Joel Jeffrey

Jeffrey was born into a Darwin-based family of Indigenous Australian descent from the Northern Territory (Wulwulam) and Queensland (Kukatj).{{cite news |title=AFL Players' Indigenous Map 2021 |url=https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2021/05/Indigenous-Player-Map-Update-2021_v5.pdf |access-date=19 July 2021 |publisher=AFL Players Association |date=1 June 2021}} His father, Russell, was a professional Australian rules footballer who played at the highest level for St Kilda before relocating to the Gold Coast to continue his AFL career with the Brisbane Bears. Following his retirement, Russell returned to Darwin to play for Wanderers and coached Palmerston to back-to-back NTFL premierships in 2001–02. He was inducted into the AFLNT Hall of Fame in 2010.{{cite web|title=NTFL Hall of Fame - Russell Jeffrey |url=https://www.aflnt.com.au/aboutteam-of-the-century/russell-jeffrey |date=3 September 2016}}

Joel began playing junior football for Palmerston and later switched to the Wanderers Football Club where he made his Men's Premier League debut for the club in 2018 at 16 years of age.{{cite web|title=NT Thunder player Joel Jeffrey |url=https://www.ntthunder.com.au/player/joel-jeffrey/ |date=12 December 2019}} In June 2019, at 17 years of age, Jeffrey made his senior NEAFL debut for the NT Thunder at TIO Stadium and kicked a goal in his first game.{{cite web|title=2019 NEAFL Round 9 Team vs Redland |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2vr0CKrsLw |date=31 May 2019}} He was also selected to represent the Allies at the 2019 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom ager{{cite web|title=JEFFREY, JUNGFER AND ROSAS COMBINE FOR THE FINAL TWO ALLIES GAMES |url=https://www.aflnt.com.au/news/2019/jeffrey-jungfer-and-rosas-combine-for-the-final-two-allies-games |date=27 June 2019}} and intended to relocate to the Gold Coast in 2020 to take part in the Gold Coast Suns Academy program on a full-time basis until the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated that possibility.{{cite web|title=AFL Draft Prospect Forwards - Joel Jeffrey |url=https://www.afl.com.au/draft/prospects/joel-jeffrey |date=1 October 2020}} In December 2020, Jeffrey was drafted to the Gold Coast Suns via their academy access.{{cite web|title=Gold Coast Suns add academy members Alex Davies and Joel Jeffrey to primary list |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/afl-draft-2020-academy-star-jamarra-uglehagan-awaits-call-from-western-bulldogs/news-story/be6dacb52b048732c35b086c5700bd87 |date=9 December 2020}}

Jeffrey spent the first half of the 2021 season playing for Gold Coast in the VFL and notably kicked a winning goal after the siren to defeat the Sydney Swans after marking the ball one handed with seconds to go in the game.{{cite web|title=Suns snatch dramatic VFL win on siren |url=https://www.afl.com.au/video/629714/watch-suns-snatch-dramatic-vfl-win-on-siren?videoId=629714&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1623472080001 |date=12 July 2021}} He impressed again a month later with a 9-goal, best on ground performance in the VFL,{{cite web|title=Suns' son of a gun kicks a bag to down Hornets |first=Brendan|last=Rhodes|date=24 July 2021|website=afl.com.au|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/653701/gold-coast-suns-son-of-a-gun-kicks-a-bag-to-down-aspley-hornets-in-vfl }} which earned him an AFL debut the following week against the Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium.{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Whiting|date=29 July 2021|title=Suns axe former No.3 pick, nine-goal sharpshooter to make debut |website=afl.com.au|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/655103/suns-axe-former-no-3-pick-nine-goal-sharpshooter-to-make-debut }} In his sixth AFL game, Jeffrey remarkably kicked five goals against the Western Bulldogs, which included a Goal of the Year nomination that involved an intercept and a snap over his head.{{cite web|title=Joel Jeffrey's incredible over-the-head goal |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr7iaSwAr-E |date=26 May 2022}} He was awarded a 2022 AFL Rising Star nomination for his performance.{{cite web|first=Daniel|last=Erikson|date=23 May 2022|website=afl.com.au|title=Gun Sun scores Rising Star nomination after five-goal haul |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/767369/gun-gold-coast-suns-player-joel-jeffrey-scores-rising-star-nomination-after-five-goal-haul-against-western-bulldogs }}

Jeffrey was a member of the {{VFL GC}} team in the Victorian Football League (VFL) which won the 2022 VFL Grand Final over {{VFL Wer}}.{{cite web |last1=Rhodes |first1=Brendan |title=TEAMS: 2023 Smithy's VFL Grand Final |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/1037071/teams-2023-smithys-vfl-grand-final |publisher=AFL.com.au |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611050720/https://www.afl.com.au/news/1037071/teams-2023-smithys-vfl-grand-final |archive-date=11 June 2024 |date=22 September 2023}}

When head coach Damien Hardwick arrived at the Suns, Jeffrey found himself in a new role, playing as a rebounding medium defender. A successful shift, he played a career-best 12 AFL games in the 2024 season.{{cite web|title=The Rioli effect: how Sun's adjusting to star's arrival|publisher=National Indigenous Times|first=Murray|last=Wenzel|url=https://nit.com.au/06-02-2025/16103/the-rioli-effect-how-suns-adjusting-to-stars-arrival|date=6 February 2025}} He collected a personal best 29 disposals in round 13 against {{AFL Stk}}. In 2025, Jeffrey was awarded with representative honours in the Indigenous All-Stars team which played against {{AFL Fre}} in February, following in the footsteps of father Russell who played in the same team 31 years prior.{{cite web|url=https://www.goldcoastfc.com.au/news/1714047/jeffreys-full-circle-moment-ahead-of-indigenous-all-stars-clash|title=Jeffrey’s full circle moment ahead of Indigenous All Stars clash|date=10 February 2025|website=goldcoastfc.com.au|access-date=31 March 2025}}

:Statistics are correct to the end of 2024{{cite web|title=Joel Jeffrey|url=https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Joel_Jeffrey.html|work=AFLTables|access-date=5 April 2022}}

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start}}

|-

| 2021 || {{AFL GC}} || 40

| 4 || 2 || 4 || 19 || 6 || 25 || 6 || 4 || 0.5 || 1.0 || 4.8 || 1.5 || 6.3 || 1.5 || 1.0

|-

| 2022 || {{AFL GC}} || 40

| 5 || 8 || 3 || 40 || 10 || 50 || 17 || 8 || 1.6 || 0.6 || 8.0 || 2.0 || 10.0 || 3.4 || 1.6

|-

| 2023 || {{AFL GC}} || 40

| 7 || 5 || 4 || 54 || 13 || 67 || 16 || 23 || 0.7 || 0.6 || 7.7 || 1.9 || 9.6 || 2.3 || 3.3

|-

| 2024 || {{AFL GC}} || 40

| 12 || 1 || 2 || 132 || 67 || 199 || 44 || 14 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 11.0 || 5.6 || 16.6 || 3.7 || 1.2

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 28 !! 16 !! 13 !! 245 !! 96 !! 341 !! 83 !! 49 !! 0.6 !! 0.5 !! 8.8 !! 3.4 !! 12.2 !! 3.0 !! 1.8

|}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{GCplayer}}
• {{AustralianFootball}}
• {{AFL Tables|ref=J/Joel_Jeffrey.html}}

{{Gold Coast player squad}}

{{2023 Gold Coast premiership players}}

{{2022 AFL Rising Star nominees}}

{{2025 Indigenous All-Stars squad}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, Joel}}

Category:2002 births

Category:Living people

Category:Gold Coast Football Club players

Category:Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football

Category:21st-century Indigenous Australian people

Category:Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory