Jake Kolodjashnij

Kolodjashnij grew up in Tasmania where he played soccer and basketball in his younger years. His grandparents fled the Soviet controlled Ukraine after World War II and settled in Australia. Kolodjashnij's twin brother Kade also played football professionally, first playing for the Gold Coast Suns, and then the Melbourne Football Club before retiring in 2020 due to concussion issues.^[2]

He attended St Patrick's College, Launceston.

Kolodjashnij began playing Australian football for the first time at 12 years of age for the Prospect Junior Football Club. Kolodjashnij lived across the road from Prospect Park, a multi-use venue for both soccer and Australian football. He and brother Kade played in junior premierships for Prospect in under-13s and under-14s of the Northern Tasmanian Junior Football Association. In his under-15 season with Prospect he and Kade were referred to Tasmanian head coach, and former AFL player, Matthew Armstrong, for consideration for the Tasmanian talented player pathway and were recognised as having significant potential. As part of the talented player pathway process, both the Kolodjashnij brothers were permitted to Tasmanian State League club, Launceston, for their under-16 year. Jake played for Tasmania in the under-16 National Championship in 2011 and followed that with selection in the under-18 National Championships in both 2012 and 2013. He was taken with the 41st pick in the 2013 AFL draft by the Geelong Football Club.

Kolodjashnij is a defender selected by Geelong in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft. He plays as a rebounding defender and an overhead mark. In the previous year, he played 16 VFL games and finished fourth in the Victorian Football League best and fairest. He made his AFL debut in round 12 of the 2015 season against Melbourne.

Kolodjashnij currently studies a Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University.^[3]