Jordan Russell (born 6 November 1986) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Jordan Russell
Russell in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Jordan Russell
Date of birth (1986-11-06) 6 November 1986 (age 38)
Original team(s) West Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft No. 9, 2004 National draft, Carlton
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2005–2012 Carlton 116 (18)
2013 Collingwood 009 0(0)
Total 125 (18)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
Career highlights
  • VFL premiership captain – 2014, 2016
  • VFL state team captain – 2016
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Russell was recruited as the number 9 draft pick in the 2004 AFL draft from West Adelaide. He made his AFL debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 15, 2005 against St Kilda, his only match for the year. He spent most of the season developing in Carlton's VFL-affiliate, the Northern Bullants. In 2006, he broke into the senior team, playing ten games, mostly off the bench.

Russell expressed his desire to move back to South Australia for the 2007 season, with Port Adelaide seeking to trade for him, but no deal was made between the two clubs, and Russell re-signed with Carlton on 16 October 2006 to a two-year deal. In 2007, Russell played 18 games, but had not yet stamped himself as a definite future player.

Under coach Denis Pagan, he struggled for game time, and usually played completely defensive tagging roles, with reasonable success. Pagan was replaced as coach by Brett Ratten in late 2007, and he began to play Russell in the midfield and half-forward line. He played 21 of 22 games in 2008, and earned another two-year contract.

In 2009, Russell played 20 of 23 games, but was dropped briefly at midseason on form. This turned out to be a major turning point in Russell's career, as his form upon return to the seniors was outstanding. He continued his midfield/half-forward role for much of the year, but was forced into the back-line for the final month of the season after several injuries to teammates, where he was equally effective. Due to his strong form in the second half of the season, Russell finished sixth in the 2009 Carlton John Nicholls Medal.

After his success in 2009, Russell continued to be used in two-way roles in the backline, and was a consistent contributor throughout 2010. He played every game, and also assumed responsibility for most of the kick-ins. Russell finished second behind Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd for the John Nicholls Medal.[1]

Russell underwent hip surgery during the 2011 pre-season, and struggled with fitness and form throughout the 2011 season; he was ultimately dropped to the VFL for the latter part of the year.[2]

Russell was delisted after the 2012 season after playing mostly in the VFL. Jordan Russell was picked up by Collingwood during the end of year trade as Carlton received pick 71 in return. Given the retirement of former Collingwood footballer Chris Tarrant, Russell was able to keep his number 2 guernsey that he'd previously had from his days at Carlton. Russell played nine games in his sole season with Collingwood, and was delisted at the end of the season.[3]

Russell joined the Footscray reserves in the Victorian Football League in 2014 as a VFL-listed player and a development coach,[4] He was elevated to co-captain in 2015,[5] then outright captain in 2016, and he captained the VFL state team against the SANFL in 2016.[6] He captained the Bulldogs to two VFL premierships – the first in 2014 as the stand-in Grand Final captain, filling in for injured co-captains Nick Lower and Lukas Markovic,[7] and the second as appointed captain in 2016.[8] Russell retired from the VFL at the end of 2017.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Carlton Football Club Judd in John Nicholls Medal threepeat Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 28 September 2010
  2. ^ Ralph, Jon (21 September 2011). "Russell to stay at Carlton". Herald Sun. p. 76.
  3. ^ Collingwood makes six list changes
  4. ^ Liam Twomey (14 May 2014). "Footscray Bulldogs: Jordan Russell thrives at Whitten Oval". Star Weekly – Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  5. ^ Luke d'Anello (25 August 2015). "Jordan Russell confident Footscray will figure strongly in this year's VFL finals". Maribyrnong Leader. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  6. ^ Kate Withers (26 May 2016). "Russell named state captain". Western Bulldogs. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Footscray comes from three goals down claim VFL premiership by 22 points over Box Hill". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Footscray squash Scorpions, claim VFL premiership". Western Bulldogs. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  9. ^ Luke d'Anello; Toby Prime (11 September 2017). "Jordan Russell calls time on his VFL career with Footscray after 125 games at AFL level". Maribyrnong Leader. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
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