Jack Ross (born 3 September 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played junior representative football with the Oakliegh Chargers in the TAC Cup and won the club's best and fairest player award in 2018. He was drafted by Richmond with the 43rd pick in 2018 AFL draft and made his debut in round 4 of the 2019 season.
Early life and junior football
Ross played junior football with the Waverley Park Hawks in the South Metro Junior Football League, before moving to representative football with the Oakleigh Chargers.
In 2016 he earned selection to and captained the Victorian Metropolitan side at the 2016 Under 16 national championships. The following year he played one match for Oakleigh in the TAC Cup.
Despite captaining the side at the lower age group, Ross failed to earn selection for Vic Metro at the Under 18 championships in mid-2018. He was prolific at state level however, performing strongly in the second half of 2018 including averaging 25 disposals in the final five matches of the season. He was particularly influential in the club's finals series, named one of the best players in Oakleigh's preliminary final and recording 19 disposals along with a goal in the club's losing grand final. For his performances that season, Ross earned the club's best and fairest award.
Ross attended high school and played school football at Caulfield Grammar, where he also served as the school's football team captain in 2018.
At the end of the 2018 junior season, Ross was not invited to the AFL National draft combine, but instead participated in the Victorian state combine. He was noted pre-draft for his strength, power and ball-winning ability and was labelled by Aussie Rules Draft Central as "a ready-made prospect".
Junior statistics
TAC Cup
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017 |Oakleigh Chargers | 32 || 1 || 0 || — || 8 || 8 || 16 || 3 || 2 || 0.0 || — || 8.0 || 8.0 || 16.0 || 3.0 || 2.0 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018 |Oakleigh Chargers | 32 || 12 || 7 || — || 103 || 149 || 252 || 56 || 31 || 0.6 || — || 8.6 || 12.4 || 21.0 || 4.7 || 2.6 |- |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3| Career ! 13 ! 7 ! — ! 111 ! 157 ! 268 ! 159 ! 33 ! 0.5 ! — ! 8.5 ! 12.1 ! 20.6 ! 4.5 ! 2.5 |}
AFL career
Ross was drafted by with the club's second pick and the 43rd selection overall in the 2018 AFL national draft.