Tim Ruffles (born 5 October 1990) was an

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

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

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).

AFL career

Originally from

Narrandera Narrandera ( ), until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell Highway, Newell and Sturt Highway, Sturt highwa ...

in southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, he attended

Ballarat and Clarendon College Ballarat Clarendon College is a private, co-educational, day and boarding school, located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Formerly affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of Australia, it now operates in association with the Uniting Church i ...

. Ruffles was recruited by Fremantle with selection 68 in the 2008 AFL Draft from the

North Ballarat Rebels The Greater Western Victoria Rebels is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Talent League, the statewide under-18s competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They recruit players from the Ballarat, Wimmera and Sou ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

. He represented NSW at the

2008 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships is the 2008 series of the AFL Under 18 Championships, a state and territory based Australian rules football competition which showcase the best junior footballers in Australia, primarily with the aim for the ...

. Upon moving to Western Australia he was allocated to the

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). R ...

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 ...

(WAFL). After kicking five goals in a game for Perth against East Perth, Ruffles was named in the Fremantle squad, but was cut from the final team. Ruffles made his AFL debut at AAMI Stadium in Fremantle's match against the Adelaide Crows in Round 15. In July 2009, in his third game, Ruffles played in Fremantle's win over 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 30th

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football matches between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW). As both teams are ba ...

, kicking 2 goals, but rupturing his left

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in the final minutes. He returned to the AFL in July 2010, but then was dropped back to the WAFL. He was recalled again to the Fremantle side for their Round 21 match against in Tasmania, when many senior players were rested from the long trip. The game resulted in a 116-point loss for the Dockers, and Ruffles hurt his right knee, which also required a knee reconstruction. On 13 October 2010, Ruffles was delisted by Fremantle, although as a contracted player for the 2011 season, he was later re-drafted onto the

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Category B rookie-listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unle ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffles, Tim 1990 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players Perth Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Greater Western Victoria Rebels players People educated at Ballarat Clarendon College 21st-century Australian sportsmen