Joshua Rachele ( ; born 11 April 2003) is a professional

Australian rules footballer 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 ...

who plays for the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

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). He was selected by the

with their first pick, the sixth overall, in the 2021 AFL draft. He previously played for the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the NAB League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Mark ...

in the

NAB League The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

and the

Shepparton Swans Football Club The Shepparton Swans Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of Shepparton in northern Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley League. History The Shepparton Swans wer ...

in the Goulburn Valley League. He was educated at

Notre Dame College, Shepparton Notre Dame College is a dual-campus independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school located in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. The college is situated on two campuses: Knight Street Campus, that houses students in Year 7, 8, a ...

and

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

. Rachele had had an opportunity to play soccer professionally but chose Australian rules football instead. He was part of the academy for

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

and the under-17s Australian team. He has Italian and Greek heritage.

AFL career

Rachele made an immediate impact at the Crows, kicking five goals on debut against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in the opening round of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...

. In Round 4, Rachele received a Rising Star nomination in Adelaide's game against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

, in which Rachele took 9 marks, kicked 3 goals, and collected 19 disposals. Rachele became a fan favourite player across the competition in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, and became known for his goal celebrations imitating the likes of

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...

and

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his dribb ...

. On June 21, 2023, Rachele signed a contract extension which would keep him at the club until 2029. At the time, this was the longest current-standing contract of any player at Adelaide, equal with fellow draftee

Jake Soligo Jake Soligo (born 25 January 2003) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League (AFL). Known for his precise kicking and his friendship with teammates such as Josh Rachele, So ...

Statistics

''Updated to the end of round 14, 2023''. , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 8 , 13 , , 17 , , 11 , , 93 , , 53 , , 146 , , 36 , , 24 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 7.2 , , 4.1 , , 11.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 1 , - ,

, , , , 8 , 17 , , 17 , , 15 , , 146 , , 71 , , 217 , , 58 , , 39 , , 1.4 , , 1.4 , , 12.9 , , 6.6 , , 19.4 , , 5.3 , , 3.3 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 30 !! 34 !! 26 !! 239 !! 124 !! 363 !! 94 !! 63 !! 1.3 !! 1.0 !! 9.2 !! 54.8 !! 14.1 !! 3.6 !! 2.4 !! 1 Notes

References

External links

* * * Living people 2003 births Adelaide Football Club players People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Murray Bushrangers players Australian people of Greek descent Australian people of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) {{AFL-bio-2000s-stub