Jamie Bennell (born 7 June 1990) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Originally from

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Loca ...

, he was recruited by Melbourne in the 2008 National draft, and played 57 games for the club before being delisted at the end of the

2012 AFL season The 2012 AFL season was the 116th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured eighteen clubs, with addition of the newly established Greater ...

. He was then redrafted by West Coast in the 2013 Rookie draft, and played an additional 30 games before again being delisted at the end of the 2016 season.

Career

Bennell is from Bunbury,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, where he attended

Bunbury Senior High School Bunbury Senior High School is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Bunbury, a regional centre in the South West region, south of Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of West ...

. Originally playing for the Carey Park Football Club in the

South West Football League The South West Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the south-west of Western Australia. The league is affiliated to Country Football WA, formerly known as the West Australian Country Football League. History The i ...

(SWFL), he played colts for the

Swan Districts Football Club The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, Western Australia, ...

before being selected by Melbourne in the third round at pick 35 in the 2008 National draft. He had previously been playing with

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

. Bennell was named to make his debut for Melbourne in the opening round of the

2009 AFL season The 2009 AFL season was the 113th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

together with

Neville Jetta Neville Jetta (born 12 February 1990) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the current senior coach of the Fitzroy Stars in the Northern Football Netb ...

, who also played for Swan Districts and played alongside Bennell since primary school in

Bennell played predominantly across half-back during his debut season for the Demons, usually manning opposition small forwards, and playing a total of 16 games. The following season saw Bennell move into attack as a small crumbing forward, earning both mark and goal of the year nominations against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in round 7. The following fortnight Bennell had a career best four-goal game against

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

, his form however began to taper off towards the end of the season as he was dropped for round 22. At the end of the 2012 season, Bennell was delisted. He had suffered a serious knee injury towards the end of the season, when playing against the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

. In the 2013 Rookie draft, held in December 2012, he was re-drafted by West Coast with the 26th pick overall. Bennell was delisted by West Coast at the end of the

2016 AFL season The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eig ...

, having managed only two games during that season. Bennell joined Hawthorn as its Indigenous Player Development Manager in 2023, and designed the club's Indigenous Round guernsey in 2025.https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/1774364/hawks-launch-2025-afl-indigenous-guernsey

References

External links

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DemonWiki profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennell, Jamie 1989 births Carey Park Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Living people Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Bunbury, Western Australia Swan Districts Football Club players West Coast Eagles players East Perth Football Club players Casey Demons players 21st-century Australian sportsmen