James Worpel (born 24 January 1999) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Early career

One of nine siblings growing up in the regional town of Bannockburn near Geelong, James was the second youngest and grew up with three other football obsessed brothers. An early developer James was selected at centre half back in the 2014 U/15 All Australian team. He also attended school at Western Heights College located in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Worpel spent two years developing his craft in the TAC with the Geelong Falcons. Worpel is a fierce competitor that goes in to win hard ball. A natural leader he was appointed co-captain of the Falcons for the 2017 year. He would later lead the side to the premiership. He was captain of the Victoria Country team in the

2017 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2017 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 22nd edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. For the previous two decades, the Under-18 Championships had been split into two divisions – with traditional football regions Vic Metro, Vic Coun ...

and was later rewarded with being selected in the U/18 All-Australian team.

AFL career

Worpel was drafted by Hawthorn with their first selection and forty-fifth overall in the

2017 AFL draft The 2017 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2017 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed a ...

. He made his AFL debut in the thirty-five point win against at the University of Tasmania Stadium in round six of the 2018 season. He played three games before getting dropped. Back in the side for round 18 against , he put in an impressive four match performance for Worpel became Hawthorn’s second Rising Star nominee for the 2018 season.

2019 season

During the 2019 pre-season Worpel was given the number 5 guernsey that had been vacated due to

Ryan Burton Ryan Donald Burton (born 31 January 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Ryan Burton was raised in Adelaide, and attended Sacr ...

having been traded to . Worpel wore number 38 for his debut season. Worpel was picked for round one, and managed to play every game for the season. He set a league record for most disposals for a player under twenty years of age. Ultimately he was voted the best player for Hawthorn for the season, collecting the Peter Crimmins Medal, becoming the youngest winner of that record since

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

won it in 1971. Worpel is considered a protégé of Assistant Coach and former Hawthorn player Sam Mitchell. In 2020 Worpel missed the last two games of the season when he injured of his right acromioclavicular (AC) joint against that required surgery to stabilise the joint.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of Round 16 2022.'' , - ,

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, , , , 38 , 11 , , 5 , , 5 , , 95 , , 98 , , 193 , , 23 , , 43 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 8.6 , , 8.9 , , 17.5 , , 2.1 , , 3.9 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 5 , 22 , , 9 , , 8 , , 309 , , 275 , , 584 , , 72 , , 107 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 14.0 , , 12.5 , , 26.5 , , 3.3 , , 4.9 , , 10 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , , , 5 , 15 , , 2 , , 7 , , 167 , , 120 , , 287 , , 39 , , 81 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 11.1 , , 8.0 , , 19.1 , , 2.6 , , 5.4 , , 0 , - ,

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 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , , , 5 , 20 , , 10 , , 8 , , 232 , , 194 , , 426 , , 54 , , 82 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.6 , , 9.7 , , 21.3 , , 2.7 , , 4.1 , , 0 , - ,

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

, , , , 5 , 11 , , 3 , , 2 , , 86 , , 83 , , 169 , , 20 , , 24 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 7.8 , , 7.5 , , 15.4 , , 1.8 , , 2.2 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 79 !! 29 !! 30 !! 889 !! 770 !! 1659 !! 208 !! 337 !! 0.4 !! 0.4 !! 11.3 !! 9.7 !! 21.0 !! 2.6 !! 4.3 , , 10 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * TAC Cup premiership ( Geelong Falcons): 2017 Individual * Peter Crimmins Medal: 2019 *

22 Under 22 team The 22 Under 22 team (stylised as 22under22) is an honorary representative Australian rules football team created by the AFL Players' Association that seeks to recognise the best young talent in the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Wom ...

: 2019 * best first year player (debut season): 2018 * AFL Rising Star nominee:

* TAC Cup premiership captain: 2017 * Under 18 All-Australian team:

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 ser ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Worpel, James 1999 births Living people Geelong Falcons players Box Hill Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Peter Crimmins Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)