Jade Rawlings
Encyclopedia
Jade Rawlings was the caretaker coach of the Richmond Tigers Football Club, and is a former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played in the AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 with the Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and the North Melbourne Football Clubs.

Hawthorn

Picked up very late in the 1994
1994 AFL Draft
The 1994 AFL Draft consisted of a pre-season draft, a national draft, a trade period and a rookie elevation. The AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.In 1994 there...

 AFL Draft
AFL Draft
The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.-History:...

 at pick 94 by the Hawthorn Football Club
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

, Rawlings developed into a very handy key position
Key position
In the sport of Australian rules football, a "key position" refers to positions on the ground that are considered vital to the structure of a team.Key position players make up what is known as the "spine" of a team...

 defender and occasionally, forward
Forward line
In Australian rules football, the forward line refers to a set of attacking positions on the field.The forward line consists of three players, a left and right forward pocket, and a full-forward. Up until approximately 20 years ago, the forward pockets were often the resting rover or ruckman...

. He racked up 116 games for the Hawks before going into a contractual dispute at the end of 2003.

Western Bulldogs

He was picked up at number 1 in the 2004 AFL Pre-season Draft
2003 AFL Draft
The 2003 AFL Draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL Draft, the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League...

 by the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

, who needed a tall forward, even though Rawlings was probably more at home in the backline. On debut with his new club in Round 1, 2004 Rawlings booted 7 goals but in what would be a sign of things to come, missed a relatively simple shot that may have cost the Bulldogs the game.

Throughout 2004 Rawlings' kicking was woeful, sometimes kicking difficult goals along the boundary line but missing relatively simple goals (with a 50% accuracy rate). He was dropped to the VFL
VFL
VFL can refer to:Sport* Victorian Football League, an Australian rules football league formerly known as the Victorian Football Association prior to 1996....

. In 2005 Rawlings did not fare much better, his knee troubles ruling him out for the Bulldogs after Round 14 of that year. Rawlings soon got into internal disputes at the club and was traded to his third club, the Kangaroos
Kangaroos Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

.

Kangaroos

Rawlings joined his brother Brady
Brady Rawlings
Brady Rawlings is a former Australian rules footballer who played 245 games for the Kangaroos.He is the younger brother of former AFL footballer, and Richmond 2009 caretaker coach, Jade. Rawlings was recruited to the Kangaroos in the 1998 AFL Draft, with the 15th selection...

 at the Kangaroos and was believed to be one of the reasons for moving to the club.

After his recruitment, coach Dean Laidley
Dean Laidley
Dean Laidley is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League from 1987 to 1997, including in North Melbourne's 1996 premiership side. He served as coach of North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009...

 did not guarantee Rawlings a senior game in 2006, saying he had to earn his spot. Jade played most of the year in 2006 with the Tasmanian Devils Football Club in the VFL showing some good form.

After playing just two games in the 2006 season
2006 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2006.-National Cup: 3.10.5 defeated 1.10.15 in the 2006 NAB Cup Final...

, Rawlings announced that he would retire after the Round 21 game against one of his former club, Hawthorn, despite an interview on Before the Game
Before the Game
Before The Game is an Australian rules football/comedy television show in Australia on Network Ten. The show is hosted by Andrew Maher, with regular panelists including Mick Molloy, Dave Hughes, Sam Lane, and Lehmo. The format of the show is a light-hearted discussion of issues relating to the...

the week prior which had relatively no hint of retirement, although he did say his "knees weren't too flash" – a problem which hampered him during the 2005 season.

His final game was played in his home state of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 (at Aurora Stadium
Aurora Stadium
York Park is a sports ground in the Inveresk and York Park Precinct, Launceston, Australia. Holding 20,000 people—more than any other stadium in Tasmania—York Park has been known as Aurora Stadium under a six-year naming rights agreement signed with Aurora Energy in 2004...

), a match where Rawlings was visibly emotional, as he was well respected by the Hawthorn and Kangaroos sides.

Coaching career

Rawlings was the assistant coach of the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

, as well as head coach at Richmond's VFL affiliate club, the Coburg Tigers. He would later be replaced at Coburg by former Brisbane Lions' player Craig McRae
Craig McRae
Craig McRae is a former Australian rules footballer.Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was drafted by AFL club Brisbane as the 22nd pick in the 1994 draft and had an immediate impact, kicking two goals in his first game in 1995, and played every game of...

, when after Round 11, 2009, he was appointed caretaker coach of the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

. following the resignation of Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach.As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships as well as achieving All-Australian selection, and two Best and Fairests with the Footscray Football Club...

. His first game as coach of the Richmond Football Club was a victory against the West Coast Eagles. Rawlings has been dubbed "The Blade" in lieu of the 5 cuts to the lineup made for his first game as an AFL coach, including veteran Joel Bowden
Joel Bowden
Joel Bowden was an Australian rules footballer with the Richmond Football Club in the AFL. In 2007, he was declared the new president of the AFL Players Association....

. However on 25 August 2009 the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 appointed Damien Hardwick
Damien Hardwick
Damien Patrick Hardwick is a former Australian rules footballer and the coach of the Richmond Football Club.-Early life:He attended St Joseph's College in Ferntree Gully.-AFL playing career:...

 as their new senior coach. Thus Rawlings was not retained for the 2010 season. On 15 September 2009 Rawlings was appointed as assistant coach of Brisbane Lions under Michael Voss
Michael Voss
Michael Voss is the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions Australian Football League team and a former professional Australian rules footballer....

 for the 2010 season.

Personal life

Rawlings is married to Samantha Richardson (sister of Matthew Richardson
Matthew Richardson (Australian rules footballer)
Matthew "Richo" Richardson , is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League...

 – a footballer for the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

) They have two children.

Rawlings also has a brother, Brady
Brady Rawlings
Brady Rawlings is a former Australian rules footballer who played 245 games for the Kangaroos.He is the younger brother of former AFL footballer, and Richmond 2009 caretaker coach, Jade. Rawlings was recruited to the Kangaroos in the 1998 AFL Draft, with the 15th selection...

, who played for the North Melbourne Football Club
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

. In the latter stages of Rawlings' career, he was drafted by the Kangaroos and played alongside his brother.

Rawlings has been noted to play cricket in Melbourne for the Burnley CYMS Cricket Club, along side his brother-in-law, Andrew, whenever his football commitments allow.

External links

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