Jake Kolodjashnij (/kɒləˈæzn/, "collar-JAZZ-knee";[1] born 9 August 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer, currently playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Jake Kolodjashnij
Kolodjashnij playing for Geelong in April 2019
Personal information
Full name Pish Kolodjashnij
Date of birth (1995-08-09) 9 August 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Launceston, Tasmania
Original team(s) Launceston (TSL)
Draft No. 41, 2013 national draft
Height 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 94 kg (207 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Geelong
Number 8
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015– Geelong 198 (4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

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Kolodjashnij grew up in Tasmania where he played soccer and basketball in his younger years. His grandparents fled the Soviet controlled Ukraine after World War II and settled in Australia. Kolodjashnij's twin brother Kade also played football professionally, first playing for the Gold Coast Suns, and then the Melbourne Football Club before retiring in 2020 due to concussion issues.[2]

He attended St Patrick's College, Launceston.

Kolodjashnij began playing Australian football for the first time at 12 years of age for the Prospect Junior Football Club. Kolodjashnij lived across the road from Prospect Park, a multi-use venue for both soccer and Australian football. He and brother Kade played in junior premierships for Prospect in under-13s and under-14s of the Northern Tasmanian Junior Football Association. In his under-15 season with Prospect he and Kade were referred to Tasmanian head coach, and former AFL player, Matthew Armstrong, for consideration for the Tasmanian talented player pathway and were recognised as having significant potential. As part of the talented player pathway process, both the Kolodjashnij brothers were permitted to Tasmanian State League club, Launceston, for their under-16 year. Jake played for Tasmania in the under-16 National Championship in 2011 and followed that with selection in the under-18 National Championships in both 2012 and 2013. He was taken with the 41st pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the Geelong Football Club.

AFL career

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Kolodjashnij is a tall defender who has shown good athleticism and football smarts since taken with Geelong’s third selection in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft. Kolodjashnij reads the play well and comes off his opponent at the right times to win the ball in the air. An effective rebounding player who is a strong overhead mark and possesses neat foot skills, he produced encouraging performances in 16 VFL games last year and finished fourth in the Cats’ Victorian Football League best and fairest. He had to wait until round 12 of the 2015 season to make his AFL debut against Melbourne.

Personal life

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Kolodjashnij currently studies a Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University.[3]

Statistics

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Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[4]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
  #  
Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015 Geelong 8 9 0 1 58 68 126 34 25 0.0 0.1 6.4 7.6 14.0 3.8 2.8
2016 Geelong 8 20 0 0 126 106 232 75 48 0.0 0.0 6.3 5.3 11.6 3.8 2.4
2017 Geelong 8 18 0 3 132 131 263 79 43 0.0 0.2 7.3 7.3 14.6 4.4 2.4
2018 Geelong 8 23 0 2 154 136 290 95 42 0.0 0.1 6.7 5.9 12.6 4.1 1.8
2019 Geelong 8 23 0 1 167 86 253 109 33 0.0 0.0 7.3 3.7 11.0 4.7 1.4
2020[a] Geelong 8 17 0 3 125 52 177 77 25 0.0 0.2 7.4 3.1 10.4 4.5 1.5
2021 Geelong 8 22 1 0 165 104 269 120 27 0.0 0.0 7.5 4.7 12.2 5.5 1.2
2022# Geelong 8 23 2 0 165 111 276 107 33 0.1 0.0 7.2 4.8 12.0 4.7 1.4
Career 155 3 10 1092 794 1886 696 276 0.0 0.1 7.0 5.1 12.2 4.5 1.8

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

References

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  1. ^ AFL (28 March 2014). "AFL Tweet".
  2. ^ "Stage set for Tassie twins". The Mercury. 2013.
  3. ^ "Elite Athlete Program Profiles". Deakin University. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Jake Kolodjashnij Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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