Jason Johannisen

Jason Johannisen (born 8 November 1992) is a South African–born professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). At 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall and 82 kg (181 lb), he plays as a running half-back who can move up forward.

Jason Johannisen
Johannisen at Western Bulldogs training in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Jason Johannisen
Date of birth	(1992-11-08) 8 November 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Johannesburg, South Africa
Original team(s)	East Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft	No. 39, 2011 rookie draft
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Western Bulldogs
Number	39
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2012–	Western Bulldogs	199 (77)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2020	All Stars	1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 7, 2025.
Career highlights
AFL premiership player (2016) Norm Smith Medal (2016)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Johannisen was selected by the Western Bulldogs with the 39th selection in the 2011 rookie draft. In 2016, he became an AFL premiership player after helping the Bulldogs win the Grand Final behind his Norm Smith Medal performance.

As of the end of season 2024, he has polled a total of 25 Brownlow Medal votes in his career.^[1]

Early life

Johannisen was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to mother Sonya from Zambia and father Eldrid from Durban.^[2] The family moved to Perth, Western Australia, in 2000 when Johannisen was eight years old.^[3]

Johannisen played rugby union with the Southern Lions Rugby Club in Perth as a junior before switching codes to Australian rules at the age of 15.^[2] He played his senior football with East Fremantle.

Career

Johannisen was recruited by the Western Bulldogs in the 2011 Rookie Draft, with pick #39, and made his debut in Round 19 of the 2012 AFL season against North Melbourne at Docklands Stadium.

Johannisen was adjudged best afield in the Western Bulldogs' Grand Final victory over the Sydney Swans in 2016; he recorded 25 kicks among 33 disposals and 7 marks to win the Norm Smith Medal.^[4] In July 2017, he signed a five-year contract extension with Bulldogs.^[5]

Johannisen missed nine weeks in the middle of the 2023 season with hamstring tendon damage, returning for two games before a calf injury ruled him out of the remainder of the season. He then didn't play post-round nine in 2024 after he suffered a moderate-grade hamstring strain.^[6] During the 2025 pre-season, he suffered a hamstring strain at training and subsequently underwent surgery.^[6] He overcame the hamstring injury in time for round five selection.^[7]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of Round 8 2021^[8]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
#	Played in that season's  premiership team

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2012	Western Bulldogs	39	3	1	0	29	20	49	9	3	0.3	0.0	9.7	6.7	16.3	3.0	1.0	0
2013	Western Bulldogs	39	13	2	4	138	70	208	40	19	0.2	0.3	10.6	5.4	16.0	3.1	1.5	0
2014	Western Bulldogs	39	11	2	4	111	67	178	42	26	0.2	0.4	10.1	6.1	16.2	3.8	2.4	0
2015	Western Bulldogs	39	20	7	3	270	128	398	107	35	0.4	0.2	13.5	6.4	19.9	5.4	1.8	4
2016#	Western Bulldogs	39	17	6	8	283	130	413	112	37	0.4	0.5	16.6	7.6	24.3	6.6	2.2	10
2017	Western Bulldogs	39	20	10	12	258	171	429	58	41	0.5	0.6	12.9	8.6	21.5	2.9	2.1	7
2018	Western Bulldogs	39	22	7	10	277	187	464	89	47	0.3	0.5	12.6	8.5	21.1	4.0	2.1	3
2019	Western Bulldogs	39	20	6	6	285	152	437	83	44	0.3	0.3	14.3	7.6	21.9	4.2	2.2	1
2020[a]	Western Bulldogs	39	17	6	5	165	102	267	65	29	0.4	0.3	9.7	6.0	15.7	3.8	1.7	0
2021	Western Bulldogs	39	25	15	10	152	99	251	67	41	0.6	0.5	6.1	4.0	10.0	2.7	1.6	0
2022	Western Bulldogs	39	7	6	4	50	32	82	28	11	0.9	0.6	7.1	4.6	11.7	4.0	1.6
Career			175	68	68	2018	1158	3176	701	333	0.4	0.4	11.5	6.6	18.2	4.0	1.9	25

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.

Honours and achievements

AFL

• Team
  • AFL premiership: 2016
• Individual
  • Norm Smith Medal: 2016
  • Tony Liberatore Most Improved Award: 2015

VFL

• Team
  • VFL premiership: 2014