Jarrod Witts
Witts playing for Gold Coast in August 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-09-13) September 13, 1992
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales
Original team(s) St Ives/Sydney University
Draft No. 67, 2011 national draft
Height 209 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Weight 111 kg (245 lb)
Position(s) Ruck
Club information
Current club Gold Coast Suns
Number 28
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2012–2016 Collingwood 40 (18)
2017– Gold Coast 125 (15)
Total 165 (33)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Jarrod Witts (born 13 September 1992) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).[1] He previously played for the Collingwood Football Club from 2012 to 2016. Witts was appointed Gold Coast co-captain along with David Swallow from the 2019 season.

Early life

Witts was born in Sydney and grew up in the northern suburb of Normanhurst. He attended Barker College on the North Shore of Sydney.[2] His first sporting interest was Australian rules football and he would often attend Sydney Swans home games in his youth. In 1999, Witts was in attendance at the Sydney Cricket Ground the day Tony Lockett broke Gordon Coventry's all-time goal kicking record and ran onto the field after the historic achievement.[3]

Despite his early interest in Australian rules football, Witts switched allegiances later in childhood and took up rugby union in winter and cricket in the summer months throughout his adolescence. As a cricketer, he was selected in the New South Wales Emerging Blues squad and played alongside future Australian test captain Pat Cummins. At the age of 15, he was convinced by school friends to try Australian rules football again and joined the under-16 side at the St Ives Football Club. In just his third game for St Ives, Witts was scouted by Collingwood employee Rod Carter, who informed the Magpies' recruiting manager Derek Hine of Witts' potential. A week later, Hine offered Witts a NSW scholarship to join Collingwood and the deal was accepted.

In 2009, he joined Sydney University's under-18's team and continued his development. As a part of the NSW scholarship program, Witts played numerous games for Greater Western Sydney's TAC Cup team in 2010. The following year saw him elevated to Collingwood's senior list and his AFL journey began.

AFL career

He made his AFL debut for Collingwood against St Kilda in Round 6 of the 2013 AFL season. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, he was traded to the Gold Coast Football Club.[4]

On January 16, he signed a contract extension until the end of the 2024 season, where he'll be an unrestricted free agent. In February 2019, Witts was named as Gold Coast co-captain, alongside David Swallow.[5] Standing at 209cm, Witts is the tallest captain in AFL/VFL history. A record formerly held by Steven King at 202cm. At the end of the 2019 AFL season, he broke the record for the most hitouts in a home-and-away season (excluding finals) with 1008.

As of the start of the 2022 AFL season, Witts was the equal fourth tallest player in the AFL.[6]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of 2023[7]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
  †  
 Led the league for 
the season
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2012 Collingwood 150—————————————————
2013 Collingwood 157532935642320740.70.44.15.09.13.32.910.60
2014 Collingwood 1520841089119957703750.40.25.44.610.02.93.518.80
2015 Collingwood 151154585711523412450.50.45.35.210.52.13.722.30
2016 Collingwood 15201881638310.00.54.04.08.01.54.015.50
2017 Gold Coast 28182411212824046646820.10.26.27.113.32.53.537.81
2018 Gold Coast 28222615614430046868540.10.27.06.513.62.03.938.82
2019 Gold Coast 28223318813232064671008 †0.10.18.56.014.52.93.045.8 †1
2020[lower-alpha 1] Gold Coast 281703987217037284760.00.15.74.210.02.11.628.02
2021 Gold Coast 2830124184198870.00.38.06.013.63.02.629.00
2022 Gold Coast 2822421641292935563833 †0.10.17.45.813.32.52.938.3 †4
2021 Gold Coast 28214215113929051558240.20.17.26.613.82.42.639.2 †0
Career 165 33 33 1096 952 2048 414 510 5490 0.2 0.2 6.6 5.8 12.4 2.5 3.1 33.3 10

Notes

  1. ↑ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ Cordy, Neil (22 November 2011). "Collingwood snatch rising ruck prospect Jarrod Witts from under nose of Sydney Swans and GWS". The Daily Telegraphy.
  2. ↑ Chen, Torin (8 May 2013). "Our juniors Jarrod Witts and Will Sierakowski hit the AFL big time in super style". North Shore Times.
  3. ↑ Developing Collingwood ruckman Jarrod Witts making the most of his opportunity
  4. ↑ "Big Pie joins Suns, Dogs and Gold Coast swap picks". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Whiting, Michael (25 February 2019). "Suns shock: Former Pie co-captain, ex-Cat a leader". afl.com.au. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Tallest & Shortest AFL Players Full List".
  7. ↑ "Jarrod Witts". AFL Tables. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
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