Jade Pregelj

Jade Pregelj (/prəˈdʒɛli/ "prə-jelly";^[1] born 22 August 1991) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Gold Coast and Brisbane in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW).

Jade Pregelj
Personal information
Nickname(s)	The Big Dog
Date of birth	(1991-08-22) 22 August 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Logan, Queensland
Original team(s)	Yeronga (QWAFL)
Draft	No. 86, 2019 AFL Women's draft
Debut	Gold Coast
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2020–S7 (2022)	Gold Coast	19 (0)
2023–2024	Brisbane	01 (0)
Total		20 (0)
Career highlights
QWAFL 2010 QWAFL League Best & Fairest 2011 QWAFL League Best & Fairest
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Pregelj was born and raised in Logan, Queensland^[2] and attended Shailer Park State High School throughout her teenage years.^[3] She began playing junior football at the age of 10 and joined the Logan City Cobras as a teenager. While playing for Logan alongside future AFLW superstars Katie Brennan and Aasta O'Connor,^[4] Pregelj played in five straight QAFLW premierships and was awarded back-to-back league best and fairest honours in 2010 and 2011.^[5] She later decided to quit football and enlisted with the Australian Army in January 2015.^[6] In a remarkable twist, she relocated to Townsville to continue her military service in 2018 and was reacquainted with a former junior coach and Gold Coast Suns head of women's football Fiona McLarty who convinced Pregelj to begin playing football again.^[7]

AFLW career

Pregelj was drafted by the Gold Coast Suns with the 86th pick in the 2019 AFL Women's draft. She made her AFLW debut against Greater Western Sydney in round 1 of the 2020 AFL Women's season^[8] and was selected to play in every game of the 2020 AFLW season. She went on to be selected in the initial 40-woman squad for the 2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team for her inaugural AFLW season performance.^[9][10] She tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during 2022 season 6.^[11] In March 2023, Pregelj was delisted by Gold Coast.^[12]

A few weeks later, Pregelj was signed by Brisbane as a delisted free agent.^[13] She made her Lions debut in round 1, 2023,^[14] but was omitted from the lineup the following week.^[15] She then injured her ACL once more, ruling her out for the remainder of the season.^[14] After a second season on the Lions' list, she announced her retirement from the AFLW.^[16] She finished her career having played nineteen games for Gold Coast and one for Brisbane.^[17]

Statistics

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2020	Gold Coast	42	7	0	1	68	15	83	13	13	0.0	0.1	9.7	2.1	11.9	1.9	1.9	0
2021	Gold Coast	42	9	0	0	64	17	81	20	20	0.0	0.0	7.1	1.9	9.0	2.2	2.2	0
2022 (S6)	Gold Coast	42	4	0	0	13	3	16	4	4	0.0	0.0	4.3	1.0	5.3	1.3	1.3	0
2022 (S7)	Gold Coast	42	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
2023	Brisbane	24	1	0	0	4	3	7	1	3	0.0	0.0	4.0	3.0	7.0	1.0	3.0	0
2024	Brisbane	24	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
Career[17]			20	0	1	149	38	187	38	40	0.0	0.1	7.5	1.9	9.4	1.9	2.0	0