Heath James (born 7 March 1980) is a former
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er, who retired in 2005 due to a number of injuries.
After being drafted by the Sydney Swans at Pick #28 in the
1998 AFL Draft, under the
Father-son rule from the
Port Adelaide Magpies in the
South Australian National Football League, James made his AFL debut in Round 19 of the 1999 season. He suffered numerous
hamstring and knee injuries during his career, managing to play just 18 of a possible 162 games (including finals) (11.11% of club games) in 7 seasons with the Swans (1999–2005). He was delisted and re-drafted twice more during his career, in the
2003 Rookie draft and the
2004 National Draft. During his injury-interrupted tenure in Sydney, James built up a reputation as a resilient player and person. He has since taken up a game day role with the club. His father
Max James
Max James (born 27 December 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also spent 5 years in the Victorian Football League (VFL) playing for South Mel ...
also played for Port Adelaide and South Melbourne, prior to their relocation to Sydney.
References
External links
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Sydney Swans players
1980 births
Living people
Australian rules footballers from New South Wales
Australian rules footballers from South Australia
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