Russell Jeffrey (born 6 February 1966) is a former

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 with St Kilda and the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL). Jeffrey, a former St Mary's junior, started his VFL career at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

and with the exception of one night match spent all of his time in the reserves. A serious knee injury looked to have ended his league career and he left Victoria, only to be called up by St Kilda to play a game in 1987.AFL Tables: Russell Jeffrey
/ref> After playing 14 games for St Kilda in 1988, Jeffrey again left the state, played the 1989

Murray Football League The Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in ...

premiership with

Jerilderie Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Council Local government areas of New South Wales, Local Government Area. At the , Jerilderie had a pop ...

. He was best on ground in both the 1987 and 1989

grand finals. He was re-signed by St Kilda in the 1990 preseason draft, with the 23rd draft pick. Used mostly as a defender, Jeffrey had his best season in 1990, not missing a single game and averaging just under 16 disposals. Although he had represented the Northern Territory in the

1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival The 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival was the 22nd edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football Interstate matches in Australian rules football#State of origin, State of Origin competition. Australian Bice ...

, he played State of Origin football for Victoria in 1990. At the end of the 1991 season, Jeffrey was traded to the Brisbane Bears and on debut became the 100th footballer to play for the club. In 1992 he returned to his former club Wanderers and won the Chaney Medal when he captained them to a win in the 1992/93

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated a ...

grand final. He coached Wanderers until 1997, during which time he was also coach of the territory's

Teal Cup The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...

side and the league's representative team. Joining Palmerston as playing coach in 1998, he steered the club to four consecutive grand finals. He coached their 2000/01 and 2001/02 premiership sides. Jeffrey is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

and represented the Indigenous All-Stars in 1994. His son, Joel, is also a professional Australian rules football with the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

. He was the Labor candidate for the conservative seat of Brennan at the 2012 election; however, he was defeated by the incumbent

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system wi ...

MP.Labor's latest recruit a footy star
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, Russell 1966 births Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football St Kilda Football Club players Brisbane Bears players Palmerston Football Club players Wanderers Football Club players Victorian State of Origin players Living people Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory