Max Rooke (born Jarad Maxwell Rooke; 19 December 1981) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the Geelong Football Club in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). A utility player, tall and weighing , Rooke's versatility allowed him to play as a forward, defender, and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Rooke made his Geelong debut in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and went on to become a dual premiership player with the club, playing key roles in both the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

grand final victories.

AFL career

Rooke was recruited from Casterton in 2001, and he made his debut in the second round of 2002. In 2003, he was awarded Geelong's most determined and dedicated player award. Rooke was a regular senior player until a shin injury forced him to miss the second half of

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, including the finals series, but he recovered to play all but one game in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. His lack of pace against small forwards was exposed in Round 20, 2005, when 's

Russell Robertson Russell "Robbo" Robertson (born 24 November 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last played for the Melbourne Football Club. Robertson is one of the Melbourne's great goalkickers, being one of just four players in ...

kicked six goals against him. This prompted coach Mark Thompson to move him into the midfield the following week. This move was successful, with Rooke nullifying

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

midfielder Chris Judd. In Geelong's close loss to the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

in the elimination final, Rooke laid a remarkable fifteen tackles. Rooke missed out on most of Geelong's 2007 season after suffering a potential season-ending 7 cm hamstring tear in Round 13. On 12 July, Geelong spent $20,000 on Rooke to receive treatment by soft-tissue expert Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfarth in Germany. He returned to the side in the 106-point qualifying final win against the after key defender Matthew Egan suffered a season-ending foot injury. In October 2010, Rooke announced his retirement from AFL football due to an acute knee injury which kept him out for most of the 2010 home-and-away season.

Coaching career

Rooke returned to Geelong in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

as a development coach for four seasons before joining as a development coach for the 2016 season. In November 2016, he joined as a development coach. Rooke was stood down from Melbourne in May 2020 due to limitations caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Personal life

In November 2006, Rooke made the decision to officially change his legal name to Max. Rooke's middle name at birth was Maxwell, and both of his grandfathers were known as Max, which led to a fondness of the name being the main reason behind the change. He also sported a wild 1970s-style hairstyle and beard. Rooke was known by the new name in all official AFL records from the 2007 season onwards.

Concussion history and class action against the AFL

Rooke claims that he had about 20 to 30 concussions throughout his nine-year career, according to an AFL class-action writ. In a suit reminiscent to that of the NFL, Rooke is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed in the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

in March 2023 on behalf of players employed by one or more AFL clubs between 1985 and 14 March 2023 who either suffered concussion or suffered damage from concussions, with the lawsuit seeking up to $1bn compensation for alleged long-term concussion damage to AFL players.

Statistics

:Max Rooke's player profile at AFL Tables
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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 24 , , 15 , , 135 , , 108 , , 243 , , 97 , , 76 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 6.1 , , 4.9 , , 11.0 , , 4.4 , , 3.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Jarad Living people 1981 births Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Casterton Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People from Casterton, Victoria Australia international rules football team players VFL/AFL premiership players