Jimmy Bartel

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Jimmy Bartel
Jimmy Bartel
Jimmy Bartel
Personal information
Full name James Bartel
Date of Birth 4 December 1983 (1983-12-04) (age 24)
Place of Birth Victoria, Australia
Recruited from Geelong Falcons
Draft 8th overall, 2001
Geelong Cats
Height/Weight 187 cm / 86 kg
Position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Geelong
Number 3
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2002 – Geelong 128 (81)
¹ Playing statistics to end of Qualifying Final, 2008 season.
State team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Flag of Victoria (Australia) Victoria 1 (0)
Career highlights
AFL

Geelong

TAC Cup

Other

James "Jimmy" Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is an Australian Rules Football player for the Geelong Football Club. A midfielder at 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) and 86 kilograms (190 lb), Bartel is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, and was part of the Cats' premiership-winning team in 2007. He has also been selected to the Victorian state team, and has achieved premiership success at every playing level in his career to date.

After starting out as a cricketer, Bartel turned his focus toward football and debuted in the TAC Cup as a bottom-aged player. There, he became a standout performer in the junior league, winning a National Championship, TAC Cup premiership medallion, a state Most Valuable Player award, and twice gaining selection in both the All-Australian and TAC Cup Team of the Year sides. After entering his name into the 2001 AFL Draft, Bartel was drafted by Geelong with the eighth overall pick. Since making his AFL debut in 2001, Bartel has gone on to play in VFL, AFL pre-season, and AFL premiership teams in 2002, 2006, and 2007 respectively.

Contents

Early life

James Bartel was born to Terry Bartel and Dianne Bennett in Geelong, Victoria. Bartel spent much of his childhood in Herne Hill without his father. With his parents divorcing when he was 1-years old, his mother was left to raise Bartel and his two elder sisters, Olivia and Emma, by herself.[1]

Beginning his junior football in Bell Park, Bartel left to attend the famous St. Joseph's College, where his talent for sports became evident early on.[2] Bartel displayed initial promise as a cricketer, representing the Joeys in 1st XI cricket as a 16-year old, and winning the school's batting awards in both 2000 and 2001. This led to selection in the state under-17 team, before a switch in focus toward football instead saw Bartel selected to play for the Geelong Falcons team in the elite TAC Cup competition.[2] Although his age deemed him ineligible for the 2000 AFL Draft, Bartel garnered an impressive array of accolades and honours as a bottom-aged player. Bartel won mid-year State honours for Victoria Country in the AFL National Championships, with his performances in the championship games earning him end-of-year All-Australian honours and the Most Valuable Player award for Victoria Country. In addition, he was named in the TAC Cup Team of the Year, won a TAC Cup premiership medallion with the Geelong Falcons, and claimed the Geelong Falcons Best and Fairest Award while still only 16-years of age.[2]

Entering his second year with the Falcons, Bartel was rewarded with the team captaincy for the upcoming season.[2] Again, Bartel won mid-year state honours for Victoria Country, and was additionally awarded the state captaincy. Although failing to repeat his previous success as national champion with Victoria Country, Bartel's individual performances again saw him earn All-Australian honours and gain selection in the TAC Cup Team of the Year.[2]

Career

Bright beginnings (2002 – 2006)

Bartel was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with their first selection, and the eighth overall pick, in the 2001 AFL Draft.[2] After making his debut in the opening round of the 2002 AFL Premiership Season, Bartel went on play in 11 out of a possible 22 senior games over the course of the year.[3] A 21 disposal performance in Round 4 saw him awarded an AFL Rising Star nomination,[2] before a follow-up 28 disposal, 6 marks, 5 tackles and 2 goal best-on-ground performance earned him 3 Brownlow Medal votes at seasons end.[2] Having been dropped back to the club's VFL team to play out the second half of the season, Bartel went on to play a key part in helping the young Geelong VFL side capture the 2002 VFL Premiership.[2] In helping the Cats defeat Port Melbourne by 22 points, Bartel saw the club secure its first major piece of silverware since 1982.[4]

Despite an impressive debut season, Bartel struggled to maintain his spot within the team during the 2003 AFL season, featuring in only 13 senior games. Averaging just 12 disposals a game, Bartel was unable to help the Cats qualify for the finals for the third successive season.[3] After just two senior appearances to begin the 2004 AFL season, Bartel was again dropped back to the VFL. Specifically asked by the coaching staff to work on particular aspects of his game, Bartel was deliberately made to work hard in the VFL for a recall into the senior side.[5] After consistently accumulating several best-on-ground performances in the VFL, Bartel was re-selected in the senior team for the Round 10 match against Port Adelaide.[5] Although Geelong were eliminated in the preliminary final by reignining premiers Brisbane, Bartel's averages of 22 disposals and 5 tackles a game over the course of the season had seen him secure his position within the team's midfield rotation.[3] His performances during the second-half of the season, during which he averaged 29 disposals and 5 tackles a game,[3] also saw him recognised as the highest-polling Geelong player—with 13 votes in total—during the 2004 Brownlow Medal count.

Bartel continued to build on his reputation as a tough, courageous midfielder during the 2005 AFL season, winning his first nomination for the AFLPA Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player in the league.[5] Averaging 19.6 disposals a game, Bartel again helped Geelong qualify for the season-ending finals series by finishing sixth on the AFL ladder. Meeting Sydney in the semi-finals, Geelong struggled to hold onto its slim lead during the final minutes of the match. Bartel was restricted to just 9 disposals as the Swans eventually won through to the preliminary finals, defeating Geelong by 3 points.

Brownlow boy (2007 – present)

During the 2007 season, Bartel established himself as one of the premier ball-winning midfielders in the competition, averaging over 27 disposals per game—the second highest possession average in the league—and finishing amongst the top 10 within the league for total disposals (632), total handballs (291), total tackles (122), and tackles per game (5.3).[3] After helping the Cats claim the McClelland Trophy, he was again nominated for the AFLPA Robert Rose Award as the game's most courageous player,[6] and was also rewarded with his first All-Australian jumper.[7]

Bartel's standout season continued when he was awarded the prestigious Brownlow Medal, winning with 29 votes—the highest amount of votes ever by a Geelong medallist, and the third highest ever by any player under the current polling system—in a season that included eight best on ground performances.[8] Despite missing the final two games of the regular season with burst appendix,[8] Bartel also set an AFL record alongside teammate Gary Ablett Jr., for polling the most combined votes ever by two players of the same club.[8] In addition, the pair combined with teammate Joel Corey to set another AFL record for most votes ever polled by three players of the same club, at 61 votes.[8]

Capping off a finals series in which he had averaged 29 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, and a goal a game,[3] Bartel won his first premiership medallion when he helped Geelong claim the 2007 AFL Premiership. Bartel's 28 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, and 2 goals in the 2007 AFL Grand Final helped the Cats claim an AFL-record 119 point victory over Port Adelaide.[3]

Bartel didn't dropped off the pace at all in the 2008 season. He had a relatively quiet start to the season for his standards, but by mid-season he seemed to have hit full throttle and was close to best on ground for a number of weeks consecutively. After 21 rounds, Bartel was second in the competition in disposals (589) behind teammate Joel Corey and is one of the favourites for the Brownlow medal, yet again.

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 27 August 2008 (Round 21)[3]
Season Team No. Games Disposals Kicks Handballs Marks Tackles Goals Behinds
2008 Geelong 3 21 28.1 15.4 12.7 5.8 5.1 0.9 0.6
2007 Geelong 3 23 27.5 14.8 12.6 6.2 5.3 0.8 0.4
2006 Geelong 3 21 23.0 14.1 8.9 6.6 3.8 0.7 0.6
2005 Geelong 3 24 19.6 11.4 8.2 5.5 3.9 0.8 0.2
2004 Geelong 3 16 21.8 13.9 7.9 5.6 4.9 0.2 0.5
2003 Geelong 3 13 12.1 5.5 6.6 2.8 2.4 0.4 0.2
2002 Geelong 3 11 12.7 6.4 6.3 2.6 2.4 0.3 0.2
Career Averages 21.7 12.3 9.4 5.3 4.2 0.6 0.4
Season Team No. Games Disposals Kicks Handballs Marks Tackles Goals Behinds
2008 Geelong 3 18 503 273 230 100 93 16 12
2007 Geelong 3 23 632 341 291 143 122 18 8
2006 Geelong 3 21 484 297 187 139 79 15 12
2005 Geelong 3 24 470 274 196 131 94 18 5
2004 Geelong 3 16 348 222 126 90 78 3 8
2003 Geelong 3 13 157 71 86 37 31 5 2
2002 Geelong 3 11 140 71 69 29 26 3 2
Career Totals 126 2734 1547 1185 669 523 78 49

Honours

Personal life

Although his father kept in regular contact and maintained a stable relationship with Jimmy and his sisters throughout their childhood, an incident during Bartel's 21st Birthday caused ties to be severed.[1] Accusing his father of being an aggressive and heavy drinker, Bartel was forced to take a stand, and has sinced severed all contact with him.[1] In the aftermath of Bartel's victory in the 2007 Brownlow Medal count, the family's issues were spotlighted throughout the media, after an interview with Terry Bartel by the Herald Sun revealed his plea for reconciliation with his children.[1]

Off the field, Bartel holds a part-time job within the Geelong Football Club's social welfare department.[2] He studied Social Work at Deakin University[9], and is now completing a degree in business and law through Open University.[10]

Bartel is also one of only ten original recipients of the Crown Ambassador Reserve, alongside the likes of the Queen, John Howard, Hugh Jackman, and Ian Thorpe.[11]

Growing up, Bartel was a supporter of the Richmond Football Club.[12] Bartel lives in the Geelong suburb of Newtown with teammate Ryan Gamble.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Edmund, S, "Jimmy Bartel's father wants to bury past" heraldsun.com.au, 26 September 2007, accessed 26 September 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heenan, M, "James Bartel Documentary" The Cattery, 6 March 2003, accessed 6 October 2007
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h FootyWire "Jimmy Bartel Statistics", footywire.com, accessed 30 July 2008
  4. ^ O'Brien, B "Cats crop ready for harvest" afl.com.au, 20 January 2008, accessed 30 July 2008
  5. ^ a b c Gullan, S, "Humble lad Bartel tried his hardest" Herald Sun Newspaper, 26 September 2007, accessed 6 October 2007
  6. ^ "AFL players decide on competition's best" afl.com.au, 19 September 2007, accessed 19 September 2007
  7. ^ "Geelong dominates All-Australian team with nine selected", heraldsun.com.au, 18 September 2007, accessed 18 September 2007
  8. ^ a b c d "Jimmy Bartel wins the Brownlow Medal", heraldsun.com.au, 25 September 2007, accessed 25 September 2007
  9. ^ "Jimmy comes of Age"
  10. ^ Connolly, R "Brownlow mettle", The Age Newspaper, 2 June 2007, accessed 8 August 2008
  11. ^ WineState "Introducing Australia's first limited edition luxury lager – a royal standard", winestate.com.au, 2007. accessed 29 July 2008
  12. ^ Leach, F "Bartel Wins Rising Star Nomination", afl.com.au, 23 April 2002, accessed 8 August 2008

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Adam Goodes		 Brownlow Medallist
2007		 Succeeded by
Adam Cooney
v • d • e
Geelong Football Club – current squad

2 Harley • 3 Bartel • 4 Mackie • 5 Varcoe • 6 Ottens • 7 Taylor • 8 Hunt • 9 Kelly • 10 Tenace • 11 Corey • 12 West • 13 Lonergan • 14 Selwood • 15 Gamble • 16 D. Simpson • 17 Byrnes • 18 Djerrkura • 19 Egan • 20 S. Johnson • 21 Mooney • 22 S. Simpson • 23 Donohue • 24 Blake • 26 Hawkins • 27 Stokes • 28 D. Johnson • 29 G. Ablett • 30 Scarlett • 31 McKenna • 33 Rooke • 34 Hogan • 35 Chapman • 36 Moles* • 37 Laidler* • 39 Milburn • 40 Wojcinski • 41 Mumford* • 44 Enright • 45 Ling • TBA Brown • TBA Gillies • TBA Hunt • TBA Motlop • Coach: Thompson

* denotes Rookie Listed players