Max Rooke
Max Rooke in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Jarad Maxwell Rooke
Date of birth	19 December 1981 (1981-12-19) (age 28)
Place of birth	Victoria, Australia
Recruited from	Casterton
Height/Weight	189cm / 92kg
Club information
Current club	Geelong
Number	33
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2002 -	Geelong	132 (56)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2008 season .

Max Rooke (born Jarad Maxwell Rooke on 19 December 1981) is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Rooke was recruited from Casterton in 2001, and made his debut in the second round of 2002. He was a regular senior player until a shin injury forced him to miss the second half of 2004, including the finals series, but recovered to play all but one game in 2005.

His lack of pace against small forwards was exposed in Round 20, 2005 when Melbourne's Russell Robertson kicked seven goals against him. This prompted coach Mark Thompson to move him into the midfield the following week. This move was successful, with Rooke nullifying champion midfielder Chris Judd. In Geelong's close loss to the Sydney Swans in the Elimination Finals, Rooke amassed a remarkable fifteen tackles.

[edit] 2007

Rooke missed out on most of the 2007 season after suffering a potential season-ending 7 cm hamstring tear in Round 13.^[1] On July 12, Geelong spent $20,000 on Rooke to receive treatment by soft-tissue expert Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfarth in Germany.^[1] He returned to the side in the 106-point Qualifying Final win against Kangaroos, after key defender Matthew Egan suffered an almost certainly season-ending foot injury.^[1]

[edit] Name change

In November 2006, Rooke made the decision to officially change his legal name to Max. Rooke's middle name at birth was Maxwell and both his grandfathers were known as Max, which led to a fondness of the name as the main reason behind the change. He also sported a new wild 1970's hairstyle and beard. ^[2] Rooke will be known by the new name in all official AFL records from the 2007 season onwards, in the same vein of the Western Bulldog's Brian Lake's name change from his original "Brian Harris".

[edit] Statistics

Statistics are correct as of end of 2008 season (September 27, 2008)

[edit] References

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2007) (Find sources: Max Rooke – news, books, scholar)

[edit] External links

• Max Rooke profile on the Official AFL Website of the Geelong Football Club
• Max Rooke's statistics from AFL Tables

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