James McDonald (born 5 October 1976) is a former professional

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 played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

AFL 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 Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

with his

VAFA The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

side Old Xaverians. He debuted in the AFL in 1997 with the

after being promoted off the

Rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Rookie listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unless they are e ...

. McDonald had one of his most consistent years in 2006, being named on the interchange bench in the

All Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led by ...

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 Anthony Liberatore (born 11 February 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the in the Australian Football League (AFL). Liberatore is the only player to have won league best-and-fairest medals in all three grades of V ...

(although

Brett Kirk Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans. AFL career Kirk grew up in Al ...

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 The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (se ...

in 2006. McDonald won the Melbourne best and fairest in 2007 for the second time. McDonald played his 200th game in a loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 2, 2008. He was part of the

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

' Leadership Group, along with

Cameron Bruce Cameron Bruce (born 30 September 1979) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant ...

Russell Robertson Russell "Robbo" Robertson (born 24 November 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last played for the Melbourne Football Club. Robertson is one of the Melbourne's great goalkickers, being one of just four players in ...

Adem Yze Adem Yze ( ; born 21 September 1977)MelbourneFC.com.aPlayer Profile – Adem Yze, ''Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club'', 12 August 2008. is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in th ...

and Brad Miller and was named co captain alongside Bruce in the absence of skipper

David Neitz David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne ...

. 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. On 11 January 2009, the Herald Sun reported that McDonald would captain the club in 2009. McDonald kicked his 50th goal in the 2009 season. 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. McDonald played for his old side, Old Xaverians in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

, while also working with '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. In his first game for the club, McDonald copped a two-game suspension for engaging in rough conduct on

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

player Luke Parker; ironically, he had served as a member on the Match Review Panel in the previous season.

Statistics

:James McDonald's Player Profile at AFL Tables
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1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 54 , , 4 , , 3 , , 1 , , 26 , , 12 , , 38 , , 5 , , 6 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 6.5 , , 3.0 , , 9.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1998 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 10 , , 12 , , 158 , , 81 , , 239 , , 52 , , 20 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 7.2 , , 3.7 , , 10.9 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1999 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 15 , , 5 , , 11 , , 120 , , 58 , , 178 , , 26 , , 23 , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 8.0 , , 3.9 , , 11.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 7 , , 6 , , 137 , , 100 , , 237 , , 46 , , 38 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 8.1 , , 5.9 , , 13.9 , , 2.7 , , 2.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 15 , , 3 , , 3 , , 162 , , 94 , , 256 , , 58 , , 41 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 10.8 , , 6.3 , , 17.1 , , 3.9 , , 2.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 20 , , 2 , , 4 , , 176 , , 124 , , 300 , , 59 , , 58 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 8.8 , , 6.2 , , 15.0 , , 3.0 , , 2.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 21 , , 4 , , 4 , , 230 , , 210 , , 440 , , 106 , , 84 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.0 , , 10.0 , , 21.0 , , 5.0 , , 4.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 18 , , 3 , , 4 , , 213 , , 122 , , 335 , , 76 , , 76 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.8 , , 6.8 , , 18.6 , , 4.2 , , 4.2 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 21 , , 2 , , 5 , , 197 , , 132 , , 329 , , 77 , , 70 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 9.4 , , 6.3 , , 15.7 , , 3.7 , , 3.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 24 , , 6 , , 7 , , 301 , , 254 , , 555 , , 115 , , 143 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.5 , , 10.6 , , 23.1 , , 4.8 , , 6.0 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 21 , , 3 , , 4 , , 263 , , 226 , , 489 , , 90 , , 131 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.5 , , 10.8 , , 23.3 , , 4.3 , , 6.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 19 , , 1 , , 3 , , 194 , , 185 , , 379 , , 83 , , 88 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 10.2 , , 9.7 , , 19.9 , , 4.4 , , 4.6 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 18 , , 2 , , 2 , , 177 , , 171 , , 348 , , 83 , , 87 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 9.8 , , 9.5 , , 19.3 , , 4.6 , , 4.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 16 , , 5 , , 1 , , 182 , , 178 , , 360 , , 49 , , 119 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 11.4 , , 11.1 , , 22.5 , , 3.1 , , 7.4 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 38 , , 13 , , 4 , , 3 , , 100 , , 97 , , 197 , , 31 , , 67 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 7.7 , , 7.5 , , 15.2 , , 2.4 , , 5.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 264 ! 60 ! 70 ! 2636 ! 2044 ! 4680 ! 956 ! 1051 ! 0.2 ! 0.3 ! 10.0 ! 7.7 ! 17.7 ! 3.6 ! 4.0

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, James Melbourne Football Club players 1976 births Living people People with chronic fatigue syndrome All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Melbourne Football Club captains Old Xaverians Football Club players Greater Western Sydney Giants players People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat Australia international rules football team players