Aaron vandenBerg

Aaron vandenBerg (born 3 March 1992) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.88 metres (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighing 90 kilograms (200 lb), vandenBerg has the ability to contribute as both an inside and outside midfielder, whilst also pushing into the forward line. After missing out on the draft at eighteen years of age, vandenBerg played in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) with the Ainslie Football Club where he won two best and fairest awards and was twice named in the NEAFL team of the year. His performances in the NEAFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with the second selection in the 2015 rookie draft and he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2015 season.

Aaron vandenBerg
vandenBerg training with Melbourne in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Aaron vandenBerg
Date of birth (1992-03-03) 3 March 1992
Place of birth Perth, Western Australia[1]
Original team(s) Ainslie (NEAFL)
Draft No. 2, 2015 rookie draft
Debut Round 1, 2015, Melbourne
vs. Gold Coast, at MCG
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / forward
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 22
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015– Melbourne 47 (23)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Originally from Western Australia, vandenBerg moved to Tathra, New South Wales with his family at ten-years of age.[2] He was first noticed as a potential AFL player in 2007 by then-Collingwood recruiter, Jason Taylor,[3] however he was not drafted due to lacking "the drive to be an AFL footballer."[1] He moved to Canberra in 2011 to join Ainslie in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL), where he won the eastern conference premiership in his first year, and back-to-back Hibberson Cup Trophies as the club best and fairest player in 2013 and 2014.[3] In addition, he was named in the NEAFL team of the year on the wing and as the ruck rover in 2013 and 2014 respectively.[4] During 2014, he amassed fifty-six disposals in a match against Eastlake,[1] which contributed to him being recognised as a high-disposal winner and put him back on the AFL radar.[5] Then at Melbourne, Jason Taylor and the club decided to recruit him in December 2014.[1] Whilst living in Canberra, he was completing a four-year apprenticeship at the Royal Australian Mint, but ended it after two and a half years to move to Melbourne.[6]

AFL career
vandenBerg in February 2017

vandenBerg was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club with their first selection and second overall in the 2015 rookie draft.[7] After a shoulder reconstruction at the end of 2014, Melbourne football operations manager, Josh Mahoney, stated vandenBerg was "exceeding expectations"[8] and he made his debut in the 2015 opening round, twenty-six point win against Gold Coast at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[9] He was named in the best players for Melbourne and recorded seventeen disposals, four marks and a goal.[10] Lauded for his tenacity and ability to win the contested ball,[11] he played the first ten matches of the year before suffering a hamstring strain in the annual Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood.[12] He returned to the side in round fifteen against Essendon,[13] and played the next four matches before injuring his ankle in August,[14] he was then ruled out for the rest of the season after playing fourteen matches in his debut season.[15] After signing a contract extension until the end of the 2017 season, he was promoted from the rookie list to the senior list for the 2016 season onward.[16]

Despite suffering from an ankle injury during the 2016 pre-season,[17] vandenBerg played the start of the season in the senior side.[18] He played in the first three matches of the season before re-aggravating his ankle injury, and he was forced to miss a month of football.[19] He made his return to football in the Victorian Football League (VFL), playing for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions.[20] He returned to the senior side for the eighteen point loss against Hawthorn at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round eleven.[21] He played the next five matches before missing the round eighteen match against West Coast at Domain Stadium due to a hip injury.[22] He returned the next week for the two point win against Gold Coast at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where he kicked a career high three goals and was named in Melbourne's best.[23] He played the remainder of the season to finish with fourteen games.[24]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season [24]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015 Melbourne 37145121439223544700.40.910.26.616.83.15.03
2016 Melbourne 37141298012520543500.90.85.78.914.63.13.60
2017 Melbourne 220——————————————0
2018 Melbourne 22756615011130220.70.98.77.115.94.33.10
2019 Melbourne 220——————————————0
2020[lower-alpha 1] Melbourne 221211736914234310.10.16.15.811.82.82.60
Career 47 23 28 357 336 693 151 173 0.5 0.6 7.6 7.1 14.7 3.2 3.7 3

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. Landsberger, Sam (3 April 2015). "Melbourne recruit Aaron vandenBerg to make his presence felt on biggest stage of them all". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. Gleeson, Michael (25 April 2015). "Richie, the freshly minted Demon". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. Polkinghorne, David (3 December 2014). "Melbourne Demons pick Ainslie's Aaron Vandenberg in AFL rookie draft". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. "Team of the Year". NEAFL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. Ryan, Peter (3 December 2014). "Demons couldn't resist huge NEAFL numbers". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  6. Burgan, Matt (8 December 2014). "Vandenberg a mint investment". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  7. Burgan, Matt (3 December 2014). "Vandenberg claimed at No.2". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  8. Polkinghorne, David (10 April 2015). "Melbourne Demons say Aaron vandenBerg on track to be long-term AFL player". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  9. Gaskin, Lee (3 April 2015). "Former Ainslie midfielder Aaron Vandenberg makes AFL debut with Melbourne Demons against Gold Coast Suns". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  10. Schmook, Nathan (4 April 2015). "Opening round Dee-light as Melbourne stuns Gold Coast". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  11. Guthrie, Ben (5 June 2015). "Freshly minted Demon Aaron vandenBerg an instant hit". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  12. Lerner, Ronny (11 June 2015). "Melbourne Demons Colin Garland and Aaron vandenBerg suffer injuries". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  13. Burgan, Matt (9 July 2015). "Melbourne makes four changes". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  14. "Aaron vandenBerg could miss rest of season with ankle injury". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  15. Burgan, Matt (18 August 2015). "Salem available to play this week". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  16. Ryan, Peter (9 July 2015). "Demons rookie vandenBerg signs two-year deal". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  17. Polkinghorne, David (25 March 2016). "Demon, Saint and a Giant not worried about second-year AFL 'yips'". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  18. "AFL teams: Full squads for Round 1". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  19. Guthrie, Ben (21 April 2016). "Ankle injury sidelines hard-working Demon for a month". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  20. Burgan, Matt (16 June 2016). "Aaron forced to manage ankle issue". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  21. Twomey, Callum (2 June 2016). "Round 11 teams: the ins and outs". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  22. Burgan, Matt (21 July 2016). "Four changes for clash in the west". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  23. Burgan, Matt (28 July 2016). "Three added to the squad". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  24. "Aaron vandenBerg". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
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