Darren Jolly (born 6 November 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club, the Sydney Swans and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is best known for being the ruckman in Sydney's 2005 premiership win and also Collingwood's 2010 premiership win.

Darren Jolly
Jolly with Collingwood in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-11-06) 6 November 1981 (age 43)
Original team(s) North Ballarat (VFL)
Draft No. 31, 2001 Rookie Draft
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 108 kg (238 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2001–2004 Melbourne 048 0(11)
2005–2009 Sydney 118 0(59)
2010–2013 Collingwood 071 0(52)
Total 237 (122)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Junior career

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After completing his schooling at Damascus College Ballarat in 1996,[1] and playing for the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup, Jolly spent a year playing for the North Ballarat Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before being drafted by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2001 Rookie Draft.[2]

Melbourne

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He played 48 games over four seasons for Melbourne, mainly as an understudy to Jeff White.[3]

Sydney

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Jolly attempts a spoil while playing for Sydney in 2006.

The Demons traded Jolly to Sydney in 2004 for pick 15 in that year's national draft. Along with Jason Ball, in 2005 he was an integral part of Sydney's ruck division and after the retirement of Ball, assumed the number one ruck role at Sydney.

During his time at the Swans Jolly only missed two games, stemming from a suspension following an incident against his old club Melbourne. This run was cut in early 2011 due to an injury suffered playing for Collingwood.

In the early hours of 29 September – one day before the Swans played in the 2006 AFL Grand Final – Jolly's wife Deanne gave birth to the couple's first child, Scarlett, which brought relief to coach Paul Roos.[4]

Collingwood

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At the end of the 2009 season, Jolly requested a trade be done so he could return to his native Victoria with his family.[5] Collingwood securing a trade in exchange for picks number 14 and 46 in the 2009 AFL Draft.[6] Jolly became Collingwood's number one ruckman, and in 2010 was named in the 40-man All-Australian team squad, but did not make the final team.

Jolly's first two seasons at Collingwood mirrored his first two seasons with the Swans: he was part of Collingwood's premiership team in 2010, then part of its losing Grand Final team in 2011. Jolly played his 200th AFL game in round 19, 2011.

He was delisted by Collingwood at the conclusion of the 2013 AFL season.[7]

Personal life

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Jolly and ex-wife Deanne have two daughters.[citation needed] After being delisted by the Magpies, Darren and Dea competed in the ninth season of The Block, a reality television series that follows couples as they compete to renovate a house.[8] They returned for the tenth season of The Block in 2015, and ultimately won the 2015 series.[9] As of 20 September 2020 Deanne has divorced Darren.[citation needed]

Statistics

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[10]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
H/O
Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2001 Melbourne 41 4 0 1 5 5 10 2 2 14 0.0 0.3 1.3 1.3 2.6 0.5 0.5 3.5
2002 Melbourne 11 18 7 1 46 39 85 27 16 100 0.4 0.1 2.6 2.2 4.7 1.5 0.9 5.6
2003 Melbourne 11 19 4 0 72 66 138 47 24 260 0.2 0.0 3.8 3.5 7.3 2.5 1.3 13.7
2004 Melbourne 11 7 0 0 16 8 24 11 5 44 0.0 0.0 2.3 1.1 3.4 1.6 0.7 6.3
2005 Sydney 16 24 10 4 110 75 185 64 42 442 0.4 0.2 4.6 3.1 7.7 2.7 1.8 18.4
2006 Sydney 16 25 2 5 141 68 209 55 46 605 0.1 0.2 5.6 2.7 8.4 2.2 1.8 24.2
2007 Sydney 16 23 16 7 162 65 227 95 46 458 0.7 0.3 7.0 2.8 9.9 4.1 2.0 19.9
2008 Sydney 16 24 15 11 160 111 271 105 47 543 0.6 0.5 6.7 4.6 11.3 4.4 2.0 22.6
2009 Sydney 16 22 16 12 134 127 261 92 61 682 0.7 0.5 6.1 5.8 11.9 4.2 2.8 31.0
2010 Collingwood 18 26 24 10 172 155 327 131 58 579 0.9 0.4 6.6 6.0 12.6 5.0 2.2 22.3
2011 Collingwood 18 16 12 4 74 100 174 51 60 383 0.8 0.3 4.6 6.3 10.9 3.2 3.8 23.9
2012 Collingwood 18 20 12 4 94 124 218 58 72 649 0.6 0.2 4.7 6.2 10.9 2.9 3.6 32.5
2013 Collingwood 18 9 4 4 48 58 106 40 32 209 0.4 0.4 5.3 6.4 11.8 4.4 3.6 23.2
Career 237 122 63 1234 1001 2235 778 511 4968 0.5 0.3 5.2 4.2 9.4 3.3 2.2 21.0

References

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  1. ^ [1] Archived 20 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Damascus College, The Road, Autumn 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2015
  2. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 332. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  3. ^ Lovett, Michael, ed. (2005). AFL Record 2005 Guide to Season. Australian Football League Publishing/Geoff Slattery Publishing Pty Limited. p. 279. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5.
  4. ^ Grant, Robert; Cooper, Adam (29 September 2006). "Jolly good news for Swans". Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  5. ^ Denham, Greg (5 October 2009). "Darren Jolly set for shock switch to Magpies". The Australian. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  6. ^ Broad, Ben (8 October 2009). "Jolly Pie-bound with two-pick deal". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  7. ^ Magpies tell Jolly his time is up
  8. ^ Epstein, Jackie (12 April 2014). "Former Collingwood and Sydney player Darren Jolly to join The Block". Herald Sun. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Bec breaks down in tears as Deanne & Darren Jolly win a spot on The Block Triple Threat". News.com.au. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Darren Jolly". AFL Tables.
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