James McDonald (footballer)

James McDonald

James McDonald playing for Melbourne
Personal information
Full name James McDonald
Date of birth (1976-10-05) 5 October 1976
Original team(s) North Ballarat Rebels / Old Xaverians
Height/Weight 180 cm / 75 kg
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1997–2010
2012
Total		 Melbourne
Greater Western Sydney		 251 (56)
013 0(4)
264 (60)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2006 Australia 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 2012 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2006.
Career highlights

James McDonald (born 5 October 1976) is an Australian rules footballer, currently contracted to Greater Western Sydney in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for and captained the Melbourne Football Club.

Career

Nicknamed "Junior", James is the brother of former AFL players Anthony McDonald and Alex McDonald. He is noted as a hard working in and under midfielder. In addition to this, he is also used as a tagger.

In 1995, McDonald suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome with his VAFA side Old Xaverians. He debuted in the AFL in 1997 with the Melbourne Football Club after being promoted off the Rookie list.

2006

McDonald had one of his most consistent years in 2006, being named on the interchange bench in the All Australian side and the only Demons player to make this list in that year. He laid a league high and record high 143 tackles during season 2006, breaking the previous record held by Tony Liberatore (although Brett Kirk would break McDonald's record the following season), and capped off the season with a win in Melbourne's Best and Fairest.

McDonald also played in the International Rules Series in 2006.

2007

McDonald won the Melbourne best and fairest in 2007 for the second time.

2008

James played his 200th game in a devastating loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 2. He was part of the Demons' Leadership Group, along with Cameron Bruce, Russell Robertson, Adem Yze and Brad Miller and was named co captain alongside Bruce in the absence of skipper David Neitz. However, after Neitz announced his retirement, no captain has been selected yet. After the 2008 Home & Away Season, James signed a one year deal to continue playing with Melbourne.

2009

On 11 January, the Herald Sun reported that McDonald would captain the club in 2009. McDonald kicked his 50th goal in the 2009 season.

2010

McDonald signed another one year extension that would see him to the end of the 2010 season. He also broke the record for the most games by a Rookie Listed player (238). On 20 August, McDonald announced that he would retire at the end of the end of the 2010 season, saying he felt he could have played on for another year, but that the club came first and the club's decision was for him to retire at the end of the season.[1]

2011

McDonald played for his old side, Old Xaverians in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, while also working with Greater Western Sydney's Melbourne-based players in a development role. At the end of 2011, McDonald signed a one year contract with Greater Western Sydney. During the 2012 season, he was a playing assistant coach for the Giants.[2]

Statistics

[3]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
1997 Melbourne 54 4 3 1 26 12 38 5 6 0.8 0.3 6.5 3.0 9.5 1.3 1.5
1998 Melbourne 23 22 10 12 158 81 239 52 20 0.5 0.5 7.2 3.7 10.9 2.4 0.9
1999 Melbourne 23 15 5 11 120 58 178 26 23 0.3 0.7 8.0 3.9 11.9 1.7 1.5
2000 Melbourne 23 17 7 6 137 100 237 46 38 0.4 0.4 8.1 5.9 13.9 2.7 2.2
2001 Melbourne 23 15 3 3 162 94 256 58 41 0.2 0.2 10.8 6.3 17.1 3.9 2.7
2002 Melbourne 23 20 2 4 176 124 300 59 58 0.1 0.2 8.8 6.2 15.0 3.0 2.9
2003 Melbourne 23 21 4 4 230 210 440 106 84 0.2 0.2 11.0 10.0 21.0 5.0 4.0
2004 Melbourne 23 18 3 4 213 122 335 76 76 0.2 0.2 11.8 6.8 18.6 4.2 4.2
2005 Melbourne 23 21 2 5 197 132 329 77 70 0.1 0.2 9.4 6.3 15.7 3.7 3.3
2006 Melbourne 23 24 6 7 301 254 555 115 143 0.3 0.3 12.5 10.6 23.1 4.8 6.0
2007 Melbourne 23 21 3 4 263 226 489 90 131 0.1 0.2 12.5 10.8 23.3 4.3 6.2
2008 Melbourne 23 19 1 3 194 185 379 83 88 0.1 0.2 10.2 9.7 19.9 4.4 4.6
2009 Melbourne 23 18 2 2 177 171 348 83 87 0.1 0.1 9.8 9.5 19.3 4.6 4.8
2010 Melbourne 23 16 5 1 182 178 360 49 119 0.3 0.1 11.4 11.1 22.5 3.1 7.4
2012 Greater Western Sydney 38 13 4 3 100 97 197 31 67 0.3 0.2 7.7 7.5 15.2 2.4 5.2
Career 264 60 70 2636 2044 4680 956 1051 0.2 0.3 10.0 7.7 17.7 3.6 4.0

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Jay (20 August 2010). "Club before James McDonald's career". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Sheahan, Mike (14 September 2011). "Ex-Melbourne skipper James McDonald joins Tom Scully at Greater Western Sydney". Herald Sun. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  3. ↑ James McDonald's Player Profile at AFL Tables

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
David Neitz		 Melbourne Football Club Captain
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
Brad Green
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Travis Johnstone		 Melbourne FC Best and Fairest winner
2006–2007 		Succeeded by
Cameron Bruce
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