Joshua Fraser (born 5 January 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL).
| Josh Fraser | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Fraser playing for Collingwood in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Joshua Fraser | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 1982 | ||
| Original team(s) | Seville YVMDFL/Mansfield Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No.1, 1999 National Draft | ||
| Height | 202 cm (6 ft 8 in) | ||
| Weight | 100 kg (220 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Ruckman | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2000–2010 | Collingwood | 200 (156) | |
| 2011–2012 | Gold Coast | 18 (12) | |
| Total | 218 (168) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2008 | Victoria | 1 | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2011. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Playing career
editFrom Mansfield via Murray U18, Fraser was the number one pick in the 1999 National Draft, going to Collingwood.[1] Fraser played 21 games in his first season. He won an AFL Rising Star nomination in his debut year. He played all 25 games in 2002, kicked 37 goals and played in the Grand Final team where he kicked three goals, following a three-goal haul in the Preliminary Final. In 2003 he had over 340 disposals in the season, 300 hit outs and kicked 20 goals.
Fraser played all 23 games in 2006, having 341 hit outs for the year, his best return. He kicked 16 goals, averaged more than 17 touches a game, more than 7 marks a game, and 15 hit outs. He finished fourth in the Copeland Trophy, along with Heath Shaw, only three votes behind the eventual winner Alan Didak.
In 2007, Josh Fraser did not miss a game until Round 20 against Melbourne, his second last game for the season. He returned for the Elimination Final win against Sydney before withdrawing late against West Coast the next week, his last game for the season.
In 2008, Fraser was named Scott Burns' vice-captain.
In 2010, Fraser played nine games for the club, and he lost his first-choice ruckman position to new recruit Darren Jolly. He played his 200th game for Collingwood in the round 22 clash against Hawthorn.
At the conclusion of the season, Fraser was picked up by Gold Coast, ending his tenure with Collingwood. In Fraser's first season at the Suns he played 16 games, with an average of 14.8 disposals and 13.3 hit outs per game. His main role at the Suns was to support and develop the young, emerging ruckmen at the club.
Fraser's AFL playing career ended when he resigned from the Gold Coast Suns on 29 August 2012. He played 18 games for the club.[1]
Post-playing career
editFollowing the end of his playing career in 2012, Fraser expressed interest in football coaching roles and stated that wanted to establish a long-term coaching career. He has completed two coaching courses; Level Two Coaches Course and Next Coach Program.[2]
In 2013, Fraser was a part-time AFL commentator on ABC radio.[2]
In January 2014, Fraser commenced his coaching career when he was appointed coach of the Gold Coast Sun's reserves team that plays in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL).[1][3]
He signed to serve as development coach at the Carlton Football Club in 2016, and within that role served as coach of its VFL-affiliate club, the Northern Blues.[4] He remained with the club until the start of the 2020 season, at which point the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic saw Carlton end its connection with the Northern Blues and make Fraser redundant. In 2021, the VFL club re-established itself under its previous identity, the Northern Bullants, and Fraser remained with the club as its senior coach.[5] After two seasons coaching the Bullants, Fraser was appointed coach of Collingwood's VFL team ahead of the 2023 season.
In 2016 Fraser joined the Tatyoon Football Club, who won the premiership with Fraser kicking 8.6 goals in a best on ground effort.[citation needed]
Personal life
editFraser married long time girlfriend Kylie Sutcliffe in December 2008 in Port Melbourne. They have 2 children, Ted (born in 2009) and Emmy (born in 2013).
References
edit- ^ a b c Paton, Al (18 January 2014). "Former Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser named coach of Gold Coast Suns' NEAFL team". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b Collins, Ben (18 October 2013). "Ex-Pie and Sun Fraser wants to coach". AFL. AFL. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Suns finalise 2014 coaching structure". Gold Coast Suns. GCS/AFL. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ Loretta Johns (9 October 2015). "Fraser takes the reins at Northern Blues". Carlton Football Club. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ Nic Negrepontis (2021). ""The club was dead": Why Josh Fraser was so keen to save the Bullants". SEN. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
External links
edit
- Josh Fraser's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Gold Coast Suns NEAFL team