Max Rooke

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, including the finals series, but he recovered to play all but one game in 2005.

His lack of pace against small forwards was exposed in Round 20, 2005, when {{AFL Mel}}'s Russell Robertson 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 midfielder Chris Judd. In Geelong's close loss to the Sydney Swans 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.{{cite news | title = Rooke back for Egan | url = http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22357887-20322,00.html | work = Herald Sun | publisher = News Limited |date = 4 September 2007 | access-date = 2007-09-19 | first=Jon | last=Anderson}} 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 {{AFL Kan}} 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.{{cite web |last=Broad |first=Ben |date=13 October 2010 |title=Rooke bows to knee injury |url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/104105/default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015030405/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/104105/default.aspx |archive-date=15 October 2010 |access-date=2010-10-14 |df=dmy-all}}

Rooke returned to Geelong in 2011 as a development coach for four seasons before joining {{AFL GC}} as a development coach for the 2016 season.{{cite web |title=Coaches presented by Momentum Energy |url=http://www.geelongcats.com.au/football/coaches |access-date=16 August 2015 |website=geelongcats.com.au |publisher=Geelong Football Club}}{{cite news|url=http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/afl/gold-coast-suns-to-tap-into-max-rookes-geelong-experience-to-develop-youngsters/news-story/80fb1e546b6955db69accba6c6d033eb|title=Gold Coast Suns to tap into Max Rooke's Geelong experience to develop youngsters|last=Boswell|first=Tom|date=20 November 2015|work=Gold Coast Bulletin|publisher= |access-date=7 November 2016}} In November 2016, he joined {{AFL Mel}} as a development coach.{{cite news|url=http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-11-07/rooke-joins-melbourne-coaching-panel|title=Rooke joins Melbourne coaching panel|last=Burgan|first=Matt|date=7 November 2016|work=Melbournefc.com.au|publisher= |access-date=7 November 2016}} Rooke was stood down from Melbourne in May 2020 due to limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Callum |date=2020-05-20 |title=Coaching squeeze hits as Dees make tough calls |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/435174/coaching-squeeze-hits-as-dees-make-tough-calls |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=AFL.com.au |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2013-05-13 |title=Footy's greatest beards |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/footys-greatest-beards-ng-d5012cc5a1e1e4922b8b93720ae11a24 |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=PerthNow |language=en}} He also sported a wild 1970s-style hairstyle and beard.Geoff McClure, [http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/the-new-name-is-max-says-copy-cat-rooke/2006/11/22/1163871482403.html The new name is Max says copy Cat Rooke], The Age, 23 November 2006. Rooke was known by the new name in all official AFL records from the 2007 season onwards.

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 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.{{Cite news |agency=Australian Associated Press |date=2023-03-14 |title=Landmark class action chases up to $1bn compensation for alleged long-term concussion damage to AFL players |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar/14/landmark-class-action-chases-compensation-for-alleged-long-term-concussion-damage-to-afl-players |access-date=2023-03-31 |issn=0261-3077}}

:[http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/M/Max_Rooke.html Max Rooke's player profile at AFL Tables]

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start}}

|-

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2002

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 15 || 1 || 0 || 93 || 69 || 162 || 37 || 26 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 6.2 || 4.6 || 10.8 || 2.5 || 1.7

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2003

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 18 || 3 || 3 || 134 || 103 || 237 || 74 || 38 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 7.4 || 5.7 || 13.2 || 4.1 || 2.1

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2004

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 11 || 0 || 1 || 51 || 47 || 98 || 38 || 18 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 4.6 || 4.3 || 8.9 || 3.5 || 1.6

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2005

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 23 || 3 || 1 || 131 || 129 || 260 || 88 || 68 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 5.7 || 5.6 || 11.3 || 3.8 || 3.0

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2006

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 17 || 8 || 1 || 114 || 121 || 235 || 62 || 55 || 0.5 || 0.1 || 6.7 || 7.1 || 13.8 || 3.6 || 3.2

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2007

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 8 || 6 || 3 || 38 || 45 || 83 || 26 || 27 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 4.8 || 5.6 || 10.4 || 3.3 || 3.4

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2008

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 20 || 13 || 4 || 113 || 156 || 269 || 84 || 70 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 5.7 || 7.8 || 13.5 || 4.2 || 3.5

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2009

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 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

|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Gee}}

| 33 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 8 || 2 || 2 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 3.0 || 5.0 || 8.0 || 2.0 || 2.0

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 135

! 58

! 29

! 812

! 783

! 1595

! 508

! 380

! 0.4

! 0.2

! 6.0

! 5.8

! 11.8

! 3.8

! 2.8

|}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Geelplayer|ref=14238}}
• {{AFL Tables|M/Max_Rooke}}

{{2007 Geelong premiership players}}

{{2009 Geelong premiership players}}

{{2008 Australian international rules team}}

{{2001 AFL rookie draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Jarad}}

Category:Living people

Category:1981 births

Category:Geelong Football Club players

Category:Geelong Football Club premiership players

Category:Casterton Football Club players

Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)

Category:People from Casterton, Victoria

Category:Australia international rules football team players

Category:VFL/AFL premiership players