Jamie Tape

Jamie Tape (15 April 1974 – 3 January 2003) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club (WWTFC) in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and then the Richmond Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After he retired, he battled with illness but despite thoughts that he overcame this, he died at the wheel of his car following a car crash caused by a heart attack.

Jamie Tape
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-04-15)15 April 1974
Place of birth Coobowie, South Australia
Date of death 3 January 2003(2003-01-03) (aged 28)
Place of death Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) Woodville-West Torrens (SANFL)
Debut Round 1, 26 March 1994, Richmond
vs. Footscray, at Western Oval
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Position(s) Half back flanker
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1994–1997 Richmond 75 (4)
1998–1999 Collingwood 16 (1)
Total 91 (5) (AFL)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1999.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early Life

Jamie grew up in the small South Australian town of Coobowie on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. He attended Yorketown Area school in the neighbouring town of Yorketown and played his junior football for the Edithburgh Football Club.

Football Career

Jamie was a talented junior and was rewarded for his efforts by winning the Mail Medal for league best and fairest on the Yorke Peninsula. He was invited to play for the WWTFC in the SANFL and after making his league debut in 1992, he played a total of 75 games. He was a part of the 1993 SANFL premiership team and was named in the best players for the day.

Tape moved to AFL club Richmond in 1994 after initially being selected with pick #28 in the 1992 AFL Draft.[1] Tape enjoyed a highly-promising first three seasons with the Tigers, wearing number five and playing in 67 out of a possible 69 games and rewarded with an AFL Rising Star nomination in 1994. He shared Richmond's best first year player award with fellow South Australian rookie Matthew Rogers, as well as State of Origin representation. However, Tape began struggling with injury in following years, so much so that he managed just eight more games for Richmond before being traded to Collingwood with teammate Brad Smith in exchange for the Magpies' Aaron James and pick #71 in the 1997 AFL Draft.[2]

Tape's AFL career ended in 1999 after he could only manage to play a total of 16 games with Collingwood in his two years spent there. He played his last AFL game at just 25 years old. Following his delisting, he moved back to South Australia and played two more seasons with his original SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens and added another 19 games to his league tally.

Iillness, Death & Legacy

After having only just overcome a 10-month battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Tape died soon after a suspected brain aneurysm[3] while at the wheel of his car having gone shopping for supplies for a barbecue, not far from his home on the evening of 3 January 2003.[4] On the 9th of January 2003, his family and friends gathered in Yorketown, South Australia to pay their tributes.

Good Friend and ex-teammate Robert Pyman honoured him by saying "On and off the field, he epitomised the meaning of mateship. He was the type of person you'd want next to you because he was always positive." His legacy is honoured at the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club, with the club handing out the Most Valuable Player award as voted by the players "Jamie Tape Medal" at each year's club best and fairest award night and at the Edithburgh Football Club, there is a bench named in his honour.

Playing Statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1994 Richmond 5211017911129068240.0508.55.313.83.21.1
1995 Richmond 525212259331888340.080.0493.7212.723.51.4
1996 Richmond 521131669526172480.050.147.94.512.433.42.3
1997 Richmond 580058491073116007.256.113.383.92
1998 Collingwood 137125339922970.140.297.65.5713.144.141
1999 Collingwood 1390161288931700.16.83.19.93.40.8
Career 91 5 7 742 415 1157 319 136 0.05 0.08 8.15 4.56 12.71 3.51 1.49
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References
Notes
  1. M. Lovett (ed.), AFL Record Guide To Season 2007, AFL Publishing, Melbourne, 2006, p. 387. ISBN 978-0-9758362-7-9
  2. M. Lovett (ed.), AFL Record Guide To Season 2007, p. 388
  3. Quayle, E. 'Jamie Tape: unassuming achiever who always looked forward', The Age, 10 January 2003,
  4. Catalano, C. & Evans, C. 'Ex-Tiger Tape dies after car accident', 6 January 2003, The Age. Accessed 2 February 2008.
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