Joshua Rachele ( ; born 11 April 2003) is a professional

Australian rules footballer 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 ...

who plays for the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

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 was selected by the

with their first pick, the sixth overall, in the

2021 AFL draft The 2021 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2021 AFL season. The National Draft returned to being a t ...

. He previously played for the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta. The Under 1 ...

in the

NAB League The Talent League (also known as the Coates Hire, Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the National Australia Bank, NAB League and Transport Accident Commission, TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representa ...

and the Shepparton Swans Football Club in the Goulburn Valley League. He was educated at Notre Dame College, Shepparton and

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

. Rachele had had an opportunity to play soccer professionally but chose Australian rules football instead. He was part of the academy for

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

and the under-17s Australian team. He has Italian and Greek heritage.

AFL career

Rachele made an immediate impact at the Crows, kicking five goals on debut against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

in the opening round of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season was the 126th 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 featur ...

. In Round 4, Rachele received a Rising Star nomination in Adelaide's game against Essendon, in which Rachele took 9 marks, kicked 3 goals, and collected 19 disposals. Rachele became known for his goal celebrations imitating the likes of

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "hi ...

and

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...

. On June 21, 2023, Rachele signed a contract extension which would keep him at the club until 2029. At the time, this was the longest current-standing contract of any player at Adelaide, equal with fellow draftee Jake Soligo. Rachele faced a lot of criticism from the media in the first half of

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, particularly for a few missed opportunities against in round 6. Rachele redeemed himself against Essendon in round 19 when one of his three goals was a last-minute match-winner. His celebration, during which he ran to the crowd and hugged a fan, mimicked

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...

's celebration 20 years prior. Rachele was the center of controversy prior to the Showdown against in round 23 when he used a stereotype of Port fans on

FIVEaa FIVEAA (pronounced ''Five Double A'') is Adelaide's only commercial talkback radio station. The station has a range of programs including news, sports, current affairs, social issues, football calls, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and healt ...

. Following the Showdown loss, Rachele received public criticism in the media for the comments, including Kane Cornes and teammate Rory Laird. In the following week, Rachele was named in the 22 Under 22 team for the second time and was omitted for the final game of the year. Despite the late-season omission, Rachele kicked a career-best 30 goals during the season, which was the third highest of any Crow. Following his controversial end to 2024, Rachele did not miss a beat in the 2025 pre-season, receiving public praise from coach Matthew Nicks and teammate Ben Keays. Rachele started the season in good form, kicking six goals and collecting 37 disposals from his first two games. In round 3, he collided with 's Tristan Xerri and fractured three ribs, leaving the ground at quarter time and sitting on the sidelines in the following few weeks.

Statistics

:''Updated to round 3, 2025''. , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 8 , 13 , , 17 , , 11 , , 93 , , 53 , , 146 , , 36 , , 24 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 7.2 , , 4.1 , , 11.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 1 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 8 , 21 , , 23 , , 25 , , 204 , , 117 , , 321 , , 81 , , 70 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , 9.7 , , 5.6 , , 15.3 , , 3.9 , , 3.3 , , 0 , - ,

, , , , 8 , 22 , , 30 , , 17 , , 202 , , 109 , , 311 , , 79 , , 51 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 9.2 , , 5.0 , , 14.1 , , 3.6 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, , , , 8 , 5 , , 9 , , 7 , , 29 , , 13 , , 42 , , 16 , , 3 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 9.6 , , 4.3 , , 14.0 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 59 !! 76 !! 57 !! 528 !! 292 !! 820 !! 212 !! 148 !! 1.3 !! 1.0 !! 8.9 !! 4.9 !! 13.9 !! 3.6 !! 2.5 !! 1

Personal life

Since October 2022, Rachele has lived with fellow Victorians and current teammates Luke Nankervis and Jake Soligo. He has a close relationship with former forward Cooper Hamilton, with whom he boarded with at

. Rachele's Italian and Greek heritage keep his family close knit. His parents are named Michelle and Jason, and he has two younger twin brothers. Jason Rachele works on the family-owned orchard in

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rachele, Josh Living people 2003 births Adelaide Football Club players People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Murray Bushrangers players Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen