Ben Rutten
Benjamin Rutten (born 28 May 1983) is an Australian rules football coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As a player, he played for the Adelaide Football Club and was known for his size, strength and ability to contain some of the game's best forwards.
Ben Rutten | |||
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![]() Rutten coaching in May 2018. | |||
Personal information | |||
Full name | Benjamin Rutten | ||
Nickname(s) | Truck | ||
Date of birth | 28 May 1983 | ||
Place of birth | Adelaide, South Australia | ||
Original team(s) | West Adelaide (SANFL) | ||
Draft | No. 40, 2001 rookie draft | ||
Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||
Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Playing career | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2003–2014 | Adelaide | 229 (9) | |
Coaching career | |||
Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
2021– | Essendon | 0 (0–0–0) | |
Career highlights | |||
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Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Early life
Recruited from South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Adelaide in the 2001 Rookie Draft, Rutten made his AFL debut in 2003 as a forward, joining an elite club of players who have goaled with each of their first three kicks.
AFL career
Rutten was moved to defence and made a name for himself as a tough full-back, coming of age in the 2005 AFL season, where he was part of Adelaide's sturdy defensive unit, and often held his opponents to two goals or less. This earned Rutten All-Australian selection in 2005, and Rutten became an integral part of Adelaide's defence for the rest of his career. He and fellow All-Australian defender Nathan Bock formed one of the most capable defensive partnerships in the AFL prior to Bock's transfer to the Gold Coast Suns.
Rutten gave away the controversial game deciding free kick in the 2009 semi-final by holding the arm of Collingwood forward Jack Anthony who scored Collingwood's winning goal in the last 55 seconds. This finished the season for the Adelaide Football Club.
On 1 July 2014, Rutten announced that he would retire at the end of the 2014 season, hinting a possible move into coaching.[1] He played his last game against St Kilda on 31 August 2014, scoring his ninth and final AFL goal in the last kick of his career.[2]
Coaching career
On 10 September 2014, Rutten became an assistant coach at the Richmond Football Club,[3] serving as the club's defence coach.
On 24 August 2018, the Essendon Football Club announced Rutten would be joining their coaching department for the 2019 season,[4] serving as the Team Defence and Key Position Coach. On 17 September 2019, it was announced that Rutten would succeed John Worsfold as the senior coach of Essendon at the conclusion of the 2020 AFL season.[5][6]
Statistics
G | Goals | B | Behinds | K | Kicks | H | Handballs | D | Disposals | M | Marks | T | Tackles |
Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
2003 | Adelaide | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
2004 | Adelaide | 25 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 50 | 105 | 40 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 11.7 | 4.4 | 1.1 |
2005 | Adelaide | 25 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 143 | 137 | 280 | 95 | 27 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 11.2 | 3.8 | 1.1 |
2006 | Adelaide | 25 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 175 | 158 | 333 | 135 | 35 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 13.9 | 5.6 | 1.5 |
2007 | Adelaide | 25 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 137 | 259 | 113 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.1 | 6.9 | 13.0 | 5.7 | 1.2 |
2008 | Adelaide | 25 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 157 | 182 | 339 | 147 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 15.4 | 6.7 | 0.9 |
2009 | Adelaide | 25 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 164 | 204 | 368 | 142 | 29 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 15.3 | 5.9 | 1.2 |
2010 | Adelaide | 25 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 212 | 340 | 128 | 46 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.8 | 9.6 | 15.5 | 5.8 | 2.1 |
2011 | Adelaide | 25 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 174 | 317 | 107 | 30 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 8.3 | 15.1 | 5.1 | 1.4 |
2012 | Adelaide | 25 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 148 | 136 | 284 | 125 | 40 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 11.4 | 5.0 | 1.6 |
2013 | Adelaide | 25 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 140 | 132 | 272 | 114 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 13.0 | 5.4 | 1.1 |
2014 | Adelaide | 25 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 72 | 80 | 152 | 52 | 24 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 10.9 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
Career | 229 | 9 | 5 | 1453 | 1609 | 3062 | 1205 | 309 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 13.3 | 5.3 | 1.3 |
References
- "Adelaide Crows veteran defender Ben Rutten confirms his retirement at end of 2014 AFL season". ABC. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- "Ben Rutten kicked his ninth AFL goal to cap off his final game in Adelaide Crows win". The Australian. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- "Rutten to Richmond". Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- "Bombers welcome Rutten". Essendon Football Club. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- "Dons outline coaching succession plan". Essendon Football Club. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- Niall, Jake (17 September 2019). "Backing the truck: inside the Essendon handover". The Age.
- "Ben Rutten statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben Rutten. |
- Ben Rutten's playing statistics from AFL Tables