Jay Schulz

Jay Schulz
Personal information
Full name	Jay Schulz
Date of birth	18 April 1985 (1985-04-18)
Place of birth	South Australia
Original team	Woodville-West Torrens (SANFL)
Draft	#12, 2002 National Draft, Richmond
Height/Weight	193cm / 95kg
Position(s)	Utility
Club information
Current club	Port Adelaide
Number	28
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2003–2009 2010– Total	Richmond Port Adelaide	71 (58) 32 (64) 103 (122)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2011 season .
Career highlights
Port Adelaide leading goalkicker 2010

Jay Schulz (born 18 April 1985) is an Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, 1.93 metres (6 ft 4 in) tall and weighing 95 kilograms (209 lb).

As a 17 year old, he played for the All Australian under 17 side against Ireland in the International Rules series. He won the Ron Barassi Medal as best player for Australia during the series. Schulz was drafted in the 2002 National AFL Draft, No. 12 overall, traded by Adelaide for Jason Torney, No. 2 (Daniel Wells), No. 18 (Kris Shore) and No. 32 (Luke Jericho) for the Richmond Tigers. He debut in the 2003 AFL season.

AFL career

Richmond career (2003–2009)

Early career (2003–2004)

He made his debut in 2003 against Essendon and only saw two minutes of action. Schulz had a promising start to his career at Richmond, including a 6 goal game against the Brisbane Lions in 2004, that earned hime a Rising Star nomination.

Injury (2005–2007)

2005 was a year to forget for Schulz after breaking his ankle twice. He played 4 games for the season. After playing the first two games of the season in 2006, he hurt his shoulder and missed a few months. He returned in Round 13 and kicked 3 goals against Collingwood. He had a career high 8 tackles against the Western Bulldogs a few games later. Schulz kicked 16 goals in the last 9 games of the season. He was used in a variety of positions, highlighting his ability to play multiple roles. However, he will be looking to cement a permanent spot, either forward or back, to give some stability to the Tigers structure. Schulz started the 2007 season very well, kicking 9 goals in the first 4 games. However, he couldn't hold his spot for the entire season. He finished the year with 14.14 from 12 games.

Jay Schulz was also on the verge of being traded to then Grand Finaliest, Port Adelaide in a bid to return to his home state, and to start afresh his football career, however Richmond rejected the offer from the club, and opted to retain Schulz on the list as there was still time on his contract.

Reformed (2008–2009)

After being close to leaving Richmond during the Trade Week in 2007, Schulz had his most consistent season at Richmond in 2008. He played mainly at centre half back and also went forward to pinch hit. Schulz started the season well and even lead the Richmond Best & Fairest after the first few rounds. He had a career high 29 disposals and 17 marks in round 20 against Hawthorn. At the end of the 2008 season, Schulz signed on with the Tigers for a further two years. He had a disappointing 2009 due to injury and average form. Jay played in both the backline and forward line, kicking 3 goals in 4 matches.

Port Adelaide career (2010–present)

Career high (2010–present)

On October 8, 2009, Schulz was traded to the Port Adelaide Football Club in exchange for Mitchell Farmer. Once he arrived at Alberton, he was given the number 28 guernsey previously held by Toby Thurstans.

Jay made his Port debut in round 1 against North Melbourne and showed his hardness at the ball by going off the field twice with the blood rule (Port went on to win easily). He laid 6 tackles for the game and many lead to goals for the Power. Schulz played the first 3 games of the 2010 season in the forward lines and displayed good goal sense and defensive pressure. He kicked 3.3 in those three games but was ruled out of the Round 4 clash against Geelong after a minor knee injury. He returned to the team in Round 5 and contributed up forward, kicking 2.1 against top-placed St Kilda, and then a goal in a quiet game in the Showdown the following week. He was omitted from the Port Adelaide team for the Round 7 match against Essendon in Melbourne. Schulz played his best game in Round 13 against North Melbourne, kicking 7 goals. Schulz's seven-goal haul was the equal second highest for the Power and one shy of the club record held by former captain Warren Tredrea. In round 18, Schulz took 6 contested marks and kicked 4 goals to help Port Adelaide win by 8 points over Hawthorn. In Round 21, he kicked 5 goals making him the leading goal-kicker for Port Adelaide with 33 goals. He finished top 10 in the John Cahill Medal. He also got 5 votes in the Brownlow Medal.

He was voted into the Leadership group for the 2011 season. Schulz suffered a serious knee injury during the round 1 clash against Collingwood. He twisted his right knee in a clinch with Magpie Luke Ball on the city wing of the ground early in the game. He returned to action in round 7 against the Hawks. Schulz equalled his career best of 7 goals in round 15 against the Brisbane Lions. He finished the season on 31 goals, just one goal short of being the leading goal kicker, for the second year in a row.

External links

• Jay Schulz's statistics from AFL Tables