Jimmy Bartel

For the Hawaiian historian and museum curator, see Jim Bartels.
Jimmy Bartel

Jimmy Bartel
Personal information
Full nameJames Bartel
Date of birth4 December 1983
Place of birthGeelong, Victoria
Original teamBell Park (GFL)
Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)
Draft8th overall, 2001 National Draft
Height/Weight187 cm / 89 kg
Position(s)Utility
Club information
Current clubGeelong
Number3
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2002–Geelong259 (177)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
2008Victoria (Australia) Victoria1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of Round 11, 2014 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008.
Career highlights

James 'Jimmy' Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) tall and weighing 86 kilograms (190 lb), Bartel is able to contribute as a midfielder, forward, or defender.

Bartel made his AFL debut in 2002, and has since garnered a long list of accolades and achievements. He is a triple premiership player, a Brownlow Medallist, Norm Smith Medallist, and a two-time All-Australian.

Early life

James Bartel was born to Terry Bartel and Dianne Bennett in Geelong, Victoria. He spent much of his childhood in Herne Hill without his father. When his parents divorced while he was just one year old, Bartel's mother was left to raise him and his two elder sisters, Olivia and Emma, by herself.[1]

After beginning his junior football in Bell Park, Bartel left to attend St. Joseph's College, where his talent for sports became evident early.[2] Bartel displayed initial promise as a cricketer, representing the 'Joeys' in 1st XI cricket as a 16-year old, and winning the school's batting awards in both 2000 and 2001. This led to selection in the state under-17 team, before a switch in focus toward football instead saw Bartel selected to play for the Geelong Falcons team in the TAC Cup competition.[2] Although his age made him ineligible for the 2000 AFL Draft, Bartel garnered an impressive array of accolades and honours as a bottom-aged player. Bartel won mid-year State honours for Victoria Country in the AFL National Under-18 Championships, with his performances in the championship games earning him end-of-year All-Australian honours and the Most Valuable Player award for Victoria Country. In addition, he was named in the TAC Cup Team of the Year, won a TAC Cup premiership medallion with the Geelong Falcons, and also claimed the Best and Fairest Award while still only 16 years of age.[2]

Entering his second year with the Falcons, Bartel was rewarded with the team captaincy for the season.[2] Bartel again won mid-year state honours for Victoria Country, and was additionally awarded the state captaincy. Although failing to repeat his previous success as national champion with Victoria Country, Bartel's individual performances saw him earn All-Australian honours and gain selection in the TAC Cup Team of the Year for the second consecutive season.[2]

AFL career

2002–2006: Early career

Bartel was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with their first selection, and the eighth overall draft pick, in the 2001 AFL Draft.[2] After making his debut in the opening round of the 2002 AFL premiership season, which was a heavy defeat to Essendon, Bartel went on play in 11 out of a possible 22 senior games over the course of the year.[3] After gathering 21 disposals in Round 4, Bartel was awarded an AFL Rising Star nomination.[2] Having been dropped back to the club's VFL team to play out the second half of the season, Bartel went on to play a key part in helping a young Geelong reserves side capture the 2002 VFL Premiership.[2] In helping the Cats defeat Port Melbourne by 22 points, Bartel saw the club secure its first major piece of silverware since 1982.[4]

Despite an impressive debut season, Bartel struggled to maintain his spot within the team during the 2003 AFL season, featuring in only 13 senior games. Averaging just 12 disposals a game, Bartel was unable to help the Cats qualify for the finals series for the third successive season.[3] After just two senior appearances to begin the 2004 AFL season, Bartel was again dropped back to the VFL and instructed by coaching staff to work on particular aspects of his game. Despite compiling a series of impressive games in the VFL, Bartel was deliberately made to work hard over a two-month period before earning a Round 10 recall into the senior side.[5] Bartel's re-introduction to the senior team coincided with Geelong winning ten out of their final twelve games and securing a top four spot ahead of the finals series. Although Geelong were eliminated in the preliminary final by reigning premiers Brisbane, Bartel's averages of 22 disposals and 5 tackles a game over the course of the season had seen him secure his position within the team's midfield rotation.[3] His performances during the second half of the season, during which he averaged 29 disposals and 5 tackles a game,[3] also saw him recognised as the highest-polling Geelong player—with 13 votes in total—during the 2004 Brownlow Medal count.

Bartel continued to build on his reputation as a tough, courageous midfielder during the 2005 AFL season, earning his first nomination for the AFLPA Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player in the league.[5] Averaging 19.6 disposals a game, Bartel again helped Geelong qualify for the season-ending finals series, where they met Sydney in the semi-finals. After developing a slim lead for much of the game, Geelong struggled to maintain their advantage during the final minutes of the match. Bartel was restricted to just 9 disposals as the Swans eventually won through to the preliminary finals, defeating Geelong by 3 points.

2007–present: Individual and team success

Bartel at Geelong's 2011 AFL Premiership victory parade.

During the 2007 season, Bartel established himself as one of the premier ball-winning midfielders in the competition, averaging over 27 disposals per game—the second highest possession average in the league—and finishing amongst the top 10 within the league for total disposals (632), total handballs (291), total tackles (122), and tackles per game (5.3).[3] After helping the Cats claim the McClelland Trophy, he was again nominated for the AFLPA Robert Rose Award as the game's most courageous player,[6] and was also rewarded with his first All-Australian jumper.[7]

Bartel's standout season continued when he was awarded the prestigious Brownlow Medal, winning with 29 votes—the highest amount of votes ever by a Geelong medalist, and the third highest ever by any player under the current polling system—in a season that included eight best on ground performances.[8] Despite missing the final two games of the regular season due to a burst appendix,[8] Bartel also set an AFL record alongside teammate Gary Ablett, Jr., for polling the most combined votes ever by two players of the same club.[8] In addition, the pair combined with teammate Joel Corey to set another AFL record for most votes ever polled by three players of the same club, at 61 votes.[8]

he capped off a fine season by winning his first premiership medallion when he helped Geelong claim the 2007 AFL Premiership. Bartel's 28 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, and 2 goals in the 2007 AFL Grand Final helped the Cats claim an AFL-record 119 point victory over Port Adelaide.[3]

In the 2008 season, Bartel was relatively quiet in the first 11 rounds, but he regained form over the second half of the season. He had a disappointing finals series and failed to fire in the Preliminary Final victory over the Western Bulldogs and was subdued in the Grand Final loss to Hawthorn.

Bartel performed a creditable shut-down role in Geelong's 2009 Grand Final victory over St Kilda, breaking even with Lenny Hayes and earning himself a 2nd AFL Premiership Medallion.

In the 2011 AFL Grand Final, Bartel kicked three goals from half forward, earning his 3rd Premiership Medallion and the Norm Smith Medal when Geelong defeated Collingwood.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2014 season[9]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league for the Season only*
Led the league after finals only*
Led the league after Season and Finals*

*10 games required to be eligible.

Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2002 Geelong 3 11 3 2 71 69 140 29 26 0.3 0.2 6.5 6.3 12.7 2.6 2.4
2003 Geelong 3 13 5 2 71 86 157 37 31 0.4 0.2 5.5 6.6 12.1 2.8 2.4
2004 Geelong 3 16 3 8 222 126 348 90 78 0.2 0.5 13.9 7.9 21.8 5.6 4.9
2005 Geelong 3 24 18 5 274 196 470 131 94 0.8 0.2 11.4 8.2 19.6 5.5 3.9
2006 Geelong 3 21 15 12 297 187 484 139 79 0.7 0.6 14.1 8.9 23.0 6.6 3.8
2007 Geelong 3 23 18 8 341 291 632 143 122 0.8 0.3 14.8 12.7 27.5 6.2 5.3
2008 Geelong 3 25 22 15 382 320 702 142 124 0.9 0.6 15.3 12.8 28.1 5.7 5.0
2009 Geelong 3 24 12 15 347 300 647 152 128 0.5 0.6 14.5 12.5 27.0 6.3 5.3
2010 Geelong 3 24 14 11 343 287 630 138 110 0.6 0.5 14.3 12.0 26.3 5.8 4.6
2011 Geelong 3 24 26 6 325 204 529 142 94 1.1 0.3 13.5 8.5 22.0 5.9 3.9
2012 Geelong 3 20 12 10 230 190 420 101 121 0.6 0.5 11.5 9.5 21.0 5.1 6.1
2013 Geelong 3 24 16 9 354 204 558 129 84 0.7 0.4 14.8 8.5 23.3 5.4 3.5
2014 Geelong 3 23 27 18 321 183 504 125 100 1.2 0.8 14.0 8.0 21.9 5.4 4.3
Career 272 191 121 3578 2643 6221 1498 1191 0.7 0.4 13.2 9.7 22.9 5.5 4.4

Honours

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2002 3
2003 —
2004 13
2005 9
2006 2
2007 29
2008 10
2009 13
2010 9
2011 8
Total 96
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Personal life

Although his father kept in regular contact and maintained a stable relationship with Jimmy and his sisters throughout their childhood, an incident during Bartel's 21st Birthday caused ties to be severed.[1] Accusing his father of being an aggressive and heavy drinker, Bartel was forced to take a stand, and has since severed all contact with him.[1] In the aftermath of Bartel's victory in the 2007 Brownlow Medal count, the family's issues were spotlighted throughout the media, after an interview with Terry Bartel by the Herald Sun revealed his plea for reconciliation with his children.[1]

Off the field, Bartel holds a part-time job within the Geelong Football Club's social welfare department.[2] He studied Social Work at Deakin University,[10] and is now completing a degree in business and law through Open University.[11]

Growing up, Bartel was a supporter of the Richmond Football Club.[12] Bartel lives in the Geelong suburb of Newtown.

Bartel's cousin Josh is a professional Canadian Football League punter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Josh previously had a semi-professional career with the Wodonga Bulldogs.[13]

Bartel married Nadia Coppolino who worked as an account manager for ACP Magazines and Pacific Magazines, she now runs fashion blog Chronicles of Nadia in a ceremony on the Bellarine Peninsula in February 2014. They sold the photos to New Idea magazine. [14]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Edmund, S, "Jimmy Bartel's father wants to bury past" heraldsun.com.au, 26 September 2007, accessed 26 September 2007
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Heenan, M, "James Bartel Documentary" The Cattery, 6 March 2003, accessed 6 October 2007
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 FootyWire "Jimmy Bartel Statistics", footywire.com, accessed 30 July 2008
  4. ↑ O'Brien, B "Cats crop ready for harvest" afl.com.au, 20 January 2008, accessed 30 July 2008
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gullan, S, "Humble lad Bartel tried his hardest" Herald Sun Newspaper, 26 September 2007, accessed 6 October 2007
  6. ↑ "AFL players decide on competition's best" afl.com.au, 19 September 2007, accessed 19 September 2007
  7. ↑ "Geelong dominates All-Australian team with nine selected", heraldsun.com.au, 18 September 2007, accessed 18 September 2007
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Jimmy Bartel wins the Brownlow Medal", heraldsun.com.au, 25 September 2007, accessed 25 September 2007
  9. ↑ http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Jimmy_Bartel.html
  10. ↑ "Jimmy comes of Age"
  11. ↑ Connolly, R "Brownlow mettle", The Age Newspaper, 2 June 2007, accessed 8 August 2008
  12. ↑ Leach, F "Bartel Wins Rising Star Nomination", afl.com.au, 23 April 2002, accessed 8 August 2008
  13. ↑ http://www.backpagelead.com.au/index.php/other-sports/11633-aussie-josh-bartel-makes-history-in-canada
  14. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/nadia-bartel-jessie-habermann-among-new-breed-of-wags-running-influential-blogs/story-fni0d7e4-1227070452174

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Adam Goodes		 Brownlow Medal
2007 		Succeeded by
Adam Cooney
Preceded by
Nathan Deakes		 Geelong Advertiser Bendigo Bank
Sports Star of the Year Award
2007 		Succeeded by
Cadel Evans
Preceded by
Scott Pendlebury		 Norm Smith Medal
2011 		Succeeded by
Ryan O'Keefe