). "AFL looking at cramming matches in case coronavirus outbreak postpones 2020 season". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  47. "Coronavirus crisis and footy: The state of play". AFL Media. Telstra Media. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  48. Guthrie, Ben (12 November 2018). "Who are the best mature-age prospects?". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. AFL Media. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  49. Olle, Sarah (13 November 2018). "AFL draft 2018: Mature-age VFL stars AFL clubs should consider at national and rookie drafts". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
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