From Wikipedia - Reading time: 10 min
| James Sicily | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sicily playing for Hawthorn in June 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | James Sicily | ||
| Date of birth | 6 January 1995 | ||
| Original team(s) | Keilor (EDFL); Western Jets (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No. 56, 2013 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 2, 2015, Hawthorn vs. Essendon, at MCG | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Key Defender, Key Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Hawthorn | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2014– | Hawthorn | 174 (76) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2020 | Victoria | 1 (0) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 22, 2025. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 2020. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
James Sicily (born 6 January 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer and the current captain of the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Sicily's junior career was spent playing for the Keilor Football Club.[1] In 2013, Sicily kicked 26 goals from 16 games for the Western Jets and represented Vic Metro at the National Championships.[2]
Sicily was drafted by the Hawthorn Football Club with the fifty-sixth pick in the 2013 AFL draft.[1] In 2014, he was widely considered Box Hill’s best player in the losing grand final, kicking a team-high three goals, and finishing with 15 disposals and five marks.[3]
He made his AFL debut against Essendon in round 2, 2015 starting as the sub. He came on replacing the injured James Frawley in the first quarter and later kicked a goal. He went on to play three games for the year.[4]
In the absence of the injured Jarryd Roughead, Sicily was named in Hawthorn's team for the opening round of the 2016 AFL season, kicking 4 goals against West Coast in round 2 and kicking the match winning goal in round 3 against the Western Bulldogs.[5][6] He was named as the round 13 nominee for the Rising Star after kicking a career high five goals and recording 13 disposals and 5 marks.[7] 2016 was regarded as Sicily's breakout season.[5]
During the 2017 season, Sicily, who had previously been a forward, was shifted to the backline, after being dropped from the team while playing as a forward.[8] He impressed in that position, but nonetheless at the end of the season was still the subject of some uncertainty around his position in the team.[9] On August 22, 2017, Sicily signed a three-year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2020.[10]
Sicily was suspended for one match in the early stages of the 2018 season for kneeing Geelong captain Joel Selwood.[11] Notwithstanding this, Sicily was widely tipped to be on track for a nomination to the All-Australian team of that year before breaking bones in his wrist in Round 17, only returning during the finals series.[12] Despite this injury, Sicily had a season widely perceived as excellent,[12] and was considered to have potential to become one of the league's best defenders.[13]
Sicily had another good season in 2019, being selected in the extended All-Australian squad for that year, the only Hawthorn player to do so.[14] He was considered especially important to Hawthorn's defence.[15] At the end of the season, he re-signed with the club till at least the year 2022.[16]

Sicily missed the 2021 season as he was recovering from an ACL injury sustained during the 2020 season.
On 16 May 2022, Sicily announced that he had agreed to a 5-year contract extension with Hawthorn, tying him to the club until at least the end of 2027.[17]
In February 2023, Sicily was appointed the 38th captain of Hawthorn, with the 28-year-old succeeding the retired Ben McEvoy who served in the role for two seasons.[18]
In Round 11 2023, Sicily had a career high 43 disposals against St Kilda in the Hawks' 10-point win.
Sicily is widely regarded and known for having a short temper, something he himself has acknowledged.[19]
Updated to the end of round 22, 2025.[20]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | ||
†
|
Led the league for the season |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2014 | Hawthorn | 41 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| 2015 | Hawthorn | 21 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 11 | 3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 12.7 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Hawthorn | 21 | 22 | 30 | 18 | 168 | 84 | 252 | 100 | 43 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 7.6 | 3.8 | 11.5 | 4.6 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 2017 | Hawthorn | 21 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 204 | 148 | 352 | 131 | 22 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 10.7 | 7.8 | 18.5 | 6.9 | 1.2 | 1 |
| 2018 | Hawthorn | 6 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 264 | 109 | 373 | 114 | 26 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 16.5 | 6.8 | 23.3 | 7.1 | 1.6 | 8 |
| 2019 | Hawthorn | 6 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 352 | 112 | 464 | 158 | 32 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 16.0 | 5.1 | 21.1 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 8 |
| 2020[a] | Hawthorn | 6 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 146 | 50 | 196 | 62 | 9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 13.3 | 4.5 | 17.8 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2021 | Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| 2022 | Hawthorn | 6 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 418 | 106 | 524 | 190† | 32 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 19.0 | 4.8 | 23.8 | 8.6† | 1.5 | 7 |
| 2023 | Hawthorn | 6 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 324 | 177 | 501 | 189 | 29 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 17.1 | 9.3 | 26.4 | 9.9† | 1.5 | 12 |
| 2024 | Hawthorn | 6 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 337 | 136 | 473 | 167 | 30 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 15.3 | 6.2 | 21.5 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 4 |
| 2025 | Hawthorn | 6 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 244 | 110 | 354 | 124 | 27 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 13.6 | 6.1 | 19.7 | 6.9 | 1.5 | |
| Career | 174 | 76 | 48 | 2477 | 1051 | 3528 | 1246 | 253 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 14.2 | 6.0 | 20.3 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 43 | ||
Notes
Team
Individual