Jack Steele (born 13 December 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2015 to 2016. Steele has won two

Trevor Barker Award The Trevor Barker Award is an Australian rules football award for the player voted the St Kilda Football Club best and fairest player during the home and away season in the Australian Football League by a voting panel. The St Kilda Best & Faire ...

s and is a dual

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

. He served as St Kilda co-captain in 2021, and has served as the sole captain since the 2022 season.

Early life

Steele is from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). His father Stuart played Rugby League at club level in country New South Wales and several of Jack’s uncles also played Rugby League. Jack’s older sister Sophie represented the ACT in basketball as a junior. Steele's father suggested he play Australian rules football. Steele participated in the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian rules football (AFL) to boys and girls aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective pro ...

program at Belconnen and he joined the Belconnen Magpies via their junior system. Steele was a Collingwood supporter as a youth. Steele was a budding sportsman as a junior, playing cricket and soccer, while he also played basketball with future tennis star Nick Kyrgios when he was 12. Steele eventually focused on AFL at around 15 or 16. Steele joined the

GWS Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

' Academy at just 13 years of age and went on to play with the UWS Giants, the

NSW/ACT Rams The NSW/ACT Rams is an under 18 Australian rules football representative club in the TAC Cup. The team, under the guidance of AFL NSW/ACT represented New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and had the moniker of the Ram, partly der ...

and continued playing for the Magpies (alongside future St Kilda teammate

Logan Austin Logan Austin (born 8 July 1995) is a former professional Australian rules footballer with the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Port Adelaide Football Club from 2015 to 2017. Origi ...

) while at the Academy. In 2012 Steele had a taste of football at senior level, playing six games for the University of Western Sydney (UWS) Giants in the NEAFL. In May 2013 Steele dislocated his knee at the team’s training camp in Coffs Harbour a week before the Under 18 National Championships. The injury forced him to miss the carnival and although he was eligible for selection at the 2013 AFL Draft he was overlooked. As he had in 2013, Steele played junior football Steele played games at senior level in the NEAFL for both Belconnen and UWS Giants in 2014. Steele averaged averaging 24.7 disposals, 6.8 marks, 6.7 tackles, 12.0 contested possessions and 1.0 goals per game for Rams in the TAC Cup. At the 2014 Under 18 National Championships Steele was phenomenal in his three games for New South Wales/ACT, averaging 13.0 kicks, 7.7 handballs, 5.7 marks, 3.0 tackles, 11.7 contested possessions and 2.0 goals per game and won All-Australian honours as NSW/ACT's MVP. Steele was alsoselected on the interchange in the 2014 Under 18 All-Australian team. At the 2014 AFL Draft combine Steele performed well, having three top 10 results – finishing equal ninth in the kicking test, 3km time-trial and beep test. Canberra-raised AFL footballers were uncommon at the time of Steele's drafting, with Jason Tutt (2009) the most recent Canberran to be drafted in the AFL. At one point, Steele, Belconnen teammate Logan Austin as well as

Josh Bruce Joshua Bruce (born 8 June 1992) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants between 2012 and 2013 and the ...

, all from Canberra, were playing together at St Kilda (2018) with Steele reflecting that "it's funny, we always make jokes about Canberra and stuff with each other that only the three of us would understand. It's still pretty weird to think that we're probably

lose to Lose may refer to: * ''Lose'' (Cymbals Eat Guitars album), the third studio album by American indie rock band Cymbals Eat Guitars * "Lose" (song), by KSI and Lil Wayne, 2021 *"Lose", a song by Travis Scott from his 2016 album ''Birds in the Trap ...

the only three Canberra blokes in the AFL and we're all on the same side."

AFL career

Greater Western Sydney (2015–2016)

Steele was drafted by Greater Western Sydney as an academy player (their first ever) with pick 24 overall in the

2014 AFL draft The 2014 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2014 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

after the North Melbourne Football Club unsuccessfully bid for him with their first round pick listed as 16 overall. Steele coincidentally made his debut against in round 12 of the 2015 season and impressed with 17 disposals and 10 tackles. Steele played seven AFL games in his debut season at the Giants including six consecutive games from Round 12 to Round 18, and played a further 11 with their NEAFL side where he was in their best players eight times. His best game for the year would be against his future side St Kilda in Round 15 where he collected 20 touches, 3 marks, 6 tackles and 1 goal. Steele commenced 2016 in the seniors and had 11 disposals and kicked one goal against Melbourne in Round 1. Steele was omitted for Round 2 but his time in the NEAFL was short-lived, being recalled to the senior side in Round 4. In five AFL games from Round 4 to Round 8 rotating between the midfield and the forward line Steele averaged 18 disposals and a goal per game with the Giants recording five consecutive victories. Steele only playing four AFL games from Round 9 to Round 17. After playing consecutive AFL games in Round 16 and Round 17 Steele missed Rounds 18 and 19 with a hand injury and was unable to regain his place in the Giants AFL team. The Giants midfield was stacked with talent including Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio,

Dylan Shiel Dylan Anthony Shiel (born 9 March 1993) is a Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was one of 12 underage recruits that GWS had access to as part of their list conces ...

Adam Treloar Adam Treloar (born 9 March 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2012 to 2015 and the Co ...

Ryan Griffen Ryan Leigh Griffen (born 27 July 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Griffen was born in Goolwa, a South Australi ...

, Josh Kelly,

Lachie Whitfield Lachlan Whitfield (born 18 July 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first overall selection in the 2012 AFL draft. Early years ...

and

Tom Scully Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally s ...

whilst

Toby Greene Toby Greene (born 27 December 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the 11th ov ...

and

Devon Smith Devon Sheldon Smith (born 21 October 1981 in Hermitage, Grenada) is a cricketer who features as a opening or top order left-handed batsman. Smith has played for the West Indies and the Windward Islands in regional tournaments. Smith also ho ...

supported as forwards who rotated through the midfield. This made it very difficult for younger mids like Steele to get selected and gain AFL experience.

St Kilda

First season at St Kilda (2017)

At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Steele requested a trade from Greater Western Sydney and nominated as his preferred destination. He was traded to in exchange for the club's future 2017 second round draft pick (used to select

Brent Daniels Brent Daniels (born 9 March 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He made his debut in round 16 of the 2018 season against the West Coast Eagl ...

). Of the trade, Saints Chief Operating Officer Ameet Bains stated that "Jack’s a tough, big-bodied midfielder that will complement the mix we’ve got in there already and offer some high quality support to players like Jack Steven and David Armitage...Although Jack was a Giants academy player, we followed him closely in his draft year and have monitored his progress ever since, particularly in the last 12 months when we identified the potential for him to move clubs in search of opportunity." Bains also stipulated that "Jack had a number of options, but he was really keen to come to our club. He sees an opportunity to play regular senior football at St Kilda and was attracted to us because he sees a club that is building the right way." Steele himself cited opportunity at AFL-level as the driving factor for requesting a trade; "I really wanted to be playing consistent AFL footy, and at the Giants and with their list and the players they had it was just too hard to crack, if you did play one bad game I suppose you felt like your spot was in a bit of jeopardy, I didn’t really want that stress. I did want to stay there and be a one club player and try and win a premiership with that team but at the end of the day I wasn’t playing AFL footy so I think coming to St Kilda was the best thing I have done." Jack Steele 2018

Steele made his debut for St Kilda Football Club in Round 1 of the 2017 season against the Melbourne Football Club, and set a new personal best of 23 disposals in a game consisting of eight kicks and 15 handballs, he also had 12 contested possessions and took seven marks. Steele played 11 consecutive AFL games for St Kilda in the first half of the 2017 season, and had more than 17 disposals nine times and laid at least eight tackles in a game eight times during this period. Steele was omitted for two games due to form, but was recalled in Round 15 and laid 17 tackles to equal the Saints club record for most tackles in a game set by David Armitage. He ultimately played the last nine matches of the season. Steele successfully completed 158 tackles in 20 games for St Kilda in 2017, the second best season tackle total in club history at the highest average per game (in the top 20) at 7.9 per game. He also equaled the club record for tackles in a game with 17 against in round 15. This led to Steele winning the "

Lenny Hayes Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2014. He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Fo ...

Player Trademark award" for 2017, although he finished 18th in the club's best and fairest, the

2018

Belconnen Magpies teammate and close friend Logan Austin was traded to the Saints ahead of the 2018 season, and the two played seven games together that year. After a slow start to the 2018 season with a rib injury and some inconsistent form, St Kilda coach Alan Richardson picked Steele to perform a “run-with” or tagger role for the team. At 22 years of age Steele played his 50th AFL game in Round 15 against Melbourne at the MCG, tagging

Clayton Oliver Clayton Oliver (born 22 July 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Oliver is known for his capabilities on the ...

. Against

Patrick Cripps Patrick Cripps (born 18 March 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cripps won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2019 and the Brownlow Medal in 2022, and ...

in Round 17, Steele had 33 disposals and a phenomenal disposal efficiency of 97%, while also having a game-high 10 tackles, a team-high seven clearances, a team-high 15 contested possessions, a goal assist and kicked a goal. Steele excelled in the tagging role and had a standout second half of the season where he again won the "Lenny Hayes Player Trademark award" for the second year in a row and polled third in the

with 134 votes behind fellow midfielders Jack Steven (191 votes) and

Sebastian Ross Sebastian Ross (born 7 May 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the cousin of Jobe Watson and nephew of Tim Watson. AFL career Ross was re ...

(175). Steele was ranked sixth in the AFL for tackles in 2018 and played 21 of a possible 22 games for the year, and played 21 of a possible 22 games.

2019

Steele continued his tagging role in 2019, missing only two games due to injury and not playing a game at reserves level for the first time since becoming an AFL-listed player. In round 16, Steele gathered a game high and club record 18 tackles, while tagging North Melbourne midfield star Ben Cunnington. Steele again finished third in the Trevor Barker award, making headlines for his tagging. Despite the run-with role, he averaged an impressive 21.9 disposals, 8.2 tackles and 4.2 clearances a game.

2020

The 2020 season was a breakout for Steele who transitioned from a tagger to an attacking midfielder and received a wide-range of accolades for a fine season. Steele finished equal third (with Melbourne's

Christian Petracca Christian Petracca ( ; born 4 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Petracca has the ability to play dual- ...

) in the prestigious AFL

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

after polling votes in nine games and earning best on ground in the matches against Carlton, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Gold Coast. Steele also won the 2020

, the St Kilda Best and Fairest award, for the first time in his career. Steele was selected on the interchange for the 2020 All-Australian side. Steele lead the Saints’ numbers for disposals (376), clearances (90), tackles (94), inside-50s (54) and ground-ball gets (117), plus in excess of 100 more pressure acts than second-placed

Dan Butler Daniel Eugene Butler (born December 2, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series ''Frasier'' (1993–2004); Art in '' Roseanne'' (1991–1992); for the voice of Mr. Simmons on the ''Nickelodeon'' T ...

. Steele finished fifth in the AFL Most Valuable Player Award behind fellow midfielders

Lachie Neale Lachlan Oliver Neale (born 24 May 1993) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club from 2012 to 2018 before being traded to the ...

Travis Boak Travis Boak (born 1 August 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Boak captained the club from 2013 to 2018, and is the club's AFL games reco ...

, Christian Petracca and key forward Tom Hawkins. Steele polled 72 votes to finish fourth in the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award behind Lachie Neale (93), Christian Petracca (78) and Travis Boak (77), with Collingwood midfielder Taylor Adams (60) finishing fifth.

Co-captaincy (2021–)

Ahead of the 2021 AFL season, Steele was named co-captain of St Kilda alongside incumbent skipper Jarryn Geary. The honour was all the more significant as Steele had not been part of the leadership group in 2020, although he began to sit in on meetings in the second half of that season. An introvert, Steele did not initially see himself as an AFL captain. However, he was encouraged by Saints' captain Geary to take up a leadership role at the club: “I never thought about eing captain just because of how quiet I am...He (Geary) said: ‘it’s OK to be different. He always showed a lot of faith in me, not just in my leadership but in my ability. For a lot of my career, I have had belief issues in myself. He’s been one constant person and teammate that’s believed in me since I got to the club.” Steele played his 100th AFL match in Round 3 against Essendon and amassed an equal career-high 35 disposals in his milestone game. Despite the Saints not reaching the heights of the previous season, Steele had a sensational year. Steele averaged a career-best 29 disposals, 14 contested possessions, eight tackles and six clearances for the season and topped the club in all key statistical metrics. Steele also had the highest number of tackles in the year (185, just one short of the all-time record) and placed in the league's top-10 for total contested possessions (fourth), pressure acts (fifth), clearances (eighth) and disposals (tenth). Steele had less than 25 disposals only four times for the year, while he had 30 disposals or greater in 10 games, including a season-high 37 disposals against Port Adelaide in prolific game in Round 18 where he also had eight marks, seven tackles, four clearances and kicked a goal. Steele collected a whopping 14 tackles twice, against Collingwood in round 16 and Carlton in Round 20, also collecting 36 disposals in both games. For his impressive 2021 season, Steele earned a number of awards including his second consecutive Trevor Barker Award (securing 234 votes, 79 votes ahead of second place)

selection and the AFL Players' Association Most Courageous Player Award.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - , 2015 , , , , 38 , 7 , , 1 , , 2 , , 30 , , 69 , , 99 , , 16 , , 40 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 4.3 , , 9.9 , , 14.1 , , 2.3 , , 5.7 , , 0 , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, , , , 11 , 10 , , 8 , , 2 , , 81 , , 74 , , 155 , , 41 , , 41 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 8.1 , , 7.4 , , 15.5 , , 4.1 , , 4.1 , , 0 , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , , , 9 , 20 , , 6 , , 8 , , 152 , , 289 , , 441 , , 65 , , 158 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 7.6 , , 14.5 , , 21.6 , , 3.3 , , 7.9 , , 3 , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , , , 9 , 21 , , 7 , , 2 , , 207 , , 286 , , 493 , , 83 , , 140 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.9 , , 13.6 , , 23.5 , , 4.0 , , 6.7 , , 1 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 9 , 20 , , 3 , , 6 , , 195 , , 243 , , 438 , , 80 , , 164 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 9.8 , , 12.2 , , 21.9 , , 4.0 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 8.2^† , , 1 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , , , 9 , 19 , , 11 , , 2 , , 204 , , 213 , , 417 , , 72 , , 104 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 10.7 , , 11.2 , , 21.9 , , 3.8 , , 5.5 , , 20 , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , , , 9 , 22 , , 13 , , 8 , , 311 , , 331 , , 642 , , 103 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 185^† , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 14.1 , , 15.0 , , 29.2 , , 4.7 , , 8.4 , , 26 , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, , , , 9 , 18 , , 5 , , 5 , , 227 , , 261 , , 488 , , 90 , , 129 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.6 , , 14.5 , , 27.1 , , 5.0 , , 7.2 , , 13 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 137 !! 54 !! 35 !! 1407 !! 1766 !! 3173 !! 550 !! 960 !! 0.4 !! 0.3 !! 10.3 !! 12.9 !! 23.2 !! 4.0 !! 7.0 !! 64 Notes

Honours and achievements

* St Kilda co-captain: 2021–present * 2×

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

* 2×

: 2020, 2021 * Robert Rose Award: 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Jack 1995 births Living people NSW/ACT Rams players Greater Western Sydney Giants players Belconnen Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory