Jake Waterman

DOB

6/5/98

Height

191cm

Weight

86 kg

Junior club

Claremont/Marist JFC

Arrived

Drafted at pick 77 (father-son) in the 2016 national draft

Number

45 (2017-2018), 2 (2019-)

Debut

Round 1 2018 vs Sydney
(237th Eagles player)

Games

111

Goals

146

Honours

All-Australian (2024)
Leading goalscorer (2024)

B&F Top 10

1

Best Finish

3rd (2024)

Other clubs

Claremont (WAFL) 2016
East Perth (WAFL) 2017-2018

The son of dual premiership player Chris and the younger brother of Alec, Jake Waterman joined West Coast as a father-son selection in 2016.

West Coast career[]

A highly-rated junior, Jake captained WA's under-18 side before winning the Mel Whinnen Medal as best-afield in Claremont's colts premiership. A medium-sized forward with the potential to push into the midfield, he accepted West Coast's nomination ahead of the 2016 draft despite the recent delisting of his brother Alec, who had been struck down by glandular fever in his two seasons on the playing list. He became an Eagle with the last active pick in the draft after no other club made a bid for him.

Waterman made an early appearance in the pre-season JLT Series before suffering a stress fracture in the foot that kept him out for most of 2017. After some setbacks, he returned late in the season and put in some strong performances in East Perth's forward line, coming close to a senior debut when he was named as an emergency for the final home-and-away game.

Earning a Round 1 debut in 2018 in place of the injured Josh Kennedy, Waterman impressed as a hard-running forward. He played 16 of the side's first 18 games and received a Rising Star nomination, before being squeezed out of the lineup as the match committee looked to field a smaller forward line. He started the 2019 season in the senior side but was quickly dropped to the WAFL, where he kicked 13 goals in his first three games to push his way back into the team. Waterman had another stint in the reserves mid-season before being recalled for the last six games of the home-and-away season and the finals, finishing as the reserves' leading scorer with 28 goals in just eight games.

Left out of the side at the start of 2020, Waterman eventually forced his way into the lineup and kicked six goals in his first four games. He missed several games late in the year with a broken hand but returned for the finals push, and was used in a variety of positions. Waterman was rewarded with a three-year contract extension at the end of the season, and played another 14 games in 2021, continuing to bounce between the league and reserves sides. He moved closer to cementing a regular senior spot in 2022, setting career highs for games and goals.

Waterman began to carve out a role for himself in the first half of 2023 as an unlikely backup ruckman, kicking two bags of four goals, before his season came to a sudden end when he was hospitalised with ulcerative colitis in June. Despite talk that the condition might be serious enough to end his career, Waterman turned in a career-best season in 2024. With Oscar Allen missing long stretches with injury and Jack Darling fading, Waterman became the focal point of the forward line, with a purple patch of 23 goals over five weeks prior to the midseason bye propelling him into a sneaky Coleman Medal chance. He finished the year with 53 goals, fifth-best in the league, and was rewarded with selection in the All-Australian squad for the first time as well as a third-place finish in the John Worsfold Medal.

Stats[]

AFL	Gm	G	B	K	M	H	D	T	Cl	WAFL	Gm	G	B	K	M	H	D	T
2017	0									EP	4	8	5	41	25	16	57	4
2018	16	13	12	118	75	60	178	23	5		6	14	4	58	29	37	95	9
2019	13	15	5	112	75	45	157	16	3	WCE	8	28	7	84	61	33	117	16
2020	10	9	2	78	51	25	103	8	2	N/A
2021	14	13	8	129	89	44	173	27	5	WCE	4	10	3	55	34	9	64	13
2022	20	18	11	143	97	42	185	32	2		1	2	2	15	12	3	18	1
2023	11	11	9	112	71	46	158	23	4		0
2024	20	53	23	191	137	61	252	22	1		0
Tot	104	132	70	883	595	323	1206	151	22
Avg		1.3		8.5	5.7	3.1	11.6	1.5	0.2