Joshua Bruce (born 8 June 1992) 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 last played for 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 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). He previously played for the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

between 2012 and 2013 and the St Kilda Saints between 2014 and 2019. Bruce was St Kilda's leading goalkicker in 2015 and the Western Bulldogs' leading goalkicker in 2021.

Early life

Bruce was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

and attended St Edmund's College and

Canberra Grammar School Canberra Grammar School is a co-educational, independent, day and boarding school located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia. The school is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia and provides an education fro ...

. His older brother, Aaron, was rookie-listed by in 2008. Bruce played junior football for the

Eastlake Football Club The Eastlake Demons (formerly known as the Canberra Demons) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Australian Foo ...

in the

AFL Canberra AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales). It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...

competition. drafted Bruce as an ACT zone selection to play with their TAC Cup team in 2010. He continued to play with the Giants in 2011 while the club was competing in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL ) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural ...

(NEAFL).

AFL career

Greater Western Sydney (2012–2013)

Bruce made his debut in round 5, 2012 against the at

Manuka Oval Manuka Oval is a sporting venue in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located in Griffith, Australian Capital Territory, Griffith, in the area of that suburb known as Manuka, Australian Capital Territory, Manuka. Manuka Oval has a seating ...

, in his home territory, as a late replacement for the injured Chad Cornes. Bruce played just the three games in his debut season, kicking two goals. Bruce played in eleven games for just the one win in 2013, playing mostly as a key defender. At the end of 2013, Bruce was traded to .

St Kilda (2014–2019)

Bruce played his first game for St Kilda in round 5, 2014 against . While quiet initially, he was tried as a forward in round 19 against . After a three-goal display, his next pre-season was spent training with the forwards. In 2015, he had a break-out year up forward, playing in all 22 games, and kicking a six-goal haul against Gold Coast and five-goal displays against Essendon (twice) and . He went on to become St Kilda's leading goalkicker for 2015, kicking 50 goals and finishing eighth in that year's

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring, goals in the Australian Football League#Premiership season, home- ...

tally. Bruce had a similarly consistent year in 2016; though he kicked less goals for the year, this still included another five-goal haul against Essendon. Bruce's output dropped slightly in the first half of the 2017 season, and he was dropped for the first time since 2014, having played every game in 2015–2016. Upon his return to the senior team, he kicked four goals against Adelaide and had an improved finish to the year. At the conclusion of the 2019 season Bruce requested a trade to the

. He was traded on 16 October.

Western Bulldogs (2020–2023)

After a mediocre 2020 AFL season, Bruce stamped his credentials as one of the competition's menacing key forwards when he kicked 10 goals against in the 3rd round of the

2021 AFL season The 2021 AFL season was the 125th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

. Bruce enjoyed a consistent year in 2021, kicking 48 goals in 20 matches before his season was cut short by an ACL rupture. On the 22nd of August 2023, Bruce announced his retirement effective immediately.

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of round 3 2021.'' , - style="background-color:#EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 47 , , 3 , , 2 , , 1 , , 16 , , 17 , , 33 , , 12 , , 2 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 5.3 , , 5.7 , , 11.0 , , 4.0 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 47 , , 11 , , 1 , , 0 , , 85 , , 47 , , 132 , , 46 , , 27 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.7 , , 4.3 , , 12.0 , , 4.2 , , 2.5 , - style="background-color:#EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , 27 , , 10 , , 4 , , 1 , , 69 , , 45 , , 114 , , 45 , , 16 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 6.9 , , 4.5 , , 11.4 , , 4.5 , , 1.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , 27 , , 22 , , 50 , , 24 , , 165 , , 75 , , 240 , , 110 , , 56 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , 7.5 , , 3.4 , , 10.9 , , 5.0 , , 2.5 , - style="background-color:#EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , 27 , , 22 , , 38 , , 22 , , 127 , , 106 , , 233 , , 100 , , 59 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 5.8 , , 4.8 , , 10.6 , , 4.5 , , 2.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , 27 , , 20 , , 36 , , 27 , , 143 , , 94 , , 237 , , 104 , , 41 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , 7.2 , , 4.7 , , 11.9 , , 5.2 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color:#EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , 27 , , 3 , , 4 , , 0 , , 13 , , 22 , , 35 , , 12 , , 7 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 4.3 , , 7.3 , , 11.6 , , 4.0 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 27 , , 22 , , 36 , , 20 , , 151 , , 109 , , 260 , , 96 , , 40 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 6.7 , , 5.0 , , 11.8 , , 4.4 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 17 , , 17 , , 14 , , 8 , , 55 , , 81 , , 136 , , 47 , , 28 , , 0.8 , , 3.2 , , 4.8 , , 8.0 , , 12.8 , , 1.6 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 17 , , 20 , , 48 , , 21 , , 138 , , 28 , , 221 , , 100 , , 26 , , 4.7 , , 0.7 , , 11.3 , , 3.7 , , 15.0 , , 8.7 , , 1.0 , -style="background:#EAEAEA; font-weight:bold; width:2em" , scope="row" text-align:center class="sortbottom" colspan=3 , Career , 133 , 199 , 105 , 858 , 607 , 1465 , 598 , 278 , 1.5 , 0.8 , 6.5 , 4.6 , 11.0 , 4.5 , 2.1 Notes

Honours and achievements

* Individual ** St Kilda leading goalkicker: 2015 ** Western Bulldogs leading goalkicker: 2021

Coaching

Bruce was appointed as the development coach of the Bulldogs' AFLW team in October 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Josh 1992 births Living people Greater Western Sydney Giants players St Kilda Football Club players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory Glenelg Football Club players Flagstaff Hill Football Club players People educated at Canberra Grammar School Sandringham Football Club players Western Bulldogs players People educated at St Edmund's College, Canberra