James Sicily

Australian rules footballer

James Sicily

Sicily playing for Hawthorn in June 2017

Personal information
Full name|  James Sicily
Date of birth|  (1995-01-06) 6 January 1995 (age 30)
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

* All-Australian team: 2023
* Hawthorn captain: 2023–
* Peter Crimmins Medal: 2022
* 22under22team: 2017

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).

## Early career

[edit]

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]

## AFL career

[edit]

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 playing for Hawthorn during the 2025 AFL season

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.

## On-field temperament

[edit]

Sicily is widely regarded and known for having a short temper, something he himself has acknowledged.[19]

## Statistics

[edit]

Updated to the end of round 22, 2025.[20]

Legend

| Goals |

| Kicks |

| Disposals |

| Tackles

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| Behinds |

| Handballs |

| 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

1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Honours and achievements

[edit]

Team

* McClelland Trophy (Hawthorn): 2024
* Minor premiership (Box Hill): 2015

Individual

* All-Australian team: 2023
* Hawthorn captain: 2023–
* Peter Crimmins Medal: 2022
* 22under22 team: 2017
* AFL Rising Star nominee: 2016
* Victoria Australian rules football team: 2020

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b D'Anello, Luke (22 November 2013). "Western Jets midfielder James Sicily drafted by Hawthorn". Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
2. ^ "AFL draft: James Sicily living the dream at Hawthorn". Brimbank Star Weekly. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
3. ^ "Sicily, Hanrahan impress in VFL decider". Hawthorn Football Club.
4. ^ Duxson, Nick (15 October 2015). "Season review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
5. ^ a b Hill, Jeremy (15 October 2016). "Season Review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
6. ^ Twomey, Callum (10 April 2016). "Match report: Hawks hang on in dramatic finish with Dogs". Australian Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
7. ^ Guthrie, Ben (20 June 2016). "Match-winning Hawk nabs Rising Star nom". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
8. ^ Paine, Jackson (26 September 2017). "Season review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
9. ^ Buckland, Ryan (22 August 2017). "Hawthorn's off season won't be as interesting as you might think". The Roar. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
10. ^ "Sis signs on". Hawthorn Football Club. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
11. ^ "Hawk suspended over knee on Joel Selwood". 3AW News Talk. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
12. ^ a b "Season snapshot: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
13. ^ Carey, Wayne (10 May 2018). "James Sicily can become one of the great defenders". The Age. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
14. ^ "'19 Rewind: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
15. ^ "Who Are Your Club's Most Important Defenders?". Seven News. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
16. ^ McKirdy, Lachlan (25 October 2019). "AFL 2019: James Sicily re-signs with Hawthorn on a long-term deal". Sporting News. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
17. ^ "James Sicily has some news to share..." hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
18. ^ "Sicily to captain Hawks in 2023".
19. ^ Waterworth, Ben (14 February 2018). "James Sicily admits he needs to control and manage temper on the field in 2018 AFL season". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
20. ^ "James Sicily". AFL Tables. Retrieved 16 August 2014.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Sicily.

* James Sicily's profile on the official website of the Hawthorn Football Club
* James Sicily's playing statistics from AFL Tables

* v
* t
* e

Hawthorn Football Club - current squad

* 1 Morrison
* 2 Lewis
* 3 Newcombe
* 4 Impey
* 5 Worpel
* 6 Sicily (c)
* 7 Reeves
* 8 Frost
* 9 Jiath
* 10 Amon
* 11 Nash
* 12 Day
* 13 Moore (vc)
* 14 Scrimshaw
* 15 Hardwick
* 16 D'Ambrosio
* 17 Meek
* 18 Chol
* 19 Gunston
* 20 Maginness
* 21 Mraz
* 22 Breust
* 23 Weddle
* 24 Battle
* 25 Ward
* 26 Ryan
* 27 McCabe
* 28 Mackenzie
* 29 Serong
* 30 Butler
* 31 C. Macdonald
* 32 Anderson
* 33 Ginnivan
* 34 Watson
* 35 Dear
* 36 Blanck*
* 37 Barrass
* 38 Ramsden*
* 39 Scaife*
* 40 Se. Mitchell*
* 41 Hill*
* 42 B. Macdonald
* 43 Uhr-Henry*
* 44 Hustwaite

* Coach: Sa. Mitchell

* denotes rookie listed players

* v
* t
* e

Current AFL captains

* Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
* Harris Andrews/Lachie Neale (Brisbane Lions)
* Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
* Darcy Moore (Collingwood)
* Zach Merrett (Essendon)
* Alex Pearce (Fremantle)
* Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
* Noah Anderson (Gold Coast)
* Toby Greene (Greater Western Sydney)
* James Sicily (Hawthorn)
* Max Gawn (Melbourne)
* Jy Simpkin (North Melbourne)
* Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
* Toby Nankervis (Richmond)
* Jack Steele (St Kilda)
* Callum Mills (Sydney)
* Oscar Allen/Liam Duggan (West Coast)
* Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)

* v
* t
* e

Captains of the Hawthorn Football Club

VFA/VFL/AFL|

* 1914: Gough
* 1915: Larkin
* 1919: Gibb
* 1920: Alley
* 1920: Rigaldi
* 1921: Jackson
* 1922: Rademacher
* 1923–1924: Walton
* 1925: Jackson
* 1926: Minogue
* 1926: Burke
* 1927: Lethlean
* 1928: Sutton
* 1929: Chadwick
* 1930–1931: Harris
* 1932: Mills
* 1933: Phillips
* 1933: Twomey Sr.
* 1934: Mills
* 1935–1937: McAlpine
* 1938: Mills
* 1939: Thomas
* 1940–1941: Mills
* 1942: Carmody
* 1943: Williams
* 1944: Bohan
* 1945: Shea
* 1946: Bohan
* 1947–1949: Albiston
* 1950–1951: Curran
* 1952: O'Donohue
* 1953–1954: Fletcher
* 1955–1959: Kennedy
* 1960–1964: Arthur
* 1965: Arthur/Peck
* 1966–1968: Arthur
* 1969–1973: Parkin
* 1974–1975: Crimmins
* 1976–1980: Scott
* 1981–1985: Matthews
* 1986–1991: Tuck
* 1992–1993: Ayres
* 1994: Langford
* 1995–1998: Dunstall
* 1999–2004: Crawford
* 2005–2007: Vandenberg
* 2008–2010: Mitchell
* 2011–2016: Hodge
* 2017–2018: Roughead
* 2019–2020: Stratton
* 2021–2022: McEvoy
* 2023–: Sicily

AFLW|

* 2022 (S7)–2023: Lucas-Rodd
* 2024–: Bates

* v
* t
* e

2023 All-Australian team

Full-back|

* James Sicily (Hawthorn)
* Callum Wilkie (St Kilda)
* Tom Stewart (Geelong)

Half-back|

* Jack Sinclair (St Kilda)
* Darcy Moore (Collingwood)
* Dan Houston (Port Adelaide)

Centre|

* Errol Gulden (Sydney)
* Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs) (vc)
* Josh Daicos (Collingwood)

Half-forward|

* Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
* Taylor Walker (Adelaide)
* Christian Petracca (Melbourne)

Full-forward|

* Charlie Cameron (Brisbane Lions)
* Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
* Toby Greene (Greater Western Sydney) (c)

Ruck|

* Tim English (Western Bulldogs)
* Zak Butters (Port Adelaide)
* Nick Daicos (Collingwood)

Interchange|

* Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
* Nick Larkey (North Melbourne)
* Zach Merrett (Essendon)
* Caleb Serong (Fremantle)

Coach|

* Craig McRae (Collingwood)

← 2022

The position of coach in the All-Australian team has been awarded to the coach of the premiership-winning team since 1999.

2024 →

* v
* t
* e

Peter Crimmins Medal • Hawthorn Football Club best and fairest winners

* 1925: Finch
* 1927: Utting
* 1928: Sellers
* 1929: Utting
* 1930: Sharpley
* 1932: Spinks
* 1933: Mills
* 1934: Loveless
* 1935: Mills
* 1936: Murphy
* 1937: Murphy
* 1938: Spinks
* 1939: Mills
* 1940: Angwin
* 1941: Albiston
* 1942: Barker
* 1943: Bohan
* 1944: Blackman
* 1945: Bohan
* 1946: Albiston
* 1947: Culpitt
* 1948: Curran
* 1949: Austen
* 1950: Kennedy
* 1951: Kennedy
* 1952: Kennedy
* 1953: Fletcher
* 1954: Kennedy
* 1955: Arthur
* 1956: Simmonds
* 1957: Hughes
* 1958: Arthur
* 1959: Woodley
* 1960: Edwards
* 1961: Law
* 1962: Arthur
* 1963: Law
* 1964: Law
* 1965: Parkin
* 1966: Wilson
* 1967: Keddie
* 1968: Hudson
* 1969: Keddie
* 1970: Hudson
* 1971: Matthews
* 1972: Matthews
* 1973: Scott
* 1974: Matthews
* 1975: Knights
* 1976: Matthews
* 1977: Matthews
* 1978: Matthews/Knights
* 1979: Moore
* 1980: Matthews
* 1981: Wallace
* 1982: Matthews
* 1983: Wallace
* 1984: Greene
* 1985: Brereton
* 1986: Ayres
* 1987: Platten
* 1988: Dunstall
* 1989: Dunstall
* 1990: Collins
* 1991: Allan
* 1992: Dunstall
* 1993: Dunstall
* 1994: Platten
* 1995: Jarman
* 1996: Salmon
* 1997: Salmon
* 1998: Crawford
* 1999: Crawford
* 2000: Chick/Holland
* 2001: Smith
* 2002: Crawford
* 2003: Crawford
* 2004: Everitt
* 2005: Hodge
* 2006: S. Mitchell
* 2007: Sewell
* 2008: Franklin
* 2009: S. Mitchell
* 2010: Hodge
* 2011: S. Mitchell
* 2012: S. Mitchell
* 2013: Gibson
* 2014: Lewis
* 2015: Gibson
* 2016: S. Mitchell
* 2017: T. Mitchell
* 2018: T. Mitchell
* 2019: Worpel
* 2020: Gunston
* 2021: T. Mitchell
* 2022: Sicily
* 2023: Day
* 2024: Newcombe

* v
* t
* e

2016 AFL Rising Star nominees

* Rd 1: Oliver
* Rd 2: Parish
* Rd 3: Weitering
* Rd 4: Daniel
* Rd 5: Papley
* Rd 6: Acres
* Rd 7: Harmes
* Rd 8: Hopper
* Rd 9: Petracca
* Rd 10: Byrne-Jones
* Rd 11: Blakely
* Rd 12: Weller
* Rd 13: Sicily
* Rd 14: Gresham
* Rd 15: Wright
* Rd 16: Mills
* Rd 17: Fantasia
* Rd 18: Clarke
* Rd 19: Moore
* Rd 20: Dunkley
* Rd 21: McDonald
* Rd 22: Rioli
* Rd 23: Barrass

Italics denote winner

* v
* t
* e

2013 AFL national draft

First round|

* 1\. Tom Boyd
* 2\. Josh Kelly
* 3\. Jack Billings
* 4\. Marcus Bontempelli
* 5\. Kade Kolodjashnij
* 6\. Matthew Scharenberg
* 7\. James Aish
* 8\. Luke McDonald (F/S)
* 9\. Christian Salem
* 10\. Nathan Freeman
* 11\. Dom Sheed
* 12\. Ben Lennon
* 13\. Patrick Cripps
* 14\. Cam McCarthy
* 15\. Zak Jones
* 16\. Darcy Lang
* 17\. Michael Apeness
* 18\. Luke Dunstan
* 19\. Blake Acres
* 20\. Jack Leslie

Second round|

* 21\. Jarman Impey
* 22\. Darcy Gardiner
* 23\. Matt Crouch
* 24\. Billy Hartung
* 25\. Daniel McStay
* 26\. Zach Merrett
* 27\. Sean Lemmens
* 28\. Lewis Taylor
* 29\. Rory Lobb
* 30\. Trent Dumont
* 31\. Malcolm Karpany
* 32\. George Hewett
* 33\. Tom Cutler
* 34\. Nick Robertson
* 35\. Toby Nankervis
* 36\. Jarrad Jansen
* 37\. Alex Pearce
* 38\. Dayle Garlett

Third round|

* 39\. Cameron Giles
* 40\. Jay Kennedy Harris
* 41\. Jake Kolodjashnij
* 42\. Matt Fuller
* 43\. Tom Barrass
* 44\. Aliir Aliir
* 45\. Mitchell Harvey
* 46\. Riley Knight
* 47\. Ben Brown
* 49\. Dylan Main
* 50\. Nathan Gordon
* 51\. Nick Holman
* 52\. Darcy Byrne-Jones
* 54\. Josh Walker (RP)
* 55\. Orazio Fantasia
* 56\. James Sicily

Fourth round|

* 57\. Jayden Hunt
* 58\. Brady Grey
* 59\. Jonathon Ceglar (RP)
* 60\. Mitch Honeychurch
* 61\. Jamie Bennell (RP)
* 62\. Jonathan Freeman (Academy selection)
* 63\. George Burbury (RP)
* 64\. Lauchlan Dalgleish (RP)
* 65\. Tom Langdon
* 66\. Sam Lloyd
* 68\. Karl Amon
* 70\. Matt Taberner (RP)
* 71\. Will Langford (RP)

Fifth round|

* 74\. Jeremy McGovern (RP)
* 75\. Justin Clarke (RP)
* 76\. Kyle Hartigan (RP)
* 77\. Jonathon Marsh
* 80\. Brandon Jack (RP)

Sixth round|

* 82\. Mitch Clisby (RP)
* 83\. Tom Curren (RP)
* 84\. Brett Goodes (RP)
* 85\. Simon Tunbridge (RP)
* 86\. Rory Laird (RP)
* 87\. Sam Dwyer (RP)
* 89\. Ed Curnow (RP)
* 90\. Dane Rampe (RP)

Seventh round|

* 92\. Adam Oxley (RP)
* 93\. Ricky Petterd (RP)
* 94\. Tom Bell (RP)

Eighth round|

* 95\. Zac Williams (RP)

Ninth round|

* 97\. Jake Barrett (NSW Zone)

* v
* t
* e

Victorian team – State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match

Victoria 24.10 (154) def. All Stars 15.18 (108), at Marvel Stadium

* Blicavs
* Boak
* Bontempelli
* Cameron
* Cotchin (c)
* Dangerfield
* Gaff
* Goldstein
* Greene
* Gresham
* Haynes
* Higgins
* Houli
* Kelly
* Lloyd
* Lynch
* Macrae
* D. Martin
* S. Martin
* Moore
* Papley
* Pendlebury
* Saad
* Sicily
* Sidebottom
* Sloane
* Whitfield

* Coach: Hardwick

*[No.]: number
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