Jason Traianidis (born 7 November 1974) is a former

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 who played with St Kilda 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). Originally from Shepparton, Traianidis was a member of the North Melbourne reserves 1995 premiership team. He had been on North Melbourne's supplementary list that season and was almost drafted by the club in the 1996 pre-season but they went for Peter Bell at the last minute. Traianidis was instead signed by St Kilda and after taking part in their Ansett Cup premiership - where he kicked one of the competition's most famous goals off the ground - played 13 AFL games in 1996. A half forward, he kicked two goals on debut and was goal-less in his second game despite scoring five behinds.AFL Tables: Jason Traianidis
/ref> He suffered a back injury in 1997 which kept him on the sidelines for much of the year but got to play in St Kilda's qualifying final win over the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

. In 1999 he started the season brightly but missed the second half of the year as he needed a knee reconstruction. He was tried as a defender in 2000 and averaged 16 disposals a game. In the penultimate round of the 2001 season, Traianidis was reported for striking

Brett Kirk Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans. AFL career Kirk grew up in Al ...

and after receiving a one match ban announced his retirement. He would return to Shepparton and continue to play country football until 2010. In his final season, playing for Shepparton East in the

Picola & District Football League The Picola & District Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the AFL Victoria Country. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria, Australia, Victoria and southern New South Wales f ...

, he kicked eight goals in the winning grand final team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traianidis, Jason 1974 births Australian people of Greek descent Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) St Kilda Football Club players Shepparton United Football Club players Living people