Jake Melksham

Jake Melksham (born 29 August 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.86 metres (6 ft 1 in) tall and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb), Melksham also has the ability to play as a defender, primarily as a half-back flanker. Growing up in Glenroy, Victoria, he played top-level football early when he joined the Calder Cannons' under 18 side in the TAC Cup at the age of sixteen. He spent three years playing for the Calder Cannons, winning a premiership in his final junior year. His achievements as a junior include state representation and the TAC Medal as the best player on the ground in the TAC Cup Grand Final. Melksham's late surge in his draft year saw him recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the tenth selection in the 2009 AFL draft. He made his AFL debut in the 2010 season and was rewarded with an AFL Rising Star nomination. He spent six seasons with Essendon, which peaked with a fifth-place finish in the best and fairest, and after 114 games with the club, he was traded to the Melbourne Football Club during the 2015 trade period. Before he could play his first match with Melbourne, he was suspended for the 2016 season for his involvement in the Essendon Football Club supplements saga; he was the last remaining player involved in the saga at the time of his retirement in 2026. In November 2023 he was delisted by the Melbourne Football Club, then re-listed in the subsequent rookie draft.