Jake Spencer

Jake Spencer (born 9 October 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Spencer, a ruckman, is the first person from Townsville to be drafted and play in the AFL.

Early life Spencer moved to Townsville at age 18 years of age where he played basketball, becoming an under 18 player. He made his NAB Cup debut on 21 February 2009 to encouraging reviews. He played his first AFL game in Round 1 2009 and managed six games for the season. After two senior games in 2010, an injury in Round 14 prematurely ended his season. At the conclusion of the 2010 season, Spencer was promoted from the rookie list to the senior list with the 96th selection in the 2010 AFL draft.

Senior list (2011-2017)

In May 2011 Spencer suffered a season-ending knee injury, rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for VFL affiliate the . He returned to the VFL in 2012 and started to improve his form. In 2013, he played consistently in the VFL and was named an emergency in the AFL side a number of times, but wasn't named in the 22-man side until round 13.

Throughout his AFL career, Spencer struggled to get a consistent spot in Melbourne's side, as Melbourne preferred to play only one ruckman and Max Gawn began to emerge as a great ruckman. In 2016, he wasn't able to play a single game for the Demons and remained a back-up ruckman for the club. He was delisted at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Statistics Statistics are correct to the end of the 2017 season

38 8 4 107 213 320 89 120 815 0.2 0.1 2.8 5.6 8.4 2.3 3.1 21.4