Max Rooke
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| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | December 19, 1981, |
| Recruited from | Casterton |
| Height/Weight | 189cm / 87kg |
| Playing Career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 2, 2002, Geelong vs. Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium |
| Team(s) | Geelong (2002—-)
84 games, 15 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season | |
| Career Highlights | |
Max Rooke (born Jarad Maxwell Rooke on December 19, 1981) is a defender and midfielder with the Geelong Football Club. Although not considered a naturally brilliant or 'flashy' player, he is respected for his strength and endurance. He plays mainly as a defender but has had success as a tagging midfielder.
Rooke was recruited from Casterton in 2001, and made his debut in the second round of 2002. He was a regular senior player until a shin injury forced him to miss the second half of 2004, including the finals series, but recovered to play all but one game in 2005.
His lack of pace against small forwards was exposed in Round 20, 2005 when Melbourne's Russell Robertson kicked seven goals against him. This prompted coach Mark Thompson to move him into the midfield the following week. This move was successful, with Rooke nullifying champion midfielder Chris Judd. In Geelong's close loss to the Sydney Swans in the Elimination Finals, Rooke amassed a remarkable fifteen tackles.
[edit] Name change
In November 2006, Rooke made the decision to officially change his legal name to Max, instead of Jarad. Rooke's middle name at birth was Maxwell and both his grandfathers were known as Max, which led to a fondness of the name as the main reason behind the change. [1] Rooke will be known by the new name in all official AFL records from the 2007 season onwards, in the same vein of teammate Jimmy Bartel's name change from his original "James".
[edit] References
- ^ Geoff McClure, The new name is Max says copy Cat Rooke, The Age, November 23, 2006.
