Joel Smith

For other people named Joel Smith, see Joel Smith (disambiguation).

Joel Michael Smith
Personal information
Date of birth	(1977-05-03) 3 May 1977 (age 44)
Original team(s)	Yarrawonga / Murray Bushrangers
Debut	Round 3, 16 April 1995, St Kilda vs.  Adelaide, at Football Park
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1995–1997	St Kilda	058 (51)
1998–2007	Hawthorn	163 (39)
Total		221 (90)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2007.
Career highlights
2× All-Australian team: 2001, 2003 Peter Crimmins Memorial Trophy: 2001 AFL pre-season premiership: 1996 AFL Rising Star nominee: 1995
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Joel Smith (born 3 May 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer.

Beginning his career in 1995 as a bright young prospect for St Kilda, Smith was touted as the future of the club.

Smith played in St Kilda’s 1996 AFL Ansett Australia Cup winning side – the club's first AFL Cup win. ^[1]

He provided 3 good years of service before being incurring a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury requiring reconstruction late in the 1997 home and away season, missing the Saints' finals series.

A contractual dispute meant he moved to Hawthorn at the end of 1997. ^[2] While he was injured all throughout 1998 and did not play a game, Hawthorn recognised this talent and kept him on the list.

Smith made his return in the 1999 season and his role at the Hawks was as a running half-back, setting up attacking plays. He has been very successful playing this role throughout his career, and in 2001, won All-Australian selection and the Peter Crimmins Medal. He again won All-Australian selection in 2003, was vice captain in the 2005 season, and consistently finished in the top bunch of players in his club's best and fairest award.

Smith retired at the end of the 2007 season, during which Hawthorn returned to the finals for the first time in 6 years, citing that the rapidly improving Hawthorn side was likely to mean reduced opportunities for him in 2008. ^[3]

Statistics

^[4]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

AFL playing statistics

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1995	St Kilda	4	20	6	7	190	99	289	65	25	0.3	0.4	9.5	5.0	14.5	3.3	1.3	1
1996	St Kilda	4	22	22	22	246	122	368	96	30	1.0	1.0	11.2	5.5	16.7	4.4	1.4	1
1997	St Kilda	4	16	23	17	207	94	301	63	17	1.4	1.1	12.9	5.9	18.8	3.9	1.1	3
1998	Hawthorn	11	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	Hawthorn	11	17	8	12	130	58	188	34	14	0.5	0.7	7.6	3.4	11.1	2.0	0.8	2
2000	Hawthorn	11	17	10	5	131	77	208	52	17	0.6	0.3	7.7	4.5	12.2	3.1	1.0	0
2001	Hawthorn	11	24	0	5	315	87	402	82	33	0.0	0.2	13.1	3.6	16.8	3.4	1.4	7
2002	Hawthorn	11	5	2	2	62	18	80	19	5	0.4	0.4	12.4	3.6	16.0	3.8	1.0	1
2003	Hawthorn	11	22	5	6	222	92	314	76	43	0.2	0.3	10.1	4.2	14.3	3.5	2.0	3
2004	Hawthorn	11	22	7	2	261	106	367	73	48	0.3	0.1	11.9	4.8	16.7	3.3	2.2	0
2005	Hawthorn	11	20	4	4	233	146	379	95	24	0.2	0.2	11.7	7.3	19.0	4.8	1.2	5
2006	Hawthorn	11	19	0	1	199	115	314	111	28	0.0	0.1	10.5	6.1	16.5	5.8	1.5	0
2007	Hawthorn	11	17	3	5	147	124	271	93	28	0.2	0.3	8.6	7.3	15.9	5.5	1.6	0
Career			221	90	88	2343	1138	3481	859	312	0.4	0.4	10.6	5.1	15.8	3.9	1.4	23

References

1. "AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton". Slattery Media Group. 23 March 1996. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
2. Denham, Greg (3 February 1998). "Young Saint quits to join Hawks". The Age.
3. "Hawthorn's Joel Smith retires from AFL". 25 September 2007.
4. "Joel Smith stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 October 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joel Smith .

• Joel Smith's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Joel Smith at AustralianFootball.com