Jason Porplyzia

Jason Porplyzia
Personal information
Full nameJason Porplyzia
Nickname(s)Porpoise
Date of birth27 November 1984
Place of birthAdelaide, South Australia
Original teamWest Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft2003 AFL Rookie Draft (Delisted 2004)
9th overall, 2006 Pre-Season Draft
Adelaide
Height/Weight177 cm (5 ft 10 in) / 80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
Position(s)Forward
Playing career
YearsClubGames (Goals)
20062014Adelaide130 (181)
Career highlights

Jason Porplyzia (born 27 November 1984 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian rules football player with the Ukrainian background in the Australian Football League. He wears the number 40 for the Adelaide Football Club, and is known as a dangerous forward with a strong mark for his size. He is also widely regarded as one of the most accurate kicks for goal in the competition. He is known by a number of nicknames, including "the Porpoise", Needles and Porps.

Porplyzia graduated from Sacred Heart College in 2002 where he regularly played in the First XVIII, and played an integral role in Sacred Heart College's 20 goal defeat of Assumption College, Kilmore as part of the annual intercollegiate exchange. He was drafted by the Adelaide Crows and placed on their rookie list in 2003 but failed to impress the selectors enough to warrant elevation and was subsequently delisted. He then returned to the SANFL with West Adelaide, where he showed outstanding improvement, winning the club Best & Fairest award at the end of 2005. Adelaide rewarded his hard work by reclaiming him in the 2006 pre-season draft.[1]

Proplyzia made his AFL debut in round 5, 2006 against the Western Bulldogs, in which he scored 3 goals in Adelaide's resounding victory. Porplyzia played 11 games for the season, the standout being a 25-possession effort against Melbourne in Round 22. He continued to impress in 2007 before finally beginning to make a name for himself as a small forward in 2008, where he repeatedly played through a recurring shoulder injury to almost single-handedly carry Adelaide into the finals in the absence of Brett Burton, and almost into the top four.

2009 was a breakthrough year for Porplyzia, he kicked 57 goals, 20 behinds making him Adelaide's leading goalscorer. He was favourite behind Mark LeCras to receive his first All Australian selection as the small forward pocket, but was controversially beaten by Leon Davis.[1] Porplyzia is recognised as one of the most accurate set shots in the AFL, kicking 16 goals without a miss during 2009.[2] He played his 50th match for the Crows in round 6 against Port Adelaide in Showdown XXIV, and booted three goals despite the Crows' loss. In the Crows round 21 match against the West Coast Eagles, Porplyzia booted his 100th goal in AFL footy, and also achieved a career high 6 goals. On 2 October Porplyzia was officially recognized for being Adelaide's leading goalscorer at the Best and Fairest awards. He also won the coaches award and finished runner up to Bernie Vince in the Best and Fairest by 2 votes.[3]

In 2011 he injured his shoulder in the opening minutes of the first game and missed the rest of the season as he had a second shoulder reconstruction and focused on rehabilitation and strengthening.[4]

He returned to play 22 games in 2012, including his 100th game in round 14 against Richmond, in which he kicked his 150th career goal.

He retired at the end of the 2014 season with a total of 130 games played in 10 seasons[5]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of 2014 season.[6]
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2006 Adelaide 40 11 10 11 76 49 125 44 27 0.9 1.0 6.9 4.5 11.4 4.0 2.5
2007 Adelaide 40 15 15 10 105 100 205 56 36 1.0 0.7 7.0 6.7 13.7 3.7 2.4
2008 Adelaide 40 18 32 15 186 111 297 77 48 1.8 0.8 10.3 6.2 16.5 4.3 2.7
2009 Adelaide 40 24 57 20 206 138 344 89 88 2.4 0.8 8.6 5.8 14.3 3.7 3.7
2010 Adelaide 40 19 22 17 159 122 281 71 59 1.2 0.9 8.4 6.4 14.8 3.7 3.1
2011 Adelaide 40 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
2012 Adelaide 40 22 30 13 257 138 395 103 60 1.4 0.6 11.7 6.3 18.0 4.7 2.7
2013 Adelaide 40 16 13 14 126 98 224 54 31 0.8 0.9 7.9 6.1 14.0 3.4 1.9
2014 Adelaide 40 4 1 0 21 12 33 8 6 0.3 0.0 5.3 3.0 8.3 2.0 1.5
Career 130 181 100 1137 768 1905 503 356 1.4 0.8 8.7 5.9 14.7 3.9 2.7
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Gill, Katrina (28 June 2012). "The long road".
  2. Milbank, Zac (1 May 2010). "Crow's new goals". Herald Sun.
  3. "Clubs honour best and fairest". 3 October 2009.
  4. Rucci, Michelanagelo (11 August 2011). "Adelaide forward Jason Porplyzia pulls plug on 2011 season". AdelaideNow.
  5. "Porplyzia retires". 10 October 2014.
  6. "Jason Porplyzia statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

External links