(246th Eagles player)
West Perth defender Josh Rotham played 72 games for West Coast after being taken in the 2016 national draft.
West Coast career[]
Originally from the Whitford juniors, Rotham supported the Eagles growing up and spent time at the club as part of the AIS-AFL academy program. On being drafted he was described as a speedy athletic defender capable of taking a second or third tall forward or potentially moving up the ground onto a wing.
2017 was spent as a development year, with Rotham playing primarily off half-back for East Perth. A hamstring injury interrupted his progress and he finished the year in the reserves. He spent 2018 in the Royals' senior side, often matching up on key forwards, and traveled with the AFL side as an emergency on one occasion.
After two years with the Royals, Rotham made his senior debut against Collingwood early in the 2019 season, replacing an injured Liam Duggan, and acquitted himself well in the meeting between the previous year's grand finalists. He played the following week but was then squeezed out, keeping pressure on the senior backline with strong performances at WAFL level and making two more senior appearances later in the year.
Rotham forced his way into the side early in 2020 and played ten games for the year, becoming a reliable member of the back six. He missed the club's only final due to injury but was awarded the Emerging Talent trophy at the end of the season. He added another 19 games in 2021, starting the season well before struggling in the second half of the year like many of his teammates, and getting dropped on occasion. Those struggles continued in 2022, with Rotham falling down the pecking order in the backline before a shift into the ruck at WAFL level, borne out of necessity, saw him return to the senior side as a makeshift backup ruck and occasional forward.
Rotham suffered as much as anyone from the 2023 injury curse, fracturing his arm during the pre-season then breaking a thumb at training midway through the year. Amongst all that, he managed 13 games, generally back in his more familiar defensive role. Rotham added another 13 games the following year, although he had a delayed start thanks to a groin injury and was dropped twice. Despite the departure of Tom Barrass leaving the playing list short on key defender depth, he was delisted at the end of the season.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | EP | 13 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 48 | 77 | 171 | 19 | |||||||||
| 2018 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 132 | 67 | 60 | 192 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 24 | 15 | 49 | 6 | 0 | WCE | 15 | 0 | 2 | 193 | 76 | 58 | 251 | 27 | |
| 2020 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 52 | 17 | 107 | 13 | 1 | N/A | |||||||||
| 2021 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 232 | 161 | 73 | 305 | 18 | 1 | WCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 103 | 71 | 38 | 141 | 21 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 130 | 59 | 28 | 158 | 7 | ||
| 2023 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 68 | 28 | 130 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 60 | 19 | 107 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 9 | 10 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Tot | 72 | 2 | 1 | 649 | 436 | 190 | 839 | 87 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Avg | 0.0 | 9.0 | 6.1 | 2.6 | 11.7 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
News[]
30/5/19: Emerging defenders earn contract extensions
28/9/21: Rotham signs new three-year deal
References[]
https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Josh_Rotham.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Rotham
https://www.wafl.com.au/player/joshua-rotham
| Rookie of the Year/Emerging Talent winners |
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1987: Mainwaring; 1988: McKenna; 1989: Sumich; 1990: Kemp; 1991: Jakovich; 1992: Clape; 1993: Banfield; 1994: Bond |