This weekend three-time premiership player, Jesse Hare, plays his 100th open-age game for the Pennant Hills Demons.

Jesse was Captain of the Under 18 premiership side in 2013. This is the most recent flag won by the Demons in the under-age competition. He made his first grade debut in Round 13 of 2012 against a lacklustre Campbelltown side at Monarch Oval. The Demons kicked 25 goals and won by 114 pts that day. Luke Bilbe was leading goalkicker with 6 goals and Matt Carey was the best on ground for Penno, also kicking 3 goals. And, James Dunn also debuted that day. For Jesse, it was “a gutsy win, we sung the song and got drenched in the Gatorade shower afterwards!” After finishing 3rd in the H&A rounds, the senior side made finals that season but were eliminated by Balmain in the preliminary final who then went down to UNSW/ES Bulldogs in the 2012 Grand Final.

 

When he was 10 years old, Jesse’s footy career started in Melbourne at the Bulleen Bullants junior club. He says that they “… played on a full field in Under 10’s, then when I moved to Sydney and played with Westbrook FC the next year it was on a reduced sized field for the next two seasons! I remember thinking this is so much easier! I never had any real team success in juniors, but had some great coaches, Nick Campbell, Scott Myers and Tim Scoular who are all Pennant Hills people. These guys all had a huge impact on me and fostered my love for the game! Over the past couple years, I’ve tried to help out with Westbrook juniors and Cherrybrook Public AFL team as I remember how great it was having a coach who came down from the senior club.”

 

Jesse played 5 seasons with the Westbrook juniors and was twice 2nd Runner Up Best & Fairest in the Under 14s and Under 16s, respectively. In his final year at Westbrook his team-mates included current club-mates Nick Hey, Stewie Hodges, Lachlan Quigley, Jordan Rene, Jack Thorncraft and Hayden Vandermeer.

 

At age 15, Jesse first played for the Senior Club in 2011, playing 3 games with the Under 18s while still playing juniors at Westbrook. He played 32 under-age games over 4 seasons, had his first grade debut in 2012, captained the  U18 premiers in 2013, before he became a regular in the senior side from 2014 onwards. Today’s match will be his 95th for Premier Division with 5 games in Reserves bringing his total open-age games to 100. He was a member of the successful 2015 and 2017 Premier Division premiership sides. He says that “… the U18’s GF win as captain was awesome! After the game we hopped on a party bus and went around Sydney celebrating. But nothing beats the two senior premierships, 2015 and 2017! In 2015 we managed to beat the East Coast Eagles who were a NEAFL side the year before and then in 2017 we came from 5th place and knocked out every team ahead of us. Both are true underdog stories and are great memories.”

In juniors, he “… played most of my junior footy in the guts, ruck rover or rover …”, however, he has since become an integral part of Demon’s Back Six, playing mainly as a half-back flanker. He wears jumper #27 with pride, noting that it was previously worn by Club Legend and current Senior Coach, Chris Yard. For Jesse, the best players he’s played with “… would have to be Ranga Ediriwickrama and Lloyd Shepperd. Although, you wouldn’t know it, as they’re both extremely humble about their [immense] footy accomplishments!”

 

Jesse, known around the club as ‘Jerry’, is one of the Good Guys. In his junior days he was described as the “… most polite kid you’ll ever meet on the football field …’, but was also noted as ‘… one of the toughest and most courageous …’ players going around; traits that all his team-mates would agree he still possesses in large quantity, to this day! He has a perpetual grin on his dial and a certain cheeky aspect to his demeanour which make him a most popular personality at the Club.

 

On behalf of everyone at Pennant Hills we wish Jesse the best of luck for his milestone match and congratulate him on this magnificent achievement!

 

Go Penno!

 

Match Highlights

Premier Division Grand Final 2017 – Blacktown ISP – 16 September 2017

Pennant Hills 10.06-66 defeated Sydney University 7.18-60

 
Premier Division Grand Final 2015 – at Henson Park – 27 September 2015

Pennant Hills 14.5-89 defeated  East Coast Eagles 7.12-54

 
Under 18 Division One Grand Final 2013 – at Blacktown ISP – 21 September 2013

Pennant Hills 10.10-70 defeated UNSW/ES Bulldogs 10.7-67

Jesse Hare (Captain)

 
Premier Division Debut – at Monarch Oval – 30 June 2012

Pennant Hills 25.17-167 defeated Campbelltown Blues 8.5-53

Luke Bilbe 6 goals/Matt Carey best for PH (3 goals)

 

 

Career Highlights

Games Played

  • Open Age – 100 games (Premier Division 95, Reserve Grade 5)
  • U/18 – 32 games

Premierships

  •  2x Premier Division (2015 and 2017)
  • 1x U/18 (2013 – Captain)

Awards

  • Premier Division – Best Team Man (2018)
  • Premier Division – Most Consistent/Most Improved (2017, 2014)
  • U/18 Coaches Award – 2012

Junior Football

  • Westbrook Juniors (2007 – 2011), 64 Games, 17 Goals, Runner Up B&F (U/14 and U/16)
  • One season at Bulleen Bullants in Melbourne