{"id":779403,"date":"2026-07-04T22:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779403\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T22:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:34:17","slug":"back-fracture-sparks-afl-national-draft-prospect-jobe-janeways-footy-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779403\/","title":{"rendered":"Back fracture sparks AFL national draft prospect Jobe Janeway’s footy career"},"content":{"rendered":"

It might have been two years ago, but Jobe Janeway can remember the fateful day he broke his back like it happened yesterday.<\/p>\n

It was motocross race day at Ararat, in western Victoria, and the teenager was showing the promise that meant he was always noticed by those in the know.<\/p>\n

Until something went horribly wrong.<\/p>\n

“I was racing pretty well and then hit a pothole and kind of got thrown over the bars,” Janeway recounted.<\/p>\n

“Because I’m pretty lanky for a bike, my legs went overhead and it’s flung me.”<\/p>\n

Feeling incredibly sore, he was taken to the Ararat Hospital, where he was given the green light to go home to Mount Gambier, in rural South Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Jobe<\/p>\n

Jobe Janeway’s 206-centimetre frame is ready to propel him into an AFL career. (ABC News: Ben Pettitt)<\/p>\n

But Janeway’s mum, Kristy, noticed her son was still walking stiffly and decided to seek further medical advice.<\/p>\n

“Two weeks after, I got a check-up at the local Mount Gambier hospital, they said no, you need to go to Adelaide to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital for another check-up,” Janeway said.<\/p>\n

Specialists found he had suffered a wedge fracture, with the impact of the accident compressing his spine.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old knows it could have been much worse.<\/p>\n

“That could have been a wheelchair, that could have been a lot of other things, you’re just lucky it didn’t happen,” Janeway said.<\/p>\n

“I think all of our family were pretty shocked. I was upset, probably with the break in my back and also, like, I’m not riding anymore.”<\/p>\n

He was banned from playing physical contact sport for several months while his back recovered.<\/p>\n

The ban gave him plenty of thinking time.<\/p>\n

‘Quite good coordination’ for a tall kid<\/p>\n

Casting aside any worries about more injury, the break also prompted Janeway to dabble more in footy and he went on to win the best player award at a local carnival.<\/p>\n

After that, he gave in to the persistent approaches of veteran SANFL talent scout Darren Trevena and joined Glenelg’s under-18 squad.<\/p>\n

Janeway played a few games last year, before committing fully in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

South Australian Coach Tony Bamford can see massive potential in raw ruckman Jobe Janeway. (AFL Photos: Travis Hayto)<\/p>\n

Last season, SA under 18s coach Tony Bamford was alerted about a “tall kid” playing with the Tigers who was worth watching.<\/p>\n

Bamford saw improvement in every one of Janeway’s four games and when the teenager gave his full commitment to SANFL football this season, he was included in the state squad preparing for the national championships.<\/p>\n

“He’s mobile and he’s got quite good coordination for a young lad who’s so tall; sometimes those tall kids are a bit unco for a period of time,” Bamford said.<\/p>\n

“What he has got in his favour is his skills, which are what I would say are above average for a player of his size.”<\/p>\n

Family sacrifices<\/p>\n

Playing in the SANFL and for SA means plenty of five-hour trips from Mount Gambier to Adelaide to train and play.<\/p>\n

“The family make a huge sacrifice when you’ve got a son or a daughter who is in a pathway program,” Bamford said.<\/p>\n

“Lots of time on the highway and in the car and lots of money spent on fuel, so we’re very grateful for the support of the Janeways.”<\/p>\n

\"Parents<\/p>\n

Jobe Janeway (left) has spent many hours travelling back and forth to Adelaide with his family. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

It is made doubly hard by Janeway being a second-year apprentice electrician, but the lure of making it as an AFL player has been a strong incentive to keep persisting.<\/p>\n

“I was talking to Bangers [Bamford] and he was saying that [I] could be the first country boy with a job to ever make it,” Janeway said.<\/p>\n

“I love the fact that he’s an apprentice electrician and I love the fact that he loves his job,” Bamford said.<\/p>\n

“I think any elite footballer who has great balance in their life away from the game, it’s a good balance to have.”<\/p>\n

Being late into the footy system means the 206-centimetre ruckman is very raw and has much to work on, including his ruck craft and marking.<\/p>\n

To help, Janeway and fellow SA tall Ethan Herbert are getting expert coaching from AFL Crows ruck Reilly O’Brien.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

Mount Gambier teenager Jobe Janeway says a motocross accident led him toward footy. (Supplied: Cory Sutton)<\/p>\n

Interest from clubs<\/p>\n

Good, big guys can be hard to find, and the country lad said he had already had a few exploratory nibbles from AFL clubs.<\/p>\n

“I had West Coast at the very start of the year; they just wanted to know my background and after the NSW [trial] game, Sydney did reach out,” Janeway revealed.<\/p>\n

But if his family had its way, Janeway would follow fellow South East players Angus Clarke<\/a> and Mason Redman<\/a> who were drafted to Essendon.<\/p>\n

“Our family’s Essendon through and through,” Janeway laughed.<\/p>\n

“Dad said if you don’t follow Essendon, you get kicked out.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jobe Janeway showed promise while riding in motorcross events when he was younger. (Supplied: Jobe Janeway)<\/p>\n

Bamford said he was glad circumstances had led the teenager back to footy.<\/p>\n

“I still can’t picture Jobe on a motorbike; it just doesn’t seem right to have a kid that size riding a bike,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Luckily for us, he’s fully recovered, but I think that was the turning point for Mum and Dad to say maybe it’s time to put the bike away and put the footy boots back on for a while and see where it can take you.”<\/p>\n

Most players show their wares at the national championships, which are underway, before being drafted to AFL clubs in the national draft at the end of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It might have been two years ago, but Jobe Janeway can remember the fateful day he broke his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[3443,638,64,63,71055,55,639,21099,3263,19803,4082,369146,71958,468,137725,85],"class_list":["post-779403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-adelaide","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-championships","tag-draft","tag-fracture","tag-hospital","tag-jobe-janeway","tag-motocross","tag-mount-gambier","tag-sanfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}