James Bartel (born December 4, 1983), is a professional Australian Rules Football player. At 184cm and 85kg, Bartel is a true centerman, displaying all the qualities a club could want in a tough in-and-under styled midfielder.
| Jimmy Bartel | |||
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| File:Image | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Original team(s) | Bell Park/Geelong Falcons | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2002, Geelong Cats vs. Essendon Bombers, at Telstra Dome (Formerly Colonial Stadium) | ||
| Playing career | |||
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Geelong Cats - 64 games | |||
| Career highlights | |||
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Geelong Most votes in the Brownlow Medal 2004 AFL National Rising Star nomination 2002 Premierships TAC Cup 2000 (Geelong Falcons) VFL 2002 (Geelong) TAC Cup Team of the Year 2000, 2001 Geelong Falcons captain 2001 Geelong Falcons best & fairest 2000 Representative honours All Australian under 18 2000, 2001 Victoria Country under 18 2000, 2001 | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Affectionately (and as of the 2005 season, officially) known as 'Jimmy', Bartel's willingness to throw himself in at every contest has fans and supporters alike lauding his bravery, courage, and toughness. A great overhead mark for his size, Bartel's handwork inside the packs is not something to be underestimated.
Selected with the 8th Pick in the 2001 National Australian Football League Draft by the Geelong Cats, James is entering his 5th season for the club.
Junior Career
Originally from Bell Park, and yet another product of St.Josephs, Bartel made his way up the junior leagues to his local Geelong Falcons team in 2000, where, as an underage player, he took the competition by storm. His stunning early season form saw him gain selection for Victoria Country in the under-18 mid year championships, before being selected in both the under-18 All-Australian Team, and the TAC Cup Team of the Year. He capped off a memorable first year in the toughest junior football competition in the nation by helping his Geelong Falcons win the TAC Cup Grand Final, before taking out the Geelong Falcons Best and Fairest Award at season's end.
Awarded for his sizzling first year in the TAC competition, and a recognition of his growing leadership capabilities, Bartel was named as the Geelong Falcons Team Captain for the 2001 Season. Again, Bartel earned representative honours for Victoria Country under-18's, and was selected in both the All-Australian u-18 team and the TAC Cup 2001 Team of the Year.
His stunning junior years at the Geelong Falcons saw him drafted to the Geelong Cats with the 8th overall selection in the 2001 National Australian Football League Draft, often acknowledged as the greatest draft of all time in footballing circles.
Rookie Campaign
Bartel made his debut for the Geelong Cats in Round 1 of the 2002 AFL Premiership Season against the Essendon Bombers, collecting 13 disposals in a game the club would ultimately lose by 50 points.
He would go on to play 11 games out of a possible 22 during the course of the season, earning a National Rising Star Nomination in Round 4 for his 21 disposal effort in the 62 point drubbing of the St Kilda Saints. He would follow this up in Round 5 with a stunning 28 disposals and 2 goal performance against the Fremantle Dockers, before tapering off late in the season and subsequently being dropped back to the club's VFL side. The VFL side, however, would go on to win the 2002 VFL Premiership, with Bartel playing a key part.
Averaging 12.7 disposals and 2.4 tackles, Bartel capped off his rookie season for the Geelong Cats with a 22nd placing in the Club Best and Fairest Award.
2nd Year
Suffering a case of the apparent and dreaded 'second-year blues', Bartel struggled early in the 2003 AFL Season to cement his spot in the side, failing to break into the team until Round 4 in a match against the Melbourne Demons. Bartel capitalised on the opportunity, picking up a solid 16 disposals in the 46 point win. However, as the club suffered a string of 3 successive losses, Bartel found himself at the end of the selector's axe, being demoted back to the VFL at the conclusion of Round 7.
Solid performances for the VFL side, coupled with the club's sub-par performances, saw Bartel promoted back to the senior side once more in Round 13. Holding onto his spot for 8 of the remaining 9 games, Bartel would finish the season with 13 games to his name - averaging a modest 11 disposals, 3 marks, and 2 tackles in a disappointing season for the Geelong Football Club, in which they missed playing in the finals series for the 3rd year running.
During the off-season, Bartel found himself the subject of many trade rumours, with the Cats facing the ominous task of re-signing all of their much vaunted young midfield brigade. Whilst many of his teammates had successfully put pen to paper, Bartel was one of the very last players Geelong had not yet secured a contract for, leading to many tabloids and media suspicions he would be shipped off due to salary cap constraints.
Bartel stayed true though, finally re-signing for two years at the conclusion of the AFL season.
3rd Year
With a solid pre-season behind him, big expectations were placed on Bartel's pending 2004 season. The same could not be said of the Geelong Cats, with many pundits predicting a lowly finish down the ladder once more.
The Cats did little to defy its critics early on, dropping 4 of its opening 5 matches. The team was shuffled around during this month, struggling to notch wins on the board, and ensuring Bartel would manage only the opening 2 games before being sent back to the VFL.
He would spend the next 7 weeks playing for the reserves team, before finally earning a recall ahead of the Round 10 match against the Port Adelaide Power. In what proved to be an even contest for the most part, the Cats would eventually go down in a tightly contested 4 point ball game. Bartel, in his first match since the club's dismal opening month of April, managed a solid, but not spectacular, statline of 15 disposals, 4 marks, 3 tackles, and 2 goals.
His confidence back in place, Bartel would help re-ignite the Cats season, with Geelong winning a remarkable 10 from 12 games to entrench itself in 4th position.
Bartel too caught fire, averaging an impressive 23 disposals over his 11 games following, including a mammoth 35 disposal and 13 marks effort against the Richmond Tigers in a Round 19 showdown.
Defying the critics and surpassing all expectations, Geelong and Bartel made their way through the finals series to the Preliminary Final - one win away from a Grand Final berth.
Fresh from their 10 point win against the Essendon Bombers, where Bartel amassed 33 disposals and 8 tackles in a best-on-ground performance, Geelong would face the 3 time reigning Australian Football League champions, the Brisbane Lions.
Against all odds, the Cats stood side by side against their bigger, stronger, and more physical opponents, going into the first quarter break with a 2 point lead. The Lions however, shooting for a 4th consecutive Premiership, clawed their way back to lead the main break at halftime by that same margin.
After a demanding and physically-wearing showing however, the Cats would go down by a heartbreaking 9 points - losing the match, but not its dignity. Bartel was amongst his team's best, putting together a solid performance with 21 disposals, 8 marks, and 8 tackles against the competitions best midfield.
After a slow start to the season, Bartel's astounding return was recognised and rewarded by both the League and the Geelong Football Club; gathering a remarkable 13 Brownlow Medal votes from 13 games to claim the honour of being the Geelong Football Club's leading votegetter in the 2004 Brownlow Medal count, before topping off his season with a 7th placing in the club's own Best and Fairest Award.
4th Year
Although still reeling from the previous finals series, both Bartel and the Cats had captured the footballing world's attention as an up and coming force. Having cemented his spot in the starting 18, Bartel was a key component of the hard working Geelong midfield, continuing to impress with his hardness around the packs, courage, and ball winning ability.
After a stunning opening match, where the Cats toppled the Richmond Tigers by 62 points, the freight train slowed down, the Cats going down to the West Coast Eagles in a disappointing display. Bartel, a sign of his new found consistency, remained indifferent throughout both matches, averaging a tidy 22 disposals, 5 marks, and a goal.
The Round 3 clash with traditional rivals the Melbourne Demons, saw the first time the teams met since Bartel's former teammate Brent Moloney was controversially traded to the Demons in a three-way trade which nabbed the Cats tall forward/ruckman Brad Ottens. A fiery opening term within the midfield packs would claim Bartel as a victim; Bartel rendered unconscious by an illegal hip and shoulder attack courtesy of Moloney after characteristically throwing his body at the ball. Though Bartel would take no further part within the match, his stature as one of the most courageous midfielders in the league would grow, as he returned to the field just a week later to take on the Essendon Bombers, even amid fears he had suffered spinal injuries during the Melbourne-Moloney clash.
Approaching the middle of the regular season, Bartel helped the Cats improve to an 8-5 record, and himself created such an impression that his importance to the Cats as a vital midfield cog was both highlighted and recognised by the opposition, where, for the first time in his career, he began to receive the 'honour' of being identified and 'tagged out of the game' during matches.
The split round, mid season Round 13 clash with the Brisbane Lions saw former Geelong assistant coach and close friend to Bartel, Daryn Cresswell, show his 'respect' for Bartel's game, especially within wet conditions, from the coaches box, administering a move which specifically saw Bartel locked out of the game via heavy defending from an opposing Brisbane player.
Though the team struggled to finish the season strongly, Bartel continued to grow in his role and shake off heavy 'tags' from opposing teams, averaging 21 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, and a goal a game. An extraordinary best-on-ground performance against the reigning champions, the Port Adelaide Power, in Round 16 saw Bartel amass a stunning 32 disposals, 10 marks, 12 tackles, and 3 goals. Both Bartel and the Cats again impressed with an emphatic 76 point win over top of the table West Coast Eagles, Bartel stringing together 30 disposals, 9 marks, and 6 tackles.
Entering the 2005 finals series with memories of the last years bitter end, Bartel and the Cats first saw the Melbourne Demons off, claiming an impressive 55 point win, Bartel finishing the match with a game-high 30 disposals and 11 marks.
Confidence on a new found high, the team ventured to Sydney to take on the Swans in the semi-finals. Aware of their status as underdogs, and spurred on by the knowledge of both last seasons end and the imminent retirement of long-serving vice-captain Brenton Sanderson, the Cats and Bartel approached the game with a ferocity that defied the very nature of the game. After 3 quarters of slogging it out with the physical Swans outfit, Geelong emerged with a valuable 17 point lead going into the final break. However, history would repeat itself, with the Swans, courtesy of Nick Davis, coming from behind to steal the game from the Cats in the final 20 seconds of the match, ensuring that Geelong would go home with a heartbreaking 3 point loss hovering over it's head. Bartel would finish the game with just the 9 disposals in a disappointing end to the year.
If 2004 was his breakout year, 2005 was the year Bartel would solidify his position within the team and entrench himself amongst the elite young midfielders of the game. As well as adding goalkicking to his bow (18 goals in 22 matches), for the first time in his short career, Bartel managed to play all 22 home-and-away season games, a testimony to his consistency. He would also finish with averages of 19.6 disposals, 5 marks, 4 tackles, and a goal.
Bartel's growing status as a fine young midfielder would again be recognised by both the league and his club, gathering 9 Brownlow Medal votes and finishing 7th in the club Best and Fairest Award. Bartel would also be nominated by the AFLPA (Australian Football League Player's Association) for the Robert Rose Award, awarded to the player deemed by his peers to be the most courageous player in the league, a sure sign of the amount of respect Bartel had generated from fellow league players from all across the country.